WOMAN'S LONG STRUGGLE 21 



were carefully read and expounded; but it was enough 

 for the girl to have learned how to read, write and cipher ; 

 she had then to learn her domestic duties. ' ' * 



With the extension of the empire and the consequent 

 enormous increase in wealth and the rapid progress in 

 social and intellectual freedom, there was a notable change 

 in the character of the education given to women, at least 

 to those of the wealthier and patrician families. This was, 

 in great measure, due to the wave of Hellenism which, 

 shortly after the conquest of Greece, broke upon the 

 Roman capital with such irresistible force. To the large 

 and rapidly increasing number of women of keen intellect 

 and lofty aspirations, whose minds had hitherto been con- 

 fined to the comparatively barren field of Roman letters, 

 the splendid creations of Greek genius came as a revela- 

 tion. To become thoroughly versed in Greek poetry and 

 proficient in the teachings of Greek philosophy was the 

 ambition of scores of Roman women, who soon became 

 noted for the extent and variety of their attainments, as 

 well as for their rare culture and charming personality. 



Among the pioneers of the intellectual movement in 



i Woman Through the Ages, Vol. I, pp. 110, 111, by Emil Eeich 

 London, 1908. 



Schoolhouses among the Eomans, as well as among the Greeks, 

 were quite different from our modern, well-equipped buildings. Usu- 

 ally, at least, in earlier times, instruction was given in the open air, 

 in some quiet street corner or in tabernce sheds or lean-tos as in 

 certain Mohametan countries to-day. Horace refers to this in Epis- 

 tola XX, Lib. I, when he writes: 



"Ut pueros elementa docentem 

 Occupet extremis in vicis balba senectus." 



In such schools the pupils sat on the floor or the bare ground, ' 

 or, if the lessons were given on the street, they sat on the stones. 

 There were no desks, or, if there were any benches, they had no 

 backs. The pupils were, therefore, perforce obliged to write on 

 their knees. 



Of. Historical Survey of Pre-Christian Education, pp. 278 and 

 346, by S. S. Laurie, London, 1900. 



