.
Cicero asked the question, "What have we to learn?" and answered it, "To
honor and strengthen the State, in order that we may become the rulers
of the world." Roman parents demanded that their children should be
trained in the practical duties of life, in order that they might know
how to become rich. Therefore all training for children was in this
direction.

While this in general was the purpose of education, the Romans had their
ideal of what an educated man should be, and that ideal found its
expression in the name of _orator_. He who was the best orator was the
best educated man. The schools, however, were for boys, little account
being taken of the education of girls except in household duties. Still,
women were more respected, and had wider privileges than they had before
enjoyed. Most of the wealthy citizens employed Greek tutors for their
sons, and sought to ape Grecian manners and culture. Education was
completed by study in Athens and by travel--advantages within reach only
of the very wealthy.

=Criticism of Roman Education.=--1. It took great care to instill
respect for law and obedience to parental and civil authority.

2. It honored the home and taught respect for the mother. In this, Rome
took a great step in advance over many nations of antiquity.

3. It was not a State institution, and therefore could not offer equal
advantages to all.

4. Its end was to prepare the youth for practical life and to fit him
for the acquirement of wealth, rather than for the development of all
the human powers.

5. It was superficial, and sought to apply Greek culture to Roman
conditions and character.

6. It did not take a strong hold upon the Roman people so as to shape
the course of the nation.

7. It ignored the claims of the masses, including women, to equal
education and equal rights.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Vol. I, p. 2.

[21] The "Twelve Tables" were formulated about B.C. 450. They
constituted the code of written law, and were written or engraved on
tables of wood. They settled usages long in practice, but never before
written, defining the rights of _plebeians_ and _patricians_. They were
agreed to only after ten years of dispute and mutual concession. They
resembled Solon's laws, owing, doubtless, to the commission which was
sent to Greece to study the laws of that country. These tables were
destroyed when the Gauls sacked Rome (B.C. 390), but their contents had