ANCIENT TO ROMAN EDUCATION

Primitive Education
Education is as old as life itself because prehistoric man may have passed on to his offspring consciously or unconsciously, organized or unorganized, certain skills and attitudes enables them to survive.

Primitive mans activities are:

To feed
To clothe

To shelter
To protect

Primitive man has narrow social and cultural contacts. His tribe is small and occupies a small area. Because of their limited cultural contacts, primitive people are extraordinarily conservative and prone to superstition.

The organization of primitive life is tribal, not political so that one function of education is to enable one to live with his relatives. The most characteristic feature is the absence from primitive cultures of reading and writing. Their educational activities are directed to the transmission of learning and not to the learners development or the increase of knowledge or the discovery of new skills.

The way in which primitive children learn are:

By observation of activities in which they will later be participants.

By simply telling and demonstration of how things are done By their own activities so that children may learn from consequences to avoid that which is dangerous.

ORIENTAL EDUCATION
Setting: Mesopotamia and Nile By settling, these tribes became subject to conquest by nomadic tribes These cultures became complicated as these regions developed the use of bronze and iron and an elaborate system of writing. Well-organized political, economic and religious institutions developed that centered around the need of maintaining a way of life.

 Man domesticated animals, practiced agriculture, developed arts and crafts, made weapons, constructed buildings and devised transportation which increased knowledge and social relations. Man created basic institution that expressed his relation to his fellows such as family life, the priesthood, commerce, the state and industrial organization. The development of higher human relationships gave rise to the social institutions which are of importance to students of education namely: the family became the basic unit of society; society was divided into classes: government was transferred to despots who had absolute power and religion transcended nature worship and animism with its bewildering number of gods and goddesses.

Education in Egypt
The process of education involved in a purely natural way.
The father transferred to his son by the apprenticeship method the necessary skills to run his daily life. In higher social circles the boy was trained by scribes who taught him how to read and write. Girls from less lofty families learned how to manage a household, and how to sing, dance and play musical instruments. These last would be important if the girl took on temple service as a singer or musician. Literacy was needed because of the organization of the state staffed by civil officials

 Egyptian education involved three aspects: vocational training, learning to write and good conduct. For higher learning, the temples were the center of advanced learning. The high priest taught applied mathematics, astronomy, physics, architecture and embalming.

Education in medicine, priesthood and the military was acquired largely through parental apprenticeship.

 During the Old Kingdom, there is no evidence that any formal schools existed, except perhaps at court. Princes taught younger princes, and favored youths were tutored with the kings own children. Conceptual thinking, reasoning, creative imagination and intellectual curiosity were foreign to them. They saw in knowledge only a means of practical advancement; they had no love of knowledge for its own sake. (Eby & Arrowwod, 1940: 101)

Greek Education
Both daily life and education were very different in Sparta than in Athens or in the other ancient Greek city-states.
ATHENS: In ancient Athens, the purpose of education was to produce citizens trained in the arts, and to prepare citizens for both peace and war. Until age 6 or so, boys were taught at home by their mother or by a male slave. From age 6 to 14, boys went to a neighborhood primary school or to a private school. Books were very expensive and rare, so subjects were read out-loud, and the boys had to memorize everything. To help them learn, they used writing tablets and rulers. In primary school, they had to learn two important things - the words of Homer, a famous Greek epic poet, and how to play the lyre.

 Their teacher, who was always a man, could choose what additional subjects he wanted to teach. He might choose to teach drama, public speaking, government, art, reading, writing, math, and how to play another ancient Greek instrument - the flute. Following that, boys attended a higher school for four more years. When they turned 18, they entered military school for two additional years. At age 20, they graduated.

Girls were not educated at school, but many learned to read and write at home in the comfort of their courtyard.

 SPARTA: In ancient Sparta, the purpose of education was to produce a well-drilled, well-disciplined marching army.

Spartans believed in a life of discipline, self-denial, and simplicity. They were very loyal to the state of Sparta. Every Spartan, male or female, was required to have a perfect body. When babies were born in ancient Sparta, Spartan soldiers would come by the house and check the baby. If the baby did not appear healthy and strong, the infant was taken away, and left to die on a hillside, or taken away to be trained as a slave (a helot). Babies who passed this examination were assigned membership in a brotherhood or sisterhood, usually the same one to which their father or mother belonged.

 Spartan Boys: Spartan boys were sent to military school at age 6 or 7. They lived, trained and slept in the barracks of their brotherhood. They were taught survival skills and other skills necessary to be a great soldier. School courses were very hard and often painful. Although students were taught to read and write, those skills were not very important to the ancient Spartans. Only warfare mattered. The boys were not fed well, and were told that it was fine to steal food as long as they did not get caught stealing. If they were caught, they were beaten. The boys marched without shoes to make them stronger. It was a brutal training period.

 Somewhere between the age of 18-20, Spartan males had to pass a difficult test of fitness, military ability, and leadership skills. Any Spartan male who did not pass these examinations became a perioikos. (The perioikos, or the middle class, were allowed to own property, have business dealings, but had no political rights and were not citizens.) If they passed, they became a full citizen and a Spartan soldier. Spartan citizens were not allowed to touch money. That was the job of the middle class. Spartan soldiers spent most of their lives with their fellow soldiers. They ate, slept, and continued to train in their brotherhood barracks. Even if they were married, they did not live with their wives and families. They lived in the barracks. Military service did not end until a Spartan male reached the age of 60. At age 60, a Spartan soldier could retire and live in their home with their family.

 Spartan Girls: In Sparta, girls also went to school at age 6 or 7. They lived, slept and trained in their sisterhood's barracks. No one knows if their school was as cruel or as rugged as the boys school, but the girls were taught wrestling, gymnastics, and combat skills. Some historians believe the two schools were very similar, and that an attempt was made to train the girls as thoroughly as they trained the boys. In any case, the Spartans believed that strong young women would produce strong babies. At age 18, if a Sparta girl passed her skills and fitness test, she would be assigned a husband and allowed to return home. If she failed, she would lose her rights as a citizen, and became a perioikos, a member of the middle class.

 In most of the other Greek city-states, women were required to stay inside their homes most of their lives. They could not go anywhere or do anything without their husband's permission. They could not even visit a woman who lived next door. They had no freedom. But in Sparta, things were very different for women who were citizens. They were free to move around, and visit neighbors without permission. No marvelous works of art or architecture came out of Sparta, but Spartan military force was regarded as terrifying. Thus, the Spartans achieved their goal.

Roman Education
The main point of education in Rome was for young males to learn how to be good, intelligent citizens who could contribute to and lead the community. The skill of public speaking was the most valued skill that a Roman male learned. The goal of education for females was to learn how to be proper wives. The education of a female was taken much less seriously than that of a male.

 Before about 300 BC, education took place primarily in the home. The father taught his sons what he knew in Roman law, history, customs, and physical training. If the father knew how to read and write, he would pass this on to his sons also. Most often, the father would teach his sons his trade. If the father was a carpenter, he would teach his sons carpentry and they would follow in his footsteps as adults. Between 300 and 200 BC, the Romans began to adopt the Greek system of education. With the Greek system, there were three levels of education: primary school (ludus), grammar school (grammaticus) and secondary school (rhetoric). School was not free and therefore was only available to the wealthy. Children from poor families continued to be taught in their homes by their father.

Gifted, educated (and usually Greek) slaves taught some wealthy children in their homes. Wealthy children who were schooled outside of the home would go to the home of a tutor who would "group-tutor" many students.

The Parents Role

Before age six, the mother was in charge of the discipline and education of boys and girls. At age six, the father took over his sons studies. The father supervised and monitored his sons progress in school.
The father also provided his son with moral education, specifically reverence for the gods and religion, respect for the law, obedience to authority, family honor and truthfulness. The father was also usually in charge of his sons physical education. Physical training was important because many males served in the military after their formal education was over. Physical education was "oriented toward military preparedness: training in arms, toughening of the body, swimming across cold and rapid streams, and horsemanship..." ("Early Roman Education"). If there was ever a war, fathers wanted their sons to be prepared to fight and be victorious in it.

The Ludus (Primary School)

At the same time that the father took over his sons education, boys and some girls (with their fathers permission) would go to the ludus or primary school.
The children were given a personal slave, called a paedogogus, who would accompany them to school and was in charge of their behavior and appearance. A tutor called a litterator taught the children reading, writing and especially arithmetic. The school day started before dawn and the children would bring candles to work until daybreak. The length of the school year varied from school to school but it always started on March 24. The children would write on wax tablets that could be melted and reused. They used the tablets to practice their handwriting and their arithmetic.

The Grammaticus (Grammar School)

At about age 11, the boys would go on to the grammar school, or grammaticus. Roman girls would rarely continue formal schooling after the ludus because they usually married around age twelve and had little need for a formal education. In the grammaticus, boys would learn Latin, Greek grammar and literature (and sometimes history, geography and/or philosophy). They also read and recited texts aloud with special attention on pronunciation and enunciation. Because the Romans admired Greek culture so much, the Greek language was given priority in the grammaticus. A fully knowledge of Greek showed that you were refined and cultivated. Roman boys liked to show off with their Greek skills much in the same way that we do with French. Almost of the great works of philosophy and many of the works of literature were in Greek, so it was absolutely necessary for the boys to learn the language. Many young boys learned Greek from the Greek slaves in their household and could speak it before they could speak Latin.

 While much of Roman education was adopted from Greek, one difference was that the heroes that Roman males were taught to respect and model themselves after differed from the heroes that Greek males were taught to admire. Greek boys honored the great legends of the past such as Odysseus and Hercules while Roman boys honored more the traditions and heroes of their own families. Compared the Greeks heroes (who came from the great literary works), The Romans heroes were much more realistic and personal. "If Greek education can be defined as the imitation of the Homeric hero, that of ancient Rome took the form of the imitation of ones ancestors"("Cultural Notes: Education and Rhetoric").

The Rhetoric (Secondary School)

When boys turn 15 years old, they then studied at a rhetoric school, which was really not a school at all just lessons with a tutor, called a rhetor.
The rhetor instructed the boys in writing and giving speeches and preparing to take part in public life. A common exercise was to give the students themes (quaestiones, which were abstract general themes and causae, which were themes related to particular people and situations) and the students had to give a speech about the theme. The point was for the males to become good persuasive speakers who would be able to influence a crowd with their speeches.

After Graduation
Formal education ended at 16, when the males had a kind of "graduation ceremony." From then on, they were allowed to wear the adult dress, a white, woolen toga because the male was now considered part of the community. The male was usually apprenticed for one year to an old male friend of the family who had political (or military, if the boy wanted to be a soldier) experience, usually a former political leader. This one-year period was meant to help ease the transition between the strict structure of childhood and the freedom and responsibility of adult, public life.

After this one year, males sometimes went into military service, or otherwise began full public life as a citizen of Rome.