  Insight into the origin of bulges is saught in this review only from the
properties of their stellar populations. Evidence concerning the age of the
Galactic bulge stellar population is reviewed first, then the case of the bulge
of M31 is discussed. The similarity of bulges and ellipticals is then
illustrated, inferring that the problems of the origin of bulges and of the
origin of ellipticals may well be one and the same: i.e. the origin of galactic
spheroids. In this mood, the current evidence concerning the age of the bulk
stellar populations of early-type galaxies is then reviewed, both for low- as
well as high-redshift galaxies, and both for cluster as well as field
ellipticals. All reported evidence argues for the bulk of stars in galactic
spheroids having formed at high redshift, with only minor late additions and
small dependence on environment. In the final, more speculative Section an
attempt is made to evaluate how current formation scenarios can account for
this observational evidence. The role of spheroids in the cosmic star formation
and metal enrichment history is also briefly discussed. Finally, some critical
questions are asked, which answers may help our further understanding of the
formation and evolution of galactic spheroids.
