The Pointy End

You were very quick to agree about the geometry set, I said to Pliny the Elder. I didn't think you ancient Romans thought all that much of geometry.

True, said Pliny. Schoolboys in ancient Rome were generally taught their letters, counting and music at home until they were twelve, then they would go to a school of literature to learn grammar, logic, rhetoric and dialectics. Mathematics and geometry were rather looked down upon as being used by builders and other such people.

So why do you think I should buy one for little Sefu? I asked. Is it because Quintilian recommended the study of geometry? First for the mental training developed by the subject through the logical progression of axioms and proofs. Secondly for its use in political discussions and questions of land measurement?

No, said Pliny.

Well, is it because, as you yourself point out in your Natural Histories, Pamphilus, the first artist to practice painting as a liberal art and the first in painting to be learned in all letters, especially arithmetic and geometry, claimed that without geometry art could never be perfect?

No, said Pliny.

What then?

I simply thought that a fierce-looking child like that would look with glee upon the sharp pointy end of a compass.