Schooling in Ancient Rome By Patrick Choi and Nick Farr

Going to School Roman children begin to attend school when they are about six or seven years of age. The father pays the school fees to the schoolmasters. Some rich children were taught at home by private tutors, often Greek slaves. Many freed slaves who were educated started their own schools. The schoolmaster in Roman times were very strict and beat the children if they didn’t learn their lessons or if they were late. Schools started early in the morning, when it was still dark. They ended early in the afternoon so there is time to play games with friends or visit the local bath.

Primary School In primary schools, boys and girls learn to read and write and simple arithemetic. During the ancient roman times, students did not write on books or papers instead, they wrote on boards spread with wax. When writing with scrolls, they had a pen and a ink in a pot.

Teachers Many rich Roman children were tutored by slaves who were once Greek. Many educated slaves who earns their freedom started schools of their own. Teachers taught students several types of educational lessons such as, reading, writing, arithmetic, philosophy and public speaking. Teachers were very strict, so if there were students who didn’t listen to the teacher, then they get hit by canes and straps. At times teachers taught school kids while its still dark at night.

Tools for School Students wrote on waxed tablets. They scratch words or sums in the wax with the point of a stick. The can rub out their mistakes with the flat end of the stick. Roman books are rolls of paper, called scrolls, and are written by hand. Each end of the roll is stuck to a rod. You have to unroll the paper to read each page. People write on the scrolls with pens made of small reeds or of copper. The ink in the pot is a sticky mixture of soot, pitch and the black ink from an octopus.

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