>>19958632The entire ritual is from the age of Taurus; it's literally to reinforce the bonds of community in an age where wide open spaces, ample hunting and fishing grounds, and sparce populace meant that any resident of any city state could simply pack their bags and leave at the sign of trouble; in contrast loyalty to their God, and their community and city, meant pain and sacrifice, and perhaps the most painful sacrifice that could be asked, namely the sacrifice of the life of their children, most espically in battle, to defend the people and city of their community and religion.... afterall, how could they hesitate to offer their own lives, and the lives of their children, in defense of their community, and in defense of their God, when another of the community had already made the most painful sacrifice possible, in the name of their community and deity, before the eyes of everyone, for all to see?