Modern schoolchildren would be horrified if they knew in what conditions the children of Ancient Rome studied ...
Today only the lazy do not scold modern education, looking back at the fact that "they used to be taught better". Meanwhile, such problems have always existed: in the history of mankind there was no such stage at which everyone would be happy with the training of their children. Therefore, it is worth looking into the past and figuring out how the children who lived before our era studied: did their ancient education suit them?
Who could attend the educational institutions?
The first educational institutions, called scholae, were discovered in ancient Rome in the III century BC. Poor citizens were not available for training because all schools were paid. However, laborers, artisans and slaves never entered upon the idea of ​​demanding free education for their children - they learned all the necessary skills at home, working as apprentices from a young age. Prosperous representatives of Roman society gave their children to private schools in which their offspring could learn to read and write useful contacts.
At first, girls and boys were trained in one class, but later a separate education system was introduced. Because of the patriarchy in that era, in some lessons, boys were taught the art of fighting and the foundations of Roman law, and girls were taught the basics of medicine, servant management, and childcare. It can not be said that the weaker sex was biased: on the contrary, after the end of the first grade, the girls were hired by additional teachers for domestic studies. In addition to basic subjects, the personal tutor taught her singing, dancing, rhetoric and music: the development turned out to be more than comprehensive. The more educated the bride, the more likely she was to become the wife of a prominent politician.
What was the basis for the training system?
Roman education itself was divided into two schools: fear and excitement for learning. In some, the main motivation was the opportunity to experience physical pain due to disobedience and unlearned lessons, in others - the desire to engage in lively disputes and together seek out the truth. In institutions of the first type, children were beaten for the slightest fault, as the teachers were sure that the child would study more diligently if he was afraid of teachers until death. More democratic schools instilled an interest in listening to sessions with intellectual conversations with students and virtually the friendship of teachers with students.
Who were the teachers of the Roman schools?
Since training was paid and cost a lot of money, the educational process was trusted by the best of the best. The founders of the first schools were either Roman luminaries of science, or liberated Greek slaves who brought to the city the education system seen in their homeland. The government of Rome quickly became convinced that slaves and freedmen are not the best teachers, because they know little, did not have time to see the world and work through their sleeves. For the teaching of key subjects, experienced military, politicians, rich traders were invited. They had something to tell and they could share real experience gained in battle or during travel - this education was valued above boring lectures that were read by literate slaves.
What did the school in ancient Rome look like?
Ancient Roman scholae differed from modern educational institutions that have a separate building and state support. They were located in the buildings of shops or even the term (Roman baths). Owners of schools rented premises in private buildings, fencing off classes from prying eyes with a woven curtain. Furniture furniture was minimal: the teacher was sitting at the wooden chair, and the students were located on low stools, laying out everything necessary for classes on their knees.
Paper was too expensive to be allowed to dirty pupils of primary school. Those children who did not know how to write, memorized the lessons aloud, the rest - wrote with wands on waxed plaques. The older boys, having learned the letter without errors, received permission to write on parchment made of reeds and papyrus according to the methods of the ancient Egyptians.
What subjects were taught in schools?
In the Roman Empire, the school canon was first established - a compulsory list of disciplines and a list of questions that the student had to learn before entering adulthood. They were recorded and handed over to future generations by the scientist Varro (116-27 BC): he named nine basic subjects - grammar, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, rhetoric, dialectics, music, medicine and architecture. As already mentioned above, some of them were considered purely "feminine", so the medicine and music were subsequently excluded from the main list. Even at the beginning of the new millennium, the best compliment for the young Roman woman was the "puella docta" - "real doctor". School subjects were called "free arts", because they were intended for children of free citizens. Interestingly, slave skills were called "mechanical arts."
How did the training go?
When students of modern schools complain about an overly busy schedule, they need to talk about how the children of ancient Rome learned. They did not have days off: classes were held seven days a week! School holidays were only for religious holidays, which were called "extravaganza". If there was a summer heat in the city, the classes also stopped before it fell and you could again be practicing without harming your health.
The school year began in March, classes began daily at dawn and ended with the onset of darkness. At school, children were counted on bills, fingers or pebbles, using ink from rubber, soot and an internal octopus fluid.
Where could I go after school?
Universities did not exist in their present view, but teenagers could continue their studies after the classical school. After graduating from it at the age of 15-16, young men, with sufficient funds from their parents, fell into the highest stage of education - a rhetorical school. Here they got acquainted with the oratory, the rules of making speeches, economics, philosophy. The need for such education was spurred on by the fact that graduates of schools of rhetoric almost guaranteed to become public figures, and even senators.