The Schooling of Slaves in First-Century Rome

Abstract

The training of slaves in clerical skills to increase their value was common, but, as C. A. Forbes remarks, it is easier to discern the results than the processes of servile education in antiquity.' No doubt teachers in the tradition of Cato's Chilon (Plut. Cato Maior 20.3) served in the paedag6gia of the massive households.2 In the majority of homes, however, not only might time and expertise for such instruction be lacking, but the numbers simply would not warrant the formation of a class. In these circumstances young slaves might be apprenticed to a scribe or accountant.3 A common course, however, was to enroll slaves at school;4 scholars have overlooked important evidence to this effect. The opening lines of Martial's well-known address to the schoolteacher