Education Culture Flashcards
Who was educated?
All people, including slaves, poor, citizens, and aristocrats, were educated.
Slaves and poor people were literate enough to make a living.
Citizens and aristocracy spent years in education.
Who and what was taught the first stage of education?
Young children would be taught basic reading and writing by their mother or tutor.
At what age did boys start the second stage of education?
Boys would start the second stage of education at age seven.
Who taught the second stage of education for boys?
A ludi magister taught the second stage of education.
Describe the second stage of education for boys.
A ludi magister taught about thirty students to read and write both Latin and Greek, and they also learned basic math.
The classes were taught in a rented room or in the forum for a fee.
What was the main learning process in a Roman class?
Students learned through rote memorization.
How was grammar taught in a Roman class?
Grammar was taught by studying classical texts and parsing its words.
How was math learned in a Roman class?
Math was learned using an abacus.
How was writing learned in a Roman class? Describe the tools used.
Writing was learned by using a wax tablet and a stylus.
A wax tablet (tabula) was a wooden frame with a thin layer of wax.
A stylus was used to write on the wax. The flat end of the stylus was used to smooth out mistakes.
How were students punished?
Punishment was “educational encouragement.”
A ply rod called a ferula was often used.
What was the job of the assigned slave that took a child to school?
The paedagogus accompanied the child wherever they went to guard them against evil, physically and morally.
Describe a typical school day (for boys).
- Wake up before dawn. Wash hands and face. Put on tunic and belt. Fix hair with grease and comb.
- Put on scarf, cloak, and rain cloak (if needed).
- Greet parents. Leave with paedagogus.
- Enter school. Kiss teacher hello.
- Paedagogus hands over tabula, writing box, and stylus (writing instruments).
- Smooth the wax. Write the assigned sentence.
- Review. Recite. Write from dictations. Decline (declension) parts of speech. Parse sentences.
- Have lunch of bread, olives, cheese, dried figs, and nuts with cold water.
How were girls educated in the second stage of education?
At the same age, starting at seven, girls would be taught by a tutor at home.
What were girls educated on?
Girls studied Greek and Latin literature, along with basic math and music.
However, their main focus was household skills, such as cooking, cleaning, sewing, and organizing household slaves.
Who taught the third stage of education for boys?
A grammaticus taught the third stage of education for boys.
At what age did the third stage of education start for boys?
Boys started the third stage of education at eleven years old.
What was taught in the third stage of education for boys?
A grammaticus focused on teaching grammar.
Students had to study classical texts, like the Iliad, Odyssey, plays, and Aeneid, focusing on grammatical constructions and phrases. They had to memorize long passages.
Who taught the fourth stage of education for boys?
A rhetor taught boys in the fourth stage of education.
At what age would boys enter the fourth stage of education?
Boys started studying with a rhetor at age sixteen.
What was taught in the fourth stage of education for boys?
Boys continued literary study, but they began focusing on public speaking to prepare for law and government. They learned how to speak in court, senate, and elections.
second teacher
ludi magister
started at age 7
focused on Latin, Greek, and basic math
wax tablet
tabula, tabulae
ply rod
ferula
for punishment
slave assigned to child
paedagogus
accompany child to school to guard them from physical and moral evil
third teacher
grammaticus
started at age 11
focused on grammar
fourth teacher
rhetor
started at age 16
focused on public speaking (law/govt)
