Athenian Education vs Roman Education

Reflection 15
Education tends to differ in multiple cultures, but overall has the same task which is to teach the way and beliefs and knowledge to the children so that it can be continued into their futures. In modern education, there are general topics that are seen as important and taught in every nation across the board. Here, we will take a brief look into the differences between ancient Athenian education and Roman education. In ancient Rome even though the poor were not able to afford schooling, they were still able to read and write. Children from wealthy families were taught by tutors in their homes. Boys were the only ones allowed to what was considered an actual school. They were even beaten if they did not know the correct information. At that time, children were taught that certain things were right, and they were not to question it at any point. Also since textbooks were merely too expensive, the lectures were often dictated and if the child didn’t know the correct information they were sometimes held down by two slaves and then whipped by their tutor. In Athens, education was affordable so that even the poorest families could send their children to school. The basis of the education was train pupils in the arts and for peace and war. Although boys were the focus as in the ancient Roman education, the curriculum wasn’t as rigorous and the children were still expected to learn the subjects being taught by the lecturing because books too were expensive in Athens. The main goal of education in Athens was to better character as opposed to Roman education where they were merely fascinated with the idea of being like the Greeks in education instead of actually taking on the beliefs of the Greeks. If the Romans focused on the character of their young people opposed to the fact that they were learning and being told what was correct (they weren’t allowed to question anything) they may have been able to realize that the whippings didn’t make better students. In modern education, teachers are not allowed to place their hands or any other threats to their students really. This can have both a good and bad effect because I feel that if a person can hear with their ears they can definitely learn by their bottom. I suppose that is due to the fact that my parenting comes from individuals who believed that very thing since they were forced to endure beatings from their teachers.



'Oooowwwwwwwwwww"