How where slaves educated in ancient rome?

Answer 1

Roman education was of a private nature, in the sense that it was not state funded nor mandatory. Parents had to pay for their children's education. However, even the poor knew the value of being literate, so there were a surprising number of Romans who could at least read the advertising posters. The education of the lower classes was either given at home or in a group that met in a certain place. The education of the upper classes was given initially at home, by either a parent or slave, and then the student (male) could complete his eduction abroad in Greece, if he chose. This studying in Greece was generally rhetoric, which women did not pursue.

Answer 2

The majority of slaves in the Roman Empire were either defeated enemies or simply bought and sold. Most of them were put to work as farm hands or in other forms of unskilled labor. House slaves and other slaves that showed skill or promise got on-the-job training for more demanding tasks. A small group might get tasks as managers, secretaries or bookkeepers. Even they would get mostly on-the-job training or (sometimes) be sent on a traineeship elsewhere.

There were no 'slave schools' where people could sent their promising slaves to get a formal education and it would have been unthinkable that slaves would be pupils and sit next to the sons of free citizens. So you might call the few slaves that did get an education, mostly home schooled.

Answer 3

Slaves were educated according to their function. If he were owned by a butcher, he was taught meat cutting and preserving, if he were a jeweler's slave, he was taught the craft of jewelry making. Some, as children, were educated right along with the master's children and became lifelong companions to them. Others, if they showed an aptitude for figures, were educated as Accountants and bookkeepers. A slave's education depended on the slave's aptitude, attitude and function.