In some variations of the tradition the man would carry them around a portion of earth (similar to the Greek amphidromia).
It was largely regarded as a symbolic gesture and its omission (if for example the father was not at home) did not affect the child's position in the family in any way.
[6] In the past it was thought by historians that the event did have a bearing and meant that the man acknowledged paternity of the baby, but this has been rejected in the 20th century.
[8] In modern popular culture, scenes have been shown in which Roman dictator Julius Caesar picks up his son Caesarion and shows him to onlookers.
Examples are in the 1963 film Cleopatra in which it is anachronistically stated that it is law that a man declares paternity if he picks up a child from the ground; the 1999 miniseries Cleopatra where Cleopatra VII places the child in front of him and demands that he accept the boy in front of the Roman imperial court; and the HBO television series Rome where Caesar proudly displays the boy for his legionaries.