Societas Via Romana - Discussion Archives

Salvete,


I wonder how the Roman educational system looked like. Was there something like kindergarten, primary and secondary school? And were there classrooms? Or was education always a private business?


Valete,



Locatus

Salve,

As far as I know education relied mainly on private teachers sponsored by the kid's parents. Schooling was usually only for boys. A proper education included Latin, Greek and I believe mathematics, philosophy and astronomy too. I don't know if there were really organised schools with their own classrooms and buildings but of course there were "schools of thought" which were linked to certain buildings, as the Lykaion of Aristoteles and the Akademia of Plato. There were some famous teachers too. Mainly these teachers were Greek.

Teachers were later paid a salary by the state I believe by an initiative of Septimius Severus (I could be wrong on this one).

Vale bene,
Draco

Salve Locate,

the only thing I know about the Roman eductational system is the fact that the teachers were slaves (preferably Greek) who were payed by the parents of their pupils. So if they had to be payd, I don't think that the poor could afford them, or at least not a good teacher.

So I think that (with my limited knowledge about this subject) that education was mostly for the rich and wealthy.

They had small classrooms (because the classes weren't that big, the calssrooms needn't be either) en they used wax tablets and sharp pens to write on them.

That is all I can tell you about the Roman educational system.

Valete bene,

Tiberius Dionysius Draco