Education in Ancient Rome

Education in Ancient Rome explores the Roman approach to education, highlighting its lasting relevance beyond antiquity. Roman education focused not just on academic knowledge but also on character and behavior, as the Latin term educatio referred to raising a child physically and morally rather than intellectually. The Romans, although heavily influenced by Greek educational methods, crafted a cohesive curriculum that blended Greek and Latin literature, with figures like Virgil and Cicero studied alongside Homer and Demosthenes. Over time, the curriculum became more focused on grammar, literature, and rhetoric, which later formed the core of the medieval Trivium and influenced education for centuries, including during the Elizabethan era. Based primarily on Quintilian and other Roman sources, this work offers both a synthesis of known material and new contributions to the understanding of Roman education, contributing to the scholarly exploration of ancient educational practices.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1977.