ROMAN Education

Directions: Your chairperson will read this selection to you slowly. Copy each word as you listen. Before the printing press was invented, books were produced individually by scribes laboriously copying the words onto paper.

During the time of ancient Rome, only the rich could afford to send their children to school—and only the boys attended. Girls might learn to read and write at home. They would be taught by their mothers and would also learn how to run a household and perhaps play some music.

Boys would also learn to read and write as well as to recite the works of famous authors. In the grammaticus, or secondary school, history, philosophy, geometry, geography, astronomy, music, and Greek were important subjects.

Many of the teachers were Greek slaves captured during Roman invasions. The Romans had a great deal of re-spect for Greek learning. For this reason, higher education would be according to Greek models and included the study of public speaking with a rhetor. Some students would be sent to Athens to study with Greek teachers.

In ancient Roman times, school hours were long and teachers were very strict, beating their students when they felt it was necessary. Books were highly valued in Rome and were made of papyrus or parchment. Since there was no such thing as a printing press, all books were copied by scribes.

Because paper was very expensive, most writing was done on wooden panels coated with wax. If you made a mistake, you needed only to rub out your error.

If you were not educated during Roman times, you would most likely become a laborer of some kind—carpenter, metalworker, potter, baker, or butcher, for example.

Women were expected to stay home and make cloth, keep house, or tend flocks and work in shops. Rich women had slaves to do the work for them.

Romans II:XXXIV ROMAN ALPHABET

As you will recall from the Historical Overview Essay, the Etruscans greatly influenced Roman life, including teaching about writing.

The Romans adopted 21 of the 26 letters of the Etruscan alpha- bet. They used seven letters, I, V, X, L, C, M, and D, to represent numbers. (See ROMAN NUMERALS.) The Romans adopted ad- ditional letters from the Greek alphabet.

Here is the Roman alphabet:

A B C D E F H I K L M N O P Q S T V X

Look familiar? What do you notice about the Roman alphabet? Is something missing?

P was the original shape of R. The Romans later added Y and Z to the end of their alphabet (from the Greeks), and U, W, and J appeared during the Middle Ages.

Which letter is not accounted for? Note As the Romans used their alphabet, they made changes in style. They added the cursive style and began to use the writing in artistic ways, adding serifs, or an upswing, at the end of the let- ters. The inscriptions and carvings on archways in the Temple of Janus is called lapidary. It was used on other public buildings and monuments.

The Romans didn’t use paper as we know it. They used papyrus, like the Egyptians, and parchment for important documents.

The Roman legions spread the alphabet all across Europe during their conquests. From these beginnings we have the Romance family of languages that include French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Although English is not in the same family of lan- guages, the Latin alphabet was adopted and, as you have prob- ably noticed, is basically the same as we use today.

Romans II:XXXV Romans II:XXXVI ROMAN NUMERALS -1

The Roman Numerals Chart below shows the Roman numerals, their Latin names, and their Arabic equivalents. As you can see, we use Arabic numerals every day. The Romans had a different way than we do of combining individual numerals in order to make a variety of numbers. Sometimes they added smaller numbers to the right side to make the value larger, and sometimes they added smaller numbers to the left to make that value smaller. So when a number comes before one larger than itself, you subtract it from that following number. When a smaller number follows a larger one, you add. Here are examples:

V = 5 VI = 6 (5+1) IV = 4 (5-1) X = 10 XI = 11 (10+1) IX = 9 (10-1) L = 50 LI = 51 (50+1) LX = 60 (50+10) XLV = 49 (50-10+5) LXIX = 69 (50+10+9)

Roman Numerals Chart

Arabic Roman Latin name 1 I unus 2 II duo 3 III tres, tria Question: 4 IV quattuor Are you aware of 5 V quinque Roman numerals 6 VI sex in your daily life? 7 VII septum Look around you. 8 VIII octo You will likely be 9 IX novem surprised by how 10 X decem many times these 20 XX viginti numerals are 30 XXX triginta there. 40 XL quadraginta 50 L quinquaginta 60 LX sexaginta 70 LXX septuaginta 80 LXXX octoginta 90 XC nonaginta 100 C centrum 500 D quingenti 1000 M mille

Romans II:XXXVII ROMAN NUMERALS -2

Using Roman Numerals

1. Write your birthdate numerically using Arabic numbers.

______month day year

Now write it using Roman numerals.

______month day year

2. Some of our months take their names from the old Roman calendar, which began with March. What numbers correspond to the months of our year?

Month Roman numeral Latin name

September Question: October Have you noticed November how Roman December numerals are used on the 3. Do these simple math problems. Write your answers in Arabic faces of clocks and Roman numerals. and watches?

Does this use Arabic Roman have any impact on viewers? a. XIV - II = ______

b. X x X = ______

c. XL + VIII + II = ______

4. You may wish to make up some additional problems to trade with a friend for more practice. Try some historical dates like 1215, 1588, 1607, 1776, etc.

Check your answers with your teacher.

Romans II:XXXVIII ROMAN NUMERALS -2 ROMAN MONEY

During the early Roman Republic, bartering, not money, was the means of exchange. Therefore, no coins existed. Later, blocks of bronze were exchanged. As the empire grew, coins were intro- duced to simplify the economy over the vast territory. The first mint was opened about 290 B.C. Just as today, inflation affected the value of the coins. The values used on this page are those during the empire period.

Denarii were silver coins which were valued at a 25:1 ratio with the gold aurei and were coins of common usage. As the denarius became less valuable, the aureus became more useful. The ses- tertius was made of bronze and was valued at a 4:1 ratio with the denarius while the copper as was valued at a 4:1 ratio with the sestertius.

1 aureus = 25 denarii 1 denarius = 4 sestertii 1 sestertius = 4 asses 1 as = 4 quadrans 1 as = 2 semis

Using Roman money

Use the information you have learned about Roman numerals and money to answer the following math problem:

You are invited to a Roman banquet and want a new outfit to look your best. You give your slave:

VI sestertii coins XXX denarii coins I aureus coin

You wish to buy a party stola (woman) or toga (man) for 25 denarii—plus some new sandals which will cost 20 denarii. You cannot go without a jar of wine for the party. That will cost you 5 sestertii. You also must have a new ring to show off. You remember one that caught your eye for 9 denarii and 1 sestertii. Will your slave have enough money? Will there be change? If so, how much?

Romans II:XXXIX