Roman Education

Ludus - school Elementary school for boys; pay to go Run by a ludi magister Educated slave or freedman Often Greek Reading, writing, and arithmetic Wax tablets & styluses Rented room or outside

Discipline Paedagogus – Greek for “child leader” Corporal punishment Escorted child to school; protected, disciplined Another slave carried things for him Corporal punishment From teacher or paedagogus Horace & Orbilius Plagosus

“Middle School” Run by a grammaticus (grammarian) For richer families needing more education Read Greek & Roman classics Homer, Sophocles, and other Greeks Horace and Vergil for Romans Studied Greek even more than he had in elementary school

“High School” Taught how to speak by a rhetor – imagine four years just with Mrs. Beach Rhetor is, once again, a Greek Much smaller number of students here – those with political ambitions

Science & Technical Subjects Not covered much in most schooling Liberal arts/humanities, “most important for civilized living” Specialized teachers, typically Greeks, were paid a lot to teach science and math Technical skills developed in an apprenticeship at a local business

Girls’ Education Schooled at home with boys until age of 7 Stayed home when boys went to school Learned reading and writing, business accounting, house management If a girl could speak advanced Greek and Latin she would fetch a high dowry

Another Quote from Horace “Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artis intulit agresti Latio.” Conquered, Greece has conquered the brute victor and brought her arts into rustic Latium. Or, sometimes more simply: “Conquered, Greece conquered.”

Controversia So then, like the debate in the book…who’s better, Greeks or Romans? Who truly did the conquering? We’ll split up based on your answers. Each side gets 5 minutes to prepare an argument and 3 to present it. Each side then gets 3 minutes to prepare a counter-argument to the other side, then 2 minutes to present that. Each time your side presents, you need a different person to argue the case. Pick them early!