Jhoanna Princess C. Alilio III-St.

Luke 1st Draft in Performance Task in Social Studies Roman Education Education was very important to the Ancient Romans. The rich people in Ancient Rome put a great deal of faith in education. While the poor in Ancient Rome did not receive a formal education, many still learned to read and write. Children from rich families, however, were well schooled and were taught by a private tutor at home or went to what we would recognise as schools. In general, schools as we would recognise them, were for boys only. Also, Roman schools were rarely an individual building but an extension of a shop - separated from the crowd by a mere curtain! There was not a great deal of subject choice in a Roman school. Therefore a boredom threshold must have been quickly reached by children. This must have been made worse, by the fact that the school day was longer than children now are used to. It seems likely that during the school day, a child would rise at sunrise (not wanting to be late as this would lead to a caning), work all day with a short break at lunch, and then home to be in bed by sunset for the next day. Lessons were simply learned by heart. Children did not need to know why something was right - only to know that it was right and that they would escape a beating. Lessons were also simply dictated as there were no books as they were simply too expensive. There were two types of schools in Ancient Rome. The first type of school was for younger children aged up to 11 or 12 where they learned to read and write and to do basic mathematics. At these schools, children worked on an abacus to learn basic mathematics. For writing, they used a stylus and a wax tablet. Older children would go to more advanced schools where they did specific studies on topics such as public speaking. They would also study the writings of the great intellects of Ancient Rome such as Cicero. Girls rarely went to these schools as they were allowed to get married at the age of 12 whereas boys had to wait until they were 14 to get married. In general, girls did not go to school. Girls from rich families did receive an education, but this was done at home. Here they were taught how to run a good household and how to be a good wife in general - in preparation for the time they got married. Part of their education would have been music, sewing and the competent running of a kitchen. For boys, practice made perfect. They were not allowed to write on what we would consider to be paper as it was very expensive. Boys first practised on a wax tablet. Only when they had shown that they could write well, were they allowed to write on paper - which was made on the Ancient Egyptian method of papyrus reeds. Their 'pens' were quills and their ink was a mixture of gum, soot and, sometimes, the ink from an octopus. A Roman Education: Just as it is in much of the world today, the amount and kind of education you got in Rome depended on your family's wealth, status, and connections. There was no legal requirement to educate your children, but in most times and places during the long span of "ancient Rome" there was broad acceptance of the idea that knowledge was the key to a happy and prosperous future. Parents tried to provide the best available education for their offspring. Kids learned early on both a sense of duty to the family and the value of applying themselves to academics, so they generally made a real effort to learn as much as possible. The "best available" and

"as much as possible" varied immensely. Think of the kind of education that was available to Americans 100 years ago in different parts of the US, and then think of what could be had by Western Europeans in 1000 AD -- similar distances and times spanned "Rome". In reality, almost nobody had very good educational opportunities. Children of slaves (often more than half the population) and lower class workers (another big fraction) seldom got any education at all: just enough training to do their jobs. And only in very unusual circumstances were girls educated beyond the "womanly virtues" of spinning, weaving, cooking, making babies (or not). Some upper class girls were taught in the home or sent to elementary schools to learn reading or writing, but they weren't allowed to pursue higher studies with mathematicians, philosophers or rhetoricians. Most folks, of course, considered education for girls to be a waste of time and money. In addition to reading and writing and simple math (use of an abacus), a boy's basic education would include law, morality, and physical training -- the last, of course, with a decidedly military slant. Teachers were expected to use corporal punishment (caning and flogging) not only for misbehavior but also for poor academic performance. After the basics had been absorbed (or were beaten into the students), those who could afford to studied higher mathematics, philosophy, and rhetoric. The richest kids might even be sent abroad to Greek academies or Egyptian salons, and parents who couldn't fund such grand tours hired the best they could afford in Rome. A well-educated Roman male was ready to begin the long march to the top of the Roman politicalmilitary structure. If from one of the top few families, and or if correct marital alliances could be forged, there was no reason why he should not aspire to the highest offices of the state. He also, of course, had to be successful at arms and a better than average political infighter, but that, after all, was what he was educated to be.