History of Education, Levi Seeley [short novels in english txt] 📗
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Elementary Education.—At six or seven years of age the child was sent to school in charge of a slave, who carried his books and protected him from harm. This was in imitation of the practice in Athens, where the pedagogue performed a like office. But the duties of the Roman slave do not seem to have been as responsible as those of the Athenian pedagogue. As we have seen, in Rome the mothers looked after the morals of their children with great care, and the attendant of the child to school was regarded as but little else than a servant. In some of the wealthier and more aristocratic families, however, in addition to the slave who performed the menial duties mentioned, there was also a pedagogue who attended the youth to school and to the theater, superintended his games, and, in short, accompanied him wherever he went. This pedagogue was intrusted with full power to discipline and to direct the morals of his charge. In some cases several boys were placed in the care of the same pedagogue. On the other hand, it often happened that a boy had a whole retinue of slaves, each having his special duty to perform.
The schools were in charge of literators, usually men of little culture and no social standing. These institutions were public, though supported by private means. The discipline was severe, strict obedience being exacted by the teacher, who made use of the rod when he thought it necessary. The subjects taught were reading, writing, and arithmetic. Great care was taken with pronunciation, just as had been done in the early years under the mother's instruction. In writing, the characters were traced with the stylus on waxed tablets. Arithmetic was learned for its utility. Indeed, the whole purpose of the schools was to prepare the children for practical life. The easier poets were read, explained, and committed to memory, not so much for their content as to fit youth for public speaking. Obedience, politeness, modesty, cleanliness, and respect for teachers were virtues insisted upon. These schools, which covered the instruction of children from five to twelve years of age, did not, as already intimated, reach the very highest classes, who preferred to employ private tutors.
Secondary Education.—At twelve the boy entered a school taught by an educated man, called literatus. Many of the teachers of this class were Greeks. Here, in addition to the studies of the elementary school, the pupils were taught the Greek and Latin languages; and the poets, history, oratory, philosophy, and criticism were also studied. The school of the literatus was much better than that of the literator, but it reached only a limited number of the Roman youth.
Higher Education.—Upon entering his sixteenth year, the boy was inducted with ceremony into the dignity of manhood, and was clothed with the toga virilis, the dress of men. He now chose his calling and began definite preparation for it. Five vocations were open to him,—namely, oratory, politics, arms, law, and agriculture. Those without talent or inclination for any of the others devoted themselves to agriculture. They were taken to the farms, where they received definite instruction in the principles and practices of this occupation. To those who chose oratory, politics, or law, were assigned persons experienced in their respective fields, and the boys were taken to the forum, the senate, and other places where they could hear renowned orators and become familiar with public life. They had also definite instruction in their chosen branch. Those who entered the army were placed in charge of military officers, who taught them military tactics and the practical duties of life in camp. These learners also gave attention to oratory and other intellectual studies.
It will thus appear that in their schools, as in life, the Romans were thoroughly practical. Each boy was carefully prepared for the life which he had chosen, by being inducted into it during his school course. Cicero asked the question, "What have we to learn?" and answered it, "To honor and strengthen the State, in order that we may become the rulers of the world." Roman parents demanded that their children should be trained in the practical duties of life, in order that they might know how to become rich. Therefore all training for children was in this direction.
While this in general was the purpose of education, the Romans had their ideal of what an educated man should be, and that ideal found its expression in the name of orator. He who was the best orator was the best educated man. The schools, however, were for boys, little account being taken of the education of girls except in household duties. Still, women were more respected, and had wider privileges than they had before enjoyed. Most of the wealthy citizens employed Greek tutors for their sons, and sought to ape Grecian manners and culture. Education was completed by study in Athens and by travel—advantages within reach only of the very wealthy.
Criticism of Roman Education.—1. It took great care to instill respect for law and obedience to parental and civil authority.
2. It honored the home and taught respect for the mother. In this, Rome took a great step in advance over many nations of antiquity.
3. It was not a State institution, and therefore could not offer equal advantages to all.
4. Its end was to prepare the youth for practical life and to fit him for the acquirement of wealth, rather than for the development of all the human powers.
5. It was superficial, and sought to apply Greek culture to Roman conditions and character.
6. It did not take a strong hold upon the Roman people so as to shape the course of the nation.
7. It ignored the claims of the masses, including women, to equal education and equal rights.
FOOTNOTES:[20] "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Vol. I, p. 2.
[21] The "Twelve Tables" were formulated about B.C. 450. They constituted the code of written law, and were written or engraved on tables of wood. They settled usages long in practice, but never before written, defining the rights of plebeians and patricians. They were agreed to only after ten years of dispute and mutual concession. They resembled Solon's laws, owing, doubtless, to the commission which was sent to Greece to study the laws of that country. These tables were destroyed when the Gauls sacked Rome (B.C. 390), but their contents had been widely committed to memory, and were handed down from generation to generation. The mothers saw to it that these laws were early taught to their children, who thus came to venerate them and to have respect for authority.
Literature.—(See Literature, Chapter XI.) Forsyth, Life of Cicero; Spofford, Library of Historical Characters; Watson, Quintilian's Institutes (Pedagogy, in Bks. I & II).
CICERO[22] (B.C. 106-43)
Cicero was born B.C. 106, of noble parents. As a boy he had the advantage of the best schools and teachers that Rome could furnish. Later he studied at Athens, under the greatest Greek masters, and became proficient in the Greek language. According to the common practice among the better classes in Rome, he spent some time in travel to complete his education, visiting Egypt, Asia Minor, and other parts of the known world. But Cicero's education can hardly be said to have been "completed" as long as he lived, for he remained a student even in the midst of his most exacting duties of State, and often employed teachers, especially in oratory. Forsyth says of him, "Philosophy and oratory seem to have been the two chief objects of his study; but if of any man before Bacon appeared that might be said which the great master of modern philosophy claimed for himself, that he 'had taken all knowledge for his province,' it might be truly declared of the youthful Cicero. His appetite for knowledge was insatiable, and his desire for distinction boundless."[23]
Becoming an advocate in Rome, he devoted himself chiefly to the defense of men high in position, often those who were charged with bribery, extortion, or other abuse of political trust. Some of his finest orations were delivered on these occasions. In the meantime he lost no opportunity to advance his own political interests. He was elected to one office after another until he reached the height of his political ambition,—the consulship of Rome, the loftiest position attainable by the Roman citizen. As consul he devoted himself with such zeal, integrity, and success as to win the title "Father of his Country." While he held this office he exposed the conspiracy of Catiline and saved Rome from civil war. He conducted the office with honesty and efficiency. Indeed, at a time of great corruption, Cicero stands out during his entire life of nearly sixty-four years as the purest patriot, the broadest-minded statesman, the noblest man of the age. His honesty in public or private life is unquestioned. Of his intellectual greatness Forsyth says, "The greatness of his intellect dwarfed that of every other man alive."[24]
That he was vain of his accomplishments admits of no doubt. That he also sometimes lacked moral courage and was vacillating seems also true. But he was incorruptible in a corrupt age; above reproach when impure life was the rule; and when treason was common, he remained a firm patriot. His celebrated "Philippics" were delivered against practices which indicated the approaching ruin of the republic. That ruin was complete when the Second Triumvirate was formed,—an event which also sealed the doom of Cicero. Upon learning that he was proscribed, Cicero attempted to escape from Italy, but was overtaken and assassinated. His head and hands were carried to Rome and presented to Antony, who gave the head to his wife, Fulvia, whose crimes Cicero had often rebuked. Forsyth says, "She took it, and placing it on her lap, addressed it as if it were alive, in words of bitter insult. She dragged out the tongue, whose sarcasms she had so often felt, and with feminine rage pierced it with her bodkin. It was then taken and nailed to the rostra, together with the hands, to molder there in mockery of the triumphs of his eloquence, of which that spot had so often been the scene. A sadder sight was never gazed upon in Rome."[25]
Cicero's Pedagogy.—It is not as a teacher, but as a writer, that Cicero demands a place in educational history. His writings furnish the finest examples of Latin style, and his orations are studied for their classic beauty and rhetorical finish. He wrote many philosophical works, in which are set forth advanced ideas on education. Especially was he in advance of his age in regard to the punishment of children. He held that corporal punishment should be resorted to only when all else has failed; that the child should not be degraded in the mode of punishment; that punishment should never be administered in anger, should be deferred until ample time for reflection has been allowed to both teacher and pupil; and that reasons for it should be given, so that, if possible, the child may be led to see the justice of the punishment inflicted. The teachings of Cicero on this subject are of great pedagogical importance, and they have at last come to be recognized in the school
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