Roman Education and the Iliad

Vocabulary and key concepts from Roman primary education practices and the essential plot and characters of Homer's Iliad.

Primary education

The first level of schooling for Roman children, ages six or seven to eleven or twelve, where they were taught reading, writing, and elementary arithmetic.

Grammar schools

Secondary schools attended by Roman boys after their primary education was completed.

Personal tutor

A slave, often a Greek, appointed by a wealthy family to take a child to and from school and sometimes act as a language assistant.

Tabulae

Wax tablets on which Roman pupils would write their lessons.

Stylus

The instrument used by Roman pupils to write on their tablets.

Abacus

A device used by Roman children for learning and performing elementary arithmetic.

Martial

A Roman poet who complained about being woken up soon after dawn by the noise and cruel voice of a schoolmaster.

Homer

The Ionian poet, traditionally said to be blind and living before $700$ BC, credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey.

The Iliad

The tragic epic poem by Homer that recounts the events leading to the sack of Troy.

The Odyssey

The epic poem by Homer telling of Odysseus' return from Troy to Greece and the recovery of his kingdom.

Eris

The goddess of Strife who threw a golden apple inscribed "For the most beautiful" into a wedding feast after being insulted by not being invited.

Paris

The Trojan prince chosen by Jupiter to judge the beauty contest between the goddesses Juno, Minerva, and Venus.

Helen

The wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, whose abduction by Paris led to a massive Greek expedition against Troy.

Agamemnon

The king of Mycenae and leader of the Greek expedition whose quarrel with Achilles over a slave girl begins the action of the Iliad.

Achilles

The greatest Greek warrior who chose a short life with immortal fame over a long but obscure existence.

Patroclus

The friend of Achilles whose death by Hector's hand caused Achilles to drag Hector's corpse around the tomb in grief and anger.

Hector

The Trojan hero and son of Priam whose death signaled the unavoidable fall of Troy.

Priam

The king of Troy who secretly entered the Greek camp to beg Achilles for the return of his son's body for funeral rites.

Iris

The goddess of the rainbow sent by Jupiter to instruct Priam to request Hector's body from Achilles.

Mercury

The god who disguised himself to lead Priam safely through the enemy lines to Achilles' hut.

Achilles' heel

The only part of Achilles' body where a weapon could penetrate to cause a mortal wound.

Son of Albinus calculation

A math problem where a student must calculate that $\frac{5}{12}$ minus $\frac{1}{12}$ equals $\frac{1}{3}$, and then adding $\frac{1}{12}$ to the result equals $\frac{1}{2}$.