ROME
=Literature.=--_Bryce_, The Holy Roman Empire; _Bury_, The Roman Empire;
_Church_, Pictures from Roman Life and Story; _Clarke_, Ten Great
Religions; _Gibbon_, Decline and Fall of Roman Empire; _Lord_, Beacon
Lights; _Capes_, Roman Empire; _Merivale_, History of the Romans;
_Shumway_, A Day in Ancient Rome; _Mommsen_, History of Rome; _Liddell_,
History of Rome; _Ploetz_, Epitome of Universal History; _Gilman_, Story
of Rome; _Collins_, Ancient Classics; _Monroe_, Source Book of the
History of Education.
=The Age of Augustus.=--The history of Rome covers a period of a
thousand years. From the little village on the Palatine Hill Rome grew
to be the mightiest empire of the world. The "Age of Augustus"
represents not only the summit of military glory, but also the highest
civilization, and the noblest ideals of the Roman people. It was the age
of Vergil, Horace, Ovid, Livy, and Seneca. Rome was at peace with the
world, and therefore had time to devote to art, literature, and other
intellectual pursuits. It was during this period that Christ was born.
Like Sparta, Rome for a long time maintained her supremacy by force of
arms, and therefore encouraged physical education. But when she became
mistress of the world, and came in contact with the culture of the
Greeks, she began to feel the need of an intellectual and aesthetic
development. Accordingly it became the fashion to study Greek, to bring
teachers from Athens to Rome, and to send young men to Athens to study.
The Roman Empire was therefore the medium through which Grecian culture
was transmitted to the western world, and during the Augustan Age the
center of learning was transferred from Athens to Rome.
Gibbon says, "The first seven centuries were filled with a rapid
succession of triumphs; but it was reserved for Augustus to relinquish
the ambitious design of subduing the whole earth, and to introduce a
spirit of moderation into the public councils."[20] The Augustan Age
shows Rome at her best, and a study of the educational system at that
time will be most fruitful for the student of pedagogy.
=Geography and History.=--We have seen that Rome began with a small
territory in the center of Italy, and that province after province was
added, until in the time of Augustus she ruled the world. Italy, the
center of the empire, has a diversified surface, a mild climate, and a
fertile soil. In the time of Augustus, the Roman Empire embraced all of
the border of the Mediterranean, extended as far north as the North Sea,
as far east as the Euphrates, as far south as the Sahara, and west to
the Atlantic. With the great Mediterranean entirely under its control,
including the seas, bays, and rivers tributary to it; with its rich
territories; and with its vast population, which represented most of the
enterprise and civilization of the world,--this great empire possessed
wonderful advantages for the spread of Christianity, for the
dissemination of intelligence, and for the improvement of the human
race.
The government of the Romans was generally some form of republic, the
people always being jealous of their rights. Their religion took on
gross forms of idolatry, for they readily adopted and worshiped the gods
of the Grecians, Egyptians, and other conquered peoples. Temples to
Faith, Hope, Concord, and other virtues were erected and maintained. The
Romans were very superstitious. These facts have a bearing upon
Christian education, and will explain some of the chief difficulties
which it had to encounter.
=The Home.=--While in Athens the father had charge of the education of
the boy in his early years, in Rome that duty devolved almost entirely
upon the mother. In early Roman history the matron was celebrated for
her virtues--fidelity to her husband, love for her children, and queenly
guardianship of the sacred precincts of the home. The name of the Roman
matron became a synonym of all that is noble, wifely, and motherly in
the home. Without doubt the character had sadly deteriorated at the
period of which we write, but there still remained with many the lofty
ideals which had been fostered in earlier times.
The husband was the head of the house, but to the wife was committed the
care of the children and their instruction for the first six or seven
years of their lives. She taught them strict obedience and politeness,
and instructed them in the "Twelve Tables of Roman Law."[21]
The mother also took great pains to teach her children correct
pronunciation. She taught them their letters, first the name and then
the form, a practice which is pedagogically false, as Quintilian pointed
out. She also taught them poems from the great masters. In taking pains
with pronunciation she prepared the way for later training in oratory,
which was the most important study in Roman education.
Only when Rome had begun to decay did mothers commit the training of
their children to nurses and slaves. When Rome was at her best, the
child grew up in an atmosphere of love under direct care of the mother,
who shaped his morals and guided his religious life as well as his early
mental development. Around the mother centered all that was ennobling
and elevating in the first seven years of the child's life. The father
had but little to do with this period, and did not interfere with the
mother's work. His duty lay in public life; hers lay within the home,
and well did she meet her responsibilities until the time of her
debasement with all the other elements of Roman society.
=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.