Student Name
Western Civilization I
Professor Tony Ball
 July 26, 2000

First Written Assignment: Education in Ancient Rome

Upon reading the primary sources Letter Home of a “University” Student, On Roman Educational Practices, The Ideal Education, The Training of Children, and On the Tranquility of the Mind, one can see that the education that existed in Ancient Rome was very important and valuable to the Roman people. Reading, studying, quick learning and eloquent speech were all elements that were expected to be a part of the Roman’s educational lives.

In Letter Home of a “University” Student, the language that was used throughout the latter was quite notable. The language was presented in a mature manner, considering that it was written by a young man. When the young man used phrases such as “exceedingly glad” and unhesitatingly accepted” (both found in paragraph 1) and words such as “abhor,” “bailiff” and “distinguished,” (found in paragraphs 2 and 3) he exhibited the respectable quality of the education provided for him. Also, the context in which these words and phrases were used demonstrated the high quality of the educational system that the young people would go through. The language used in this letter is evidence that the education provided for the youth of Rome was fairly advanced and complex for that time.

Letter Home of a “University” Student also provided information about the extreme respect that the pupils had for their educators. The young man who wrote this letter said that the relationship that he has with his educator made him feel more like a son to the educator rather than a pupil (Letter Home of a “University” Student, paragraph 2). The young man was impressed by his educator in many ways and thus had a high respect and admiration for him. On Educational Practices: Letters also shows how respected educators were during this time. In this letter, Pliny stated that there was a young man (a son of a fellow townsman) that came to “pay his respects” to him (Letters, paragraph 1). And even beyond the respect held for the educators, there was an obvious respect for the education given. On Educational Practices: Letters state that “Probably in no other age was so much money donated by wealthy men for education – especially in their home towns – until recently in America.” (Letters, introduction) This statement can lead one to believe that education was a significant concern of the people during this time.

On Tranquility of Mind is an essential primary source for one to read in understanding education in the time of Ancient Rome. The main idea of this primary source explains that Roman’s felt that if one had many books that did not mean that s/he was well educated. It seems as though it was considered an insult to the educated if a person had books for “show,” rather than having books for learning. Seneca stated in this piece that “. . . it is in the houses of the laziest men that you will see a full collection of orations and history . . .” (On Tranquility of Mind, 7) Seneca also states that it is “ . . . much better to surrender yourself to a few authors than wander through many.” (On Tranquility of Mind, 4) Reading this piece can help one realize that Ancient Romans took their education very seriously and that they were insulted by those who did  not.

The difference between the education of males and the education of females can be seen in the primary source The Ideal Education. In this piece, it is stated that male students were educated in music, gymnastics, geometry, and oratory (the art of speaking eloquently). It did not state what female students were educated in, or even if their education was different from that of males. It is also stated that “ . . . among boys, good promise is shown . . .” (The Ideal Education, 2) This shows how Romans had much pride in the intelligence of the boys amongst them. Quintilianus also mentions that he were to prefer it if male pupils were to learn the Greek language first before the Latin language (The Ideal Education, 12). There is very little mention of the female educational expectancy.

In many of these primary sources, parental guidance and parental involvement in the children’s education is discussed. The Training of Children mentions that “the chief thing that fathers are to look to is that they themselves become effectual examples to their children . . .” (The Training of Children, 18) The Ideal Education mentions that a father should, as soon as his son is born, have high hopes for his education and intelligence (The Ideal Education, 1). Horace mentions in On Roman Educational Practices that his father, “most faithful of guardians,” was ever present in his studies (On Roman Educational Practices, paragraph1 1). In Letter Home of a Roman “University” Student, the young man mentions that he discontinues being educated by Gorgias because his father requested he did so (Letter of a Roman “University” Student, paragraph 3). All of these examples can show one that a child’s education was important to not only the child, but the family also. Having a well educated child reflected well on the parents.

 “ . . . There is no one who has not gained something by study.” (The Ideal Education, 3) This appears to be the general feeling about Ancient Roman education. Romans appear to have taken studies very seriously, feeling that it reflected on what kind of people they were. Being well educated seemed to lead to being respected and being admired in Ancient Rome. Education was a very important element to the Ancient Roman’s lives.