Second Form pupils had a day at School like no other, as they travelled back in time to learn what it was like to be a school pupil in the ancient world.
On arrival, pupils found that The Shed had been transformed into a Romano-British schoolroom by the expert team from the Reading and Oxford Classics faculties. They were then dressed in Roman tunics, sandals and headbands, before entering the class to meet their teachers with a greeting of ‘Salve, magister!’ (hello, teacher!), as was usual at the time. They were then given several assignments in different subjects typical of a Roman school, including Mathematics and reading archaic poetry. Equipment included ‘styli’ (pens), inkpots, wax tablets and ‘tabulae’ (counting boards) with Roman numerals.
This immersive experience brought the world of the ancient school to life – technology-free and thoroughly absorbing. Many thanks to the University of Reading outreach team for providing this fascinating glimpse into what life would have been like in a Roman school two thousand years ago.
