Ancient Roman Education
In the early Roman society, before the 6th century BC, children were taught by their parents. The mothers taught their daughters to do housework and anything else the mothers thought might be useful for their daughters to know. The mothers also taught their sons before the age of seven.
After the age of seven, boys moved under the control of their fathers. The father would decide what his son needed to know in order to succeed in life, and would give his son lessons. Learning by following examples was considered important, so the son accompanied his father on all important occasions.Later in the history, Romans adopted Greek educations principals.
By then, Greek was the international language spoken by many Roman neighbors. From the 2nd century BC a Roman was considered fully educated only if he received the same education as a native Greek in parallel with instructions in Latin.
Only the children from the wealthiest families would receive a fully bi-lingual education. A very young boy or girl from a wealthy family would spend a lot of time with a Greek servant or slave and therefore would learn Greek before Latin. This private tutoring available only to rich people gave the highest result. The child also learned to read and write, again with Greek coming before Latin.
From the 3rd century BC Greek education was available to less privileged children in public schools, where the results were not as impressive. It took several years to teach the children to read. First the alphabet was taught from A to Z then backwards and next from both ends at once. After that, students were taught simple syllables then simple words followed by more difficult words and phrases. This method was borrowed from the Greeks.
The school day began before sunrise, as did all work in Rome. Students brought candles to use until daybreak. There was a rest for lunch and the afternoon siesta, and then back to school until late afternoon. No one knows how long the school year actually was; it probably varied from school to school. However, one thing was uniform - the school began each year on the 24th of March.
In early Roman days, a Roman boy's education took place at home. If his father could read and write, he taught his son to do the same. The father instructed his sons in Roman law, history, customs, and physical training, to prepare for war. Reverence for the gods, respect for law, obedience to authority, and truthfulness were the most important lessons to be taught.
Girls were taught by their mother, learning to spin, weave, and sew.
About 200 BC, the Romans borrowed some of the ancient Greek system of education. Although they did not add many subjects, they did begin sending their boys, and some of their girls, with their father's permission, to school, outside their home, at age 6 or 7.
The children studied reading, writing, and counting. They read scrolls and books. They wrote on boards covered with wax, and used pebbles to do math problems. They were taught Roman numerals, and recited lessons they had memorized.
At age 12 or 13, the boys of the upper classes attended "grammar" school, where they studied Latin, Greek, grammar, and literature.
At age 16, some boys went on to study public speaking at the rhetoric school, to prepare for a life as an orator. Poor children couldn't attend as the schools were not free.
Children, educated outside of the home, were sent to the house of a tutor, who would group-tutor.
Children, educated in the home, were taught by intelligent and gifted slaves.
Children, in poorer homes, did not have slaves to teach them. They were taught by their parents at home.
Reference : Encyclopedia Britannica
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