ED260

Bachelor in Education Science (Hons.)

EDU 404
HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

TOPIC :
WORLD ROOTS OF AMERICAN EDUCATION
(Education in Ancient Rome)

Name : Nur Fatma Hanis binti Abdullah Sani

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 CONTENT

Content Pages
1. Introduction 3-4
2. Content 5-13
3. Conclusion 14-15
4. References 16

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 INTRODUCTION

Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge,

skills, values, beliefs and habits of a group of people are transferred from one

generation to the next through storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and or

research. The transmission can be in formal form or informal form. Education requires

instruction of some sort from an individual or composed literature.

From the ‘Dictionary.com’ websites, retrieved on (12, December 2014),

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/education, it define that education are :-

1) The act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the

powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others

intellectually for mature life.

2) The act or process of imparting or acquiring particular knowledge or skills, as for

a profession.

3) A degree, level, or kind of schooling.

4) The result produced by instruction, training, or study.

5) The science or art of teaching; pedagogics.

From the chapter ‘World Roots of American Education’, it discussed about

educations origin, purposes and developments in Chinese, Egyptian, Hebraic, Arabic,

and European cultures. The origins of contemporary educational institutions, the

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purposes that guided the education, and the development of methods of teaching and

learning can be discover by learning the history. An examination of the world origins of

American education provides an opportunity to think historically about education,

especially how the purposes of education were constructed.

I will discuss about education in Ancient Rome. Education is very important to

Ancient Romans. The rich people in Ancient Rome put a great deal of faith in education

while the poor in Ancient Rome did not receive a formal education and many still

learned to read and write. The Roman education system was based on the Greek

System. It has its own educational goals, students, instructional method, curriculum and

its influences on modern education. Both of boys and girls were educated, though not

necessarily together.

In early days of Rome, children did not exposed to the schools, but were

educated at home. Education in Rome was mainly to the boys who came from rich

family and the girls rarely attend the schools as they married at early age. Around 200

before century, Rom had idea from the Greek educational system and begun to send

boys and girls to schools outside of their home.

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 CONTENT

Education in Ancient Rome was begun from 750 before century to 450 of

century. Education in Ancient Rome progressed from an informal, familial system of

education in the early Republic to a tuition-based system during the late Republic and

the Empire. The Roman educational system found its final form during the Roman

Empire. As in Greece, only a few of Romans were attending school as the school is only

for those who are afford to pay tuition who have additional time to attend class. Learning

in Ancient Rome times was based on fear. Boys were beaten due to small offense as

they believe if they were fear to be beaten, they would learn smartly and correctly.

The Ancient Rome educational goal is to develop civic responsibility for republic

and the empire and to develop administrative and military skills. Education in Ancient

Rome also more focus on critical skills that could be applied on daily life. Its goal is

quietly similar to today’s western education system, to teach children think critically and

teach children on good skills that can bring benefits to them and the society. The word

of ‘Education’ is related to formal learning. However, the education in Ancient Rome is

most to informal learning as they delivered they lesson through a song same to Greek.

There are two types of schools in Ancient Rome, primary schools and secondary

schools. School day in Rome was start before the sunrise and will end in the late of

afternoon. There was a break for lunch and afternoon siesta. Students went to schools

every day except when it is market days or religious festivals. ‘The beginning of the

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school year is believed to be on 24 th March as the day is supposed to honor

Minerva, the Roman goodness of knowledge and wisdom’. Guesta, (12 December

2014). “Education in Ancient Rome”. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/guesta460e54/education-in-ancient-rome. The children

wrote on board covered with wax and used pebbles to do math problem. Their ‘pens’

were quills and their ink was a mixture of gum, soot and, sometimes, the ink from an

octopus.

This is the image of wax tablet.

Woman’s position in Roman society was generally viewed to be at home,

particularly in the early period of Rome. Upper-class girls often to learn read and write at

home or were taught by tutors. Generally, girls did not go to school as they were

allowed to get married earlier than boys. They were taught informally by their parents on

how to run a good household, how to sew and on how to be a good wife as the

preparation toward marriage.

Upper-class boy attend primary school called a ludus where they study reading,

writing and counting. If they were passed during the ludus, they were be able to attend

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secondary school. The students for secondary schools are between ages 13 to 16.

They studied Latin and Greek grammar that be taught by Greek slaves, called

pedagogues. ‘Grammar consists of the study of declensions and conjugations and

the analysis of verbal forms’. Robert Guisepi, (12 December 2014), “The History of

Education”. Retrieved from, http://history-world.org/history_of_education.htm.

This Grammar schools called “ grammaticus” were only allowed to children whose

parents had sufficient economic means. Lessons were taught in Greek in order to

ensure that the alumni are able to end up being a bilingual.

After attending primary and secondary school, men who have enough money to

pursue the study are attending school of rhetoric or oratory. Oratory was defined by

Oxford Dictionaries as the art or practice of formal speaking in public or synonyms as

eloquence, grandiloquence, magniloquence, public speaking, speech-making, and

declamation. Roman believe that an effective speakers are meant to be good citizens .

Oratory is not only focus on public speaking and something like that. It’s also

focus on liberal arts and other subjects. ‘Like Isocrates, Cicero believed orators

should be educated in liberal arts subjects such as grammar, rhetoric, logic,

mathematics, and astronomy. He also asserted that they should study ethics,

military science, natural science, geography, history, and law’. Retrieved on (12

December 2014), http://education14.blogspot.com/2008/11/v-education-in-ancient-

rome.html. These school leavers are allowed to be leaders in government and

administration. The orators also have their own gestures.

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 The image below shows the gestures of the orators.

The syllabus of Oratory was subdivided into 3 parts,

1) Translation.

2) Declaiming.

3) Reciting.

Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (35-95 century), or Quintilian, was one of imperial

Rome’s most highly recognized rhetoricians. His father was a well-educated man and

he sent him to Rome to study rhetoric early in the reign of Nero. The emperor appointed

him to the first chair of Latin rhetoric. He is widely referred to in medieval schools of

rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. Quintilian wrote about education and rhetoric,

exerting a strong influence in the schools the Romans spread throughout the Empire.

His influence on education continued from his day until the 5 th century.

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 This is the image of Quintilian.

Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria, a systematic educational treatise was discussed

on three factors.

1) The education preparatory to study rhetoric.

2) Rhetorical and educational theory.

3) The practice of public speaking or declamation.

Quintilian wrote that education must base on the stages of personal development

from childhood to adulthood. He believe that every stages have on their own specific

lessons. Quintilian early vision of stage-based learning consist of four stages which are

the first stage, second stage, third stage and fourth stage. First stage is for children from

birth until age seven, second stage is for children from age seven to fourteen, third

stage is for children from age fourteen to seventeen, and fourth stage is for students

from age seventeen to twenty one.

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 In the first stage, he advised parents to select well-trained and well-spoken

nurses, pedagogues, and companions for their children as their children were

impulsively sought to satisfy their immediate needs and desires. Quintilian recognized

that early childhood is very important in order to determine how the characteristics of

the children during adulthood. If during the childhood children is good then their

adulthood stage must be good and vice versa. So the first stage is really important as it

is related to development of children during adulthood.

In Quintilian’s second stage of education, the children should learn from the

experiences, from clear ideas and train their memory. In this stage, children will learn

how to write the languages that they are already spoke. Quintilian advised that children

to write by tracing the letters’ outline just like what educator Maria Montessori taught to

her children. Anticipating modern education, he urged that the school day include

breaks for games and recreation so students could refresh themselves and renew their

energy.

For the third stage of education, the students are between ages fourteen to

seventeen. In this stage, the children must to study both Greek and Latin grammar,

literature, history and mythology bilingually and bicultural. They also study liberal arts

including music, geometry, astronomy and gymnastics.

The fourth stage, which is the last stage is consist of students ages between

seventeen to twenty-one. In this stage, students will study about drama, law,

philosophy, public speaking, declamation and debate. “The students were taught by

teachers called Grammarians (grammatici) whose primary task according to

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Quintilian was to teach students two things: “the art of correct expression and

the interpretation of the poets”. Grammarians also should teach students about

music, astronomy, philosophy and the metrical aspects of the poetry so that

students can understand the allusions to these areas within literature”. McGinnis,

Claire Mathews; Patricia K. Tull, (Eds.). (2006). As those who are tought. United

States of America, USA: Symposiums.

Many ideas originatd by the Greeks and Romans influenced Arab scholars, who

preserved and interpreted them. As Europes encountered Arabic scholarship, these

ideas were transmitted back to European and later to American culture.

There are four contributions of Education in Ancient Rome to the world of education:

1) Contribution in law, science, theology, philosophy, agriculture and medicine.

2) It’s also contribute towards the basic of calendar and device methods to assess

distance with great accuracy.

3) Responsible towards development of civic responsibility for public and the

empire.

4) And also responsible to development of administrative and military skills.

The image below shows the Roman calendar.

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 The contribution of Ancient Rome to the world of education is by producing the

Roman Law. It covered such facets of everyday Roman life as crime and punishment,

land and property ownership, commerce, the maritime and agricultural industries,

citizenship, sexuality and prostitution, slavery and manumission, local and state politics,

liability and damage to property, and the preservation of the peace. Roman Law was

cumulative in nature. In tradition, the first source of Roman law was the Twelve Tables,

which survives only as citations in later sources.

The image below shows the ilustration in Roman Senate.

Medicine in Ancient Rome combined various techniques using different tools and

rituals. It was divided into specialization such as ophthalmology and urology. Roman

physicians used a wide range of herbal and other medicines. For eample, the uses of

aloe vera can heals wounds (applied dry), removes boils, purgative and treats alopecia.

Their ancient names, often derived from Greek, do not necessarily correspond to

individual modern species, even if these have the same names.

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 When the empire fell, the education that was originally intended to train orators

for the Roman Senate became the model for European education and dominated it until

the 20th century. ‘The Romans also left the legacy of their language. For nearly a

thousand years after the fall of the empire, Latin continued to be the language

spoken in commerce, public service, education, and the Roman Catholic church.

Most books written in Europe until about the year 1200 were written in Latin’.

Robert Guisepi, (12 December 2014), “The History of Education”. Retrieved from,

http://history-world.org/history_of_education.htm.

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 CONCLUSION

The conclusion is, education in Ancient Rome is most priority to upper class boy

as the girls is not went to school as they married earlier than boy. Besides that,

education in Ancient Roman is most referred to education in Greek. ‘Although deeply

influenced by Greek education, Roman education was nonetheless quite

different. For most Greeks, the end of education was to produce a good citizen,

and a good citizen meant a well-rounded individual. The goal of Roman education

was the same, but for the Romans a good citizen meant an effective speaker.’

Robert Guisepi, (12 December 2014), “The History of Education”. Retrieved from,

http://history-world.org/history_of_education.htm.

The goal of education in Ancient Rome is also to develop civic responsibility for

republic and then empire and to develop administrative and military skills. It’s curriculum

is focuses on rading, writing, arithmetic, Laws of Twelve Tables, law and philosophy.

Their agents are private schools and teachers. It’s instructional method are by drilling,

memorization and recitation in primary schools while in rhetorical schools, the method

is by declamating.

In the nutshells, education in Ancient Rome also give contribution on

modern education such as:

1) Emphasis on education for practical administrative skills.

2) Relating education to civic responsibility.

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 3) Infuence in law, science, philosophy, agriculture and medicine field.

4) Infulence in the basic of calendar and device methods to assess distance with

great accuracy.

Many ideas originated by the Greeks and Romans influenced Arab scholars, who

preserved and interpreted them. As Europeans encountered Arabic scholarship, these

ideas were transmitted back to European and later to America culture.

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 LIST OF REFERENCES.

1) ‘Dictionary.com’ websites, retrieved on (12, December 2014),

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/education.

2) Guesta, (12 December 2014). “Education in Ancient Rome”. Retrieved from

http://www.slideshare.net/guesta460e54/education-in-ancient-rome.

3) Robert Guisepi, (12 December 2014), “The History of Education”. Retrieved

from, http://history-world.org/history_of_education.htm.

4) McGinnis, Claire Mathews; Patricia K. Tull, (Eds.). (2006). As those who are

tought. United States of America, USA: Symposiums.

5) (12 December 2014), http://education14.blogspot.com/2008/11/v-education-

in-ancient-rome.html.

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