There was no system of public education in Ancient Rome. The majority of Roman children received only an elementary education. Boys of the poorer classes usualy left school as soon as they were old enough to help their fathers.
The sons of those who could aford to pay the fees went on to a higher school. HEre a boy studied the Greek language and Greek and Latin literature. He read famous Greek works, especially the poems of Homer. In latin he read, along with other writings, the comedies of Terence and Plautus, the poems of Virgil and Horace and the historical books of Livy. In the lives of great Romans and in the stories of his nation's history he found notable examples of reverence for the gods, of patriotism and courage, of endurance and self-control, of proper behavior towards parents and elders.
Not all the education of a Roman boy was received in the classroom. There was so much more to learn, especially in the matter of politics and social affairs. There were many school holidays; these gave a boy a chance to accompany his father abroad to learn something of the work he himself would have to do as an adult citizen and of the duties that he would have to perform. He had many opportunities to broaden his education: he could go with his father to the temples to learn about the religious practices of his people, to the forum to hear outstanding speakers, to the law-courts to see how cases were tried, to the senate house to observe something of the conduct of public affairs.
In his seventeenth year a Roman boy came of age. The father chose a day to celebrate this event, commonly the feast of liberalia, which fell on the seventeenth of March. The whole family joined in making the occasion a happy one. The day began with a sacrifice. The boy took of his bulla ( a charm against evil), which he had worn since infancy, and the purple-bordered toga of boyhood, and put on the toga virilis, the plain white toga of manhood. His naem was formally entered on the list of the Roman citizens with full rights. It was a thrilling day for the young citizen. Wider duties lay before him. At seventeen he became liable for military service.