ROMAN EDUCATORS
=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 practice of
the present day.
While these were Cicero's most important pedagogical teachings, he also
taught many other truths valuable in education. Among them are these:
that education begins in childhood, and is a steady growth throughout
life; that memory should be cultivated by learning extracts from classic
authors; that great care should be taken to make the amusements and
environments of the child such as to elevate and refine, as well as
properly to develop its powers; that at the suitable time some calling
should be chosen for which the youth has evident fitness; that religion
is the basis of morals, therefore careful attention should be given to
religious instruction.
SENECA (B.C. 3-A.D. 65)
Seneca was one of the most distinguished men that Rome produced. Even as
a boy he showed remarkable talent, and his father furnished him the best
educational opportunities by placing him under the greatest masters in
the city. He also had the benefit of travel in Greece and Egypt, after
which he practiced law in Rome. The student of education is interested
in Seneca chiefly as the tutor of Nero, who was committed to his charge
at the age of eleven. Without doubt the lad had already formed vicious
habits, as his teacher had great trouble in managing him; nor did Seneca
eradicate those evil tendencies which bore such terrible fruit in Nero's
later years.
Nero retained his love for his teacher for a long time, keeping him as a
trusted counselor for several years. Seneca drew up all of Nero's state
papers, among others one defending the crime of matricide, Nero having
put his own mother to death. This brought deserved odium upon Seneca's
name. It indicates that he was a time-server, lacking moral independence
and firmness. This may explain his failure in the training of his royal
pupil. Nero himself wearied of his old teacher and friend, and
condemned him to death. Seneca, however, committed suicide, a mode of
death quite in accord with his Stoic philosophy.
Seneca was the most eminent writer, rhetorician, and orator of his time.
He anticipated many modern ethical teachings, and in some of his
writings we find a strong religious sentiment, quite like that of
Christianity, leading one to think that he may have been influenced by
Christ and his disciples, with whom he was contemporary. On the other
hand, some of his teachings are decidedly repulsive to Christianity.
=Seneca's Pedagogy.=--1. Like Cicero, he believed that punishment should
be mild and reasonable. "Who condemns quickly, condemns willingly; and
who punishes too much, punishes improperly."
2. The office of education is to correct the evil tendencies in the
child.
3. The character of each child must be studied, and each individual
should be developed according to his peculiarities.
4. Do not flatter the child, but teach him truthfulness, modesty, and
respect for his elders.
5. Take great care that the environment of the child is elevating, and
allow only pure and ennobling examples to be reflected before him.
6. Give the child but few studies, in order that he may be thorough and
acquire right habits of learning.
7. The office of teacher is one of the most important of all offices.
"What the teacher, who instructs us in the sciences, imparts to us in
noble effort and intellectual culture, is worth more than he receives;
for, not the matter, but the trouble; not the desert, but only the
labor, is paid for.... Such a man, who consecrates his whole being to
our good, and who awakens our dormant faculties, is deserving all the
esteem that we give a benevolent physician or our most loved and dearest
kindred."
QUINTILIAN[26]
No other Roman contributed so much pedagogy to the world as Quintilian.
He was born in Spain, but early moved to Rome, in order to be trained in
the atmosphere of culture which that city alone afforded. His education
was conducted by his father, a celebrated rhetorician, to whom he owed
the particular direction of his powers which afterward made him so
famous. He chose the law as a profession, because it offered the best
opportunity for the exercise of oratory. Not finding the practice of law
congenial, he soon abandoned it, and devoted his time to teaching. He
founded a school at Rome, and conducted it with great success for twenty
years, having for pupils children from the most distinguished patrician
families. Among these were the grandnephews of Domitian, possible heirs
to the throne. This was the best school in Rome at that time. Vespasian
honored Quintilian by creating for him a chair of rhetoric and
conferring upon him the title "Professor of Oratory." This is the first
instance in history of State endowment of a chair for teaching a
specific subject. Royal recognition was not without effect upon the
fortunes of Quintilian, as it placed him in the front rank of the
teachers of Rome. This, together with his subject, the teaching and
mastery of which were considered by the Romans to be the climax of
education, enabled him to wrest supremacy from the Greek teachers who so
long had enjoyed a monopoly of teaching in the city.
When fifty-three years of age, Quintilian retired from his school, and
devoted himself to authorship. In the first two books of his great work,
"Institutes of Oratory,"[27] he sets forth his ideas on education. This
is the most remarkable treatise on education bequeathed to us by
antiquity.
He taught that as oratory was the climax of Roman education, especial
attention should be given to it. He was not in sympathy with the
prevailing use that was made of oratory. Oratorical contests were
frequent, and they excited popular interest. Courts, lawyers, and public
speakers resorted to all the tricks of speech to win popular favor, and
audiences demanded something startling, dramatic, and unusual.
Quintilian tried to stay this tide, and taught that oratory should
conceal itself. He met, however, with poor success in reforming the
evil.
=Quintilian's Pedagogy.=--His pedagogical teachings, some of which we
present, are of the greatest importance.
1. There should be no corporal punishment, as punishment administered to
slaves is not suitable for children who are to be citizens.
2. Nurses must be irreproachable in life and language, so that children
be not brought in contact with anything impure.
3. Amusements should be turned to account as a means of education.
4. Teachers should be men of ability and of spotless character.
5. Children should begin early with a foreign tongue, as their own
language will come to them naturally in their intercourse with those
about them.
6. Education should begin with the earliest childhood.
7. The forms and names of the letters should be learned simultaneously,
playthings being utilized to assist in this.
8. Care should be taken that children do not acquire a distaste for
learning.
9. In learning to read, advance very slowly.
10. Writing should begin with tracing, and the copies should consist of
moral precepts.
11. The individuality of the child should be studied.
12. Public schools are preferable to other means of education, because
they do not subject the child to greater moral danger, while they
stimulate him by association, friendship, and example, to nobler
endeavor.
13. Under the _literatus_, grammar, composition, music, geometry,
astronomy, and literature are to be studied.
14. The climax of education should be _rhetoric_.
=Other Roman Educators.=--Among the other Roman educators may be
mentioned Plutarch (50-138 A.D.) and the Emperor Marcus
Aurelius. Plutarch in his "Parallel Lives" gives particular attention to
morals. He offers valuable suggestions as to the training of children,
laying great stress upon family life, an admonition particularly needed
in Rome at that period. He also urges that women should be educated in
order properly to train their children, being one of the first to
consider this question.
Marcus Aurelius, called "the philosopher on the throne," in his
"Meditations" gave expression to most lofty thoughts, showing keenest
self-examination and obedience to conscience. His moral teachings are
among the noblest of all the writers of antiquity.
FOOTNOTES:
[22] Forsyth, "Life of Cicero." This is a very complete, just, and
discriminating treatment of Cicero and his relation to the times in
which he lived.
[23] "Life of Cicero," Vol. I, p. 30.
[24] Vol. II, p. 213.
[25] Vol. II, p. 317.
[26] Authorities differ as to the dates of Quintilian's birth and death,
placing his birth at from A.D. 35 to 42, and his death from A.D. 95 to
120. Drieser, who is perhaps the best authority, places his birth at
A.D. 35, but does not fix the date of his death, which, however, was
probably much later than A.D. 95 as he lived to a ripe old age.
[27] _Institutio Oratoria._