Education for the Roman Child Comparing Ancient Roman and Modern Education

Roman Education Schooling for most upper-class Roman children varied greatly. Some would be taught at home by a tutor or a slave. Some would be sent to a private school. For those who could not afford private schools or a private tutor at home, there were the public schools in the cities. Most children of lower-class background, especially country workers, the poor, and slaves, usually did not learn to read or write or have the opportunity to go to school. A Roman school would often be nothing more than a one-man setup. This would usually be a small room or even a shop booth in the marketplace that would be open to the street with only a curtain for a door. The first thing Roman children had to learn was how to read and write. The written word was all around them in public buildings and public edicts. Even at home, children were surrounded by writing in the form of calendars, letters, laws, regulations for shrines, and funeral epitaphs. Many families kept personal and financial records and operated businesses, meaning education was important.

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Primary Source: A Day in the Life of a Schoolboy I awoke before dawn; I arose from my bed; I sat down and put on my socks and shoes. I requested water for my face; I washed my hands first and then my face; I wiped them dry. I took off my sleeping clothes and put on my tunic; I did up the belt. I greased down my hair and combed it. I put a scarf around my shoulders; on top of that I put a white cloak, and over that a rain mantle. I left my bedroom with my pedagogue and nurse and went to greet my father and mother; I greeted them both and kissed them. Then I left home. I went to school. I entered and said, "Hello, teacher," and he kissed me and greeted me in return. My slave who carries my books handed me my waxed tablets, my writing box, and my writing instruments. Sitting in my place, I smoothed over the tablets. I printed the assigned sentence. When I had finished it, I showed it to the teacher. He corrected it, wrote over my errors, and bid me to read it aloud. Having been bidden, I recited it to another student. Immediately afterward a fellow student dictated to me. "And you," he said, "dictate to me." I said, "First recite." And he dictated to me, "Didn't you see? I recited before you did" I said, "You're lying; you didn't recite." "I'm not lying!" "Well, if you're telling the truth, I will dictate." In the midst of this quarrel, the little boys, who were so bidden by the teacher, lined up in two groups for their elementary exercises; one of the older boys gave one group of them syllables to spell. The other group recited word lists, in order, to the assistant teacher; they print the words and then print lines of verse. I, who am in the advanced class, was given a dictation exercise. When we sat down, I went through my word lists and notes on grammar and style. Called up to the head teacher to read aloud, I listened to his comments on narration, speech construction, and characterization. I was questioned about grammatical theory, and I gave my answers. "Do you say 'to whom'?" "What are the parts of a speech?" I declined nouns and parsed sentences. When we had finished this, the teacher dismissed us for lunch. After being dismissed, I came home. I changed clothes and ate some white bread, olives, cheese, dried figs, and nuts. I drank cold water. After lunch I returned to school. Source: Jo-Ann Shelton, As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988),

More on Roman Education In school the basic education for a boy would include law, morality, and physical training. This was to prepare him for the role he would play in society and in the army. If a free Roman were taught basic arithmetic, it rarely went beyond addition and subtraction. The Roman numbering system was very difficult; one had to use an abacus to do most math. Education for Roman girls evidently was limited to those of the upper class. They went to elementary schools to learn reading and writing but were not allowed to pursue higher studies with philosophers, mathematicians, or rhetoricians. Roman children were taught how to imitate their masters (teachers). Learning was a matter of imitation and repetition. After the children learned the alphabet, they would learn to read by repeating aloud and by tracing the words in the text. Discipline in Roman times was quite different from that of today. If a male student made a mistake when asked a question, the teacher might beat him with a cane. If he did something wrong or spoke without permission, he could receive a flogging in front of the class to set an example. In the public schools it was not uncommon for teachers to cruelly use a whip against his students.

Comparing Ancient Roman and Modern Education Public Education Today Roman Public Education Public Education for the Privileged only Free Public Education for everyone Private, public and home school