In the first new interpretation of Hellenistic and Roman education for fifty years, Teresa Morgan draws on evidence from all over the classical world, including papyri from Graeco-Roman Egypt, to reexamine one of the institutions that made that world an entity, and that was one of its most influential legacies to the West. She introduces fresh interpretations of the function of literature, grammar and rhetoric in education, and in addition explores Hellenistic and Roman theories of cognitive development.