The History of Education Part 7

13. Cicero: Importance of the Twelve Tables in Education.

14. Schreiber: A Roman Farmer's Calendar.

15. Polybius: The Roman Character.

16. Mommsen: The Grave and Severe Character of the Earlier Romans.

17. Epitaph: The Education of Girls.

18. Marcus Aurelius: The Old Roman Education described.

19. Tacitus: The Old and the New Education contrasted.

20. Suetonius: Attempts to Prohibit the Introduction of Greek Higher Learning.

(a) Decree of the Roman Senate, 161 B.C.

(b) Decree of the Censor, 92 B.C.

21. Vergil: Difficulty experienced in Learning to Read.

22. Horace: The Education given by a Father.

23. Martial: The Ludi Magister.

(a) To the Master of a Noisy School.

(b) To a Schoolmaster.

24. Cicero: Oratory the Aim of Education.

25. Quintilian: On Oratory.

26. Constantine: Privileges granted to Physicians and Teachers.

QUESTIONS ON THE READINGS

1. Give reasons why the Laws of the Twelve Tables (12) were considered of such fundamental importance (13) in the education of the early Roman boy?

How do you explain their being supplanted later by the Latinized _Odyssey_?

2. What does the Farmer's Calendar (14) reveal as to the character of Roman life?

3. Contrast the Roman character (15, 16) with that of the Athenian.

4. Compare the education of a Roman matron, as revealed by the epitaph (17), with that of a girl in later American colonial times.

5. After reading Marcus Aurelius (18) and Tacitus (19), what is your judgment as to the relative merits of the old and the new education: (_a_) as a means of training youths? (_b_) as adapted to the changed conditions of Imperial Rome?

6. How do you account for the attempts of the conservative officials of the State to prohibit the introduction of Greek higher schools (20 a-b) proving so unsuccessful?

7. Compare the difficulties involved in learning to read Greek (Fig. 6) and Latin (21). Either and English.

8. What type of higher educational advantages does the selection from Horace (22) indicate as prevailing in Roman cities? Compare with present- day advanced education.

9. What do Martial's Epigrams to the Roman schoolmasters (23 a-b) indicate as to the nature of the schools, school discipline, and social status of the Roman primary teacher?

10. Do the selections from Cicero (24) and Quintilian (25) satisfy you that oratory was a sufficiently broad idea for the higher education of youths under the Empire? Why?

11. What does the decree of Constantine (26) indicate as to the social status of the higher teachers under the Empire?

SUPPLEMENTARY REFERENCES

Abbott, F. F. _Society and Politics in Ancient Rome_.

* Adams, G. B. _Civilization during the Middle Ages_.

Anderson, L. F. "Some Facts regarding Vocational Education among the Greeks and Romans"; in _School Review_, vol. 20, pp. 191-201.

* Clarke, Geo. _Education of Children at Rome_.

* Dill, Sam'l. _Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire_.

* Laurie, S. S. _Historical Survey of Pre-Christian Education_.

Mahaffy, J. P. _The Silver Age of the Greek World_.

Ross, C. F. "The Strength and Weakness of Roman Education"; in _School and Society_, vol. 6, pp. 457-63.

Sandys, J. E. _History of Cla.s.sical Scholars.h.i.+p_, vol. i.

Thorndike, Lynn. _History of Mediaeval Europe_.

Westermann, W. L. Vocational Training in Antiquity; in _School Review_, vol. 22, pp. 601-10.

CHAPTER IV

THE RISE AND CONTRIBUTION OF CHRISTIANITY

I. THE RISE AND VICTORY OF CHRISTIANITY

RELIGIONS IN THE ROMAN WORLD. As was stated in the preceding chapter (p.

58), the Roman state religion was an outgrowth of the religion of the home. Just as there had been a number of fireside deities, who were supposed to preside over the different activities of the home, so there were many state deities who were supposed to preside over the different activities of the State. In addition, the Romans exhibited toward the religions of all other peoples that same tolerance and willingness to borrow which they exhibited in so many other matters. Certain Greek deities were taken over and temples erected to them in Rome, and new deities, to guard over such functions as health, fortune, peace, concord, sowing, reaping, etc., were established. [1] Extreme tolerance also was shown toward the special religions of other peoples who had been brought within the Empire, and certain oriental divinities had even been admitted and given their place in Rome.

Like many other features of Roman life, their religion was essentially of a practical nature, dealing with the affairs of everyday life, and having little or no relation to personal morality. [2] It promised no rewards or punishments or hopes for a future life, but rather, by uniting all citizens in a common reverence and fear of certain deities, helped to unify the Empire and hold it together. After the death of Augustus (14 A.D.), the Roman Senate deified the Emperor and enrolled his name among the G.o.ds, and Emperor wors.h.i.+p was added to their ceremonies. This naturally spread rapidly throughout the Empire, tended to unite all cla.s.ses in allegiance to the central government at Rome, and seemed to form the basis for a universal religion for a universal empire.

FEELING THE NEED FOR SOMETHING MORE. As an educated cla.s.s arose in Rome, this mixture of diverse divinities failed to satisfy; the Roman religion, made up as it was of state and parental duties and precautions, lost with them its force; and the religious ceremonies of the home and the State lost for them their meaning. The mechanical repet.i.tion of prayers and sacrifices made no appeal to the emotions or to the moral nature of individuals, and offered no spiritual joy or consolation as to a life beyond. The educated Greeks before had had this same feeling, and had indulged in much speculation as to the moral nature of man. Many educated Romans now turned to the Greek philosophers for some more philosophical explanation of the great mystery of life and death.

Of all the philosophies developed in the philosophical schools of Athens, the one that made the deepest appeal to the practical Roman mind was that of the Stoics, founded by Zeno, 308 B.C. Virtue, claimed the Stoics, consists in so living that one's life is in accordance with that Universal Reason which rules the world. Riches, position, fame, success--these count for but little. He who trains himself to be above grief, hope, joy, fear, and the ills of life--be he slave or peasant or king--may be happy because he is virtuous. Reason, rather than the feelings, is the proper rule of life. The Stoics also preached the brotherhood of man, and to a degree expressed a humble reliance on a providence which controlled affairs. This philosophy in a way met the need for a religion among the better-educated Romans, and made considerable headway during the early days of the Empire.

[3] While serving as a sort of religion for those capable of embracing it, it was too intellectual to reach more than a few, and was not adapted to become a universal religion for all sorts and conditions of men. What was needed was a new moral philosophy or religion that would touch all mankind. To do this it must appeal to the emotions more than to the intellect. Such a religion was at this time taking shape and gathering force and strength in a remote corner of the Empire.

WHERE THIS NEW RELIGION AROSE. Far to the eastern end of the Mediterranean there had long lived a branch of the Semitic race, which had developed a national character and made a contribution of first importance to the religious thought of the world. These were the Hebrew people who, leaving Egypt about 1500 B.C., in the Exodus, had come to inhabit the land of Canaan, south of Phoenicia and east and north of Egypt. From a wandering, pastoral people they had gradually changed to a settled, agricultural people, and had begun the development of a regular State. Unwilling, however, to bear the burdens of a political State, and objecting to taxation, a standing army, and forced labor for the State, the nationality which promised at one time fell to pieces, and the land was overrun by hostile neighbors and the people put under the yoke. After a sad and tempestuous history, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D., the inhabitants were sold into slavery and dispersed throughout the Roman Empire.

These people developed no great State, and made no contributions to government or science or art. Their contribution was along religious lines, and so magnificent and uplifting is their religious literature that it is certain to last for all time. Alone among all eastern people they early evolved the idea of one omnipotent G.o.d. The religion that they developed declared man to be the child of G.o.d, erected personal morality and service to G.o.d as the rule of life, and a.s.serted a life beyond the grave. It was about these ideas that the whole energy of the people concentrated, and religion became the central thought of their lives. This religion, unlike the other religions of the Mediterranean world, emphasized duty to G.o.d, service, personal morality, chast.i.ty, honesty, and truth as its essential elements. The Law of Moses became the law of the land. Woman was elevated to a new place in the life of the ancient world.

[4] Children became sacred in the eyes of the people. Their literary contribution, the Old Testament--written by a series of patriarchs, lawgivers, prophets, and priests--pictures, often in sublime language, the various migrations, deliverances, calamities, and religious hopes, aspirations, and experiences of this Chosen People.

THE UNITY OF THIS PEOPLE. Just before their country was overrun and they were carried captive to Babylon, in 588 B.C., the Pentateuch [5] had been reduced to writing and made an authoritative code of laws for the people.

This served as a bond of union among them during the exile, and after their return to Palestine, in 538 B.C., the study and observance of this law became the most important duty of their lives. The synagogue was established in every village for its exposition, where twice on every Sabbath day the people were to gather to hear the law expounded. A race of _Scribes_, or scripture scholars, also arose to teach the law, as well as means for educating additional scribes. They were to interpret the law, and to apply it to the daily lives of the people. As the law was a combination of religious, ceremonial, civil, and sanitary law, these scribes became both teachers and judges for the people. In time they became the depositaries of all learning, superseded the priesthood, and became the leaders (_rabbins_, whence _rabbi_) of the people. "The voice of the rabbi is the voice of G.o.d," says the Talmud, a collection of Hebrew customs and traditions, with comments and interpretations, written by the rabbis after 70 B.C. By most Jews this is held to be next in sacredness to the Old Testament (R. 27).

Realizing, after the return from captivity, that the future existence of the Hebrew people would depend, not upon their military strength, but upon their moral unity, and that this must be based upon the careful training of each child in the traditions of his fathers, the leaders of the people began the evolution of a religious school system to meet the national need. Realizing, too, that parents could not be depended upon in all cases to provide this instruction, the leaders provided it and made it compulsory. Great open-air Bible cla.s.ses were organized at first, and these were gradually extended to all the villages of the country.

Elementary schools were developed later and attached to the synagogues, and finally, in 64 A.D., the high priest, Joshua ben Gamala, ordered the establishment of an elementary school in every village, made attendance compulsory for all male children, and provided for a combined type of religious and household instruction at home for all girls. Reading, writing, counting, the history of the Chosen People, the poetry of the Psalms, the Law of the Pentateuch, and a part of the Talmud const.i.tuted the subject-matter of instruction. The instruction was largely oral, and learning by heart was the common teaching plan. The child was taught the Law of his fathers, trained to make holiness a rule of his life and to subordinate his will to that of the one G.o.d, and commanded to revere his teachers (R. 27) and uphold the traditions of his people.

After the destruction of Jerusalem (70 A.D.) and the scatterment of the people, the school instruction was naturally more or less disrupted, but in one way or another the Hebrew people have ever since managed to keep up the training of rabbis and the instruction of the young in the Law and the traditions of their people, and as a consequence of this instruction we have to-day the interesting result of a h.o.m.ogeneous people who, for over eighteen centuries, have had no national existence, and who have been scattered and persecuted as have no other people. History offers us no better example of the salvation of a people by means of the compulsory education of all.

THE NEW CHRISTIAN FAITH. It was into this Hebrew race that Jesus was born, [6] and there he lived, learned, taught, made his disciples, and was crucified. Building on the old Hebrew moral law and the importance of the personal life, Jesus made his appeal to the individual, and sought the moral regeneration of society through the moral regeneration of individual men and women. This idea of individuality and of personal souls worth saving was a new idea in a world where the submergence of the individual in the State had everywhere up to that time been the rule. Even the Hebrews, in their great desire to perpetuate their race and faith, had suppressed and absorbed the individual in their religious State. The teachings of Jesus, on the other hand, with their emphasis on charity, sympathy, self-sacrifice, and the brotherhood of all men, tended to obliterate nationality, while the emphasis they gave to the future life, for which life here was but a preparation, tended to subordinate the interests of the State and withdraw the concern of men from worldly affairs. In a series of simple sermons, Jesus set forth the basis of this new faith which he, and after him his disciples, offered to the world.

At the time of his crucifixion his disciples numbered scarcely one hundred persons. For some years after his death his disciples remained in Jerusalem, preaching that he was the Messiah or Christ, whom the Hebrew people had long expected, and making converts to the idea. Later in Samaria, Damascus, and Antioch they made additional converts among the Jews. Up to this point the Christians had been careful to keep up all the old Jewish customs, and it was even doubted at first whether any but Jews could properly be admitted to the new faith. A new convert, Saul of Tarsus, a Jew who had studied in the Greek university there and who afterwards became the Apostle Paul, did much to open the new faith to the Gentiles, as the men of other nations were known. Speaking Greek, and being versed in Greek philosophy, and especially Stoicism, he gave thirty years of most effective service to the establishment of Christian churches [7] in Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece (R. 29), and Italy (R. 28). His work was so important that he has often been called the second founder of the Christian Church.

THE CHALLENGE OF CHRISTIANITY. Into a Roman world that had already pa.s.sed the zenith of its greatness came this new Christian faith, challenging almost everything for which the Roman world had stood. In place of Roman citizens.h.i.+p and service to the State as the purpose of life, the Christians set up the importance of the life to come. Instead of pleasure and happiness and the satisfaction of the senses as personal ends, the Christians preached denial of all these things for the greater joy of a future life. In a society built on a huge basis of slavery and filled with social cla.s.ses, the Christians proclaimed the equality of all men before G.o.d. To a nation in which family life had become corrupt, infidelity and divorce common, and infanticide a prevailing practice, the Christians proclaimed the sacredness of the marriage tie and the family life, and the exposure of infants as simple murder. In place of the subjection of the individual to the State, the Christians demanded the subjection of the individual only to G.o.d. In place of a union of State and religion, the Christians demanded the complete separation of the two and the subordination of the State to the Church. Unlike all other religions that Rome had absorbed, the Christians refused to be accepted on any other than exclusive terms. The wors.h.i.+p of all other G.o.ds the Christians held to be sinful idol-wors.h.i.+p, a deadly sin in the eyes of G.o.d, and they were willing to give up their lives rather than perform the simplest rite of what they termed pagan wors.h.i.+p (R. 28). To the deified Emperor the Christians naturally could not bend the knee (Rs. 30 b, 31 a-b, 34).

At first the new faith attracted but little attention from anybody of education or influence. Its converts were few during the first century, and these largely from among the lowest social cla.s.ses in the Empire.