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Dear Language Enthusiast,

Welcome to the current edition of our Latin newsletter.  As fall approaches, we are all feeling the pull of the "back to school" season. Even if we do not have children boarding the bus, the smell in the air, the change of season and the end of summer vacation still remind us of school.

That is why we have dedicated this issue to education. We thought you might be interested in seeing how the ancient Romans differed in their approach to education. We believe that knowing about the culture gives you an insight into the language. We hope you enjoy it.

Sincerely,
Transparent Language
www.transparent.com

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EDUCATION IN ANCIENT ROME

In the Roman Empire, the children of wealthy families were sometimes instructed by private tutors in the home, but the majority of children went to school at the same age that modern American children start first grade. Education, while not obligatory, was widespread. The slave who accompanied the child to school was called the paedagogus; the elementary schoolteacher (ludi magister) was often a Greek freedman or slave who collected a meager salary from the pupils who studied under him.

After mastering the basics of Latin grammar and writing (using wax tablets and a stylus), students progressed to the equivalent of high school, where they began a serious study of literature-- both Latin and Greek-- under a teacher called the grammaticus. Other subjects, like mythology, history and music, were taught through the medium of literature as well, using the works of great poets as their textbooks.

The final stage of education for a privileged Roman involved attending courses given by a college professor (rhetor). Some of the rhetors were itinerant lecturers, traveling from city to city; others established their own schools. The main subjects of higher education were astronomy, geometry, oratory and philosophy, with sharp-witted debate as the prime mode of instruction.

An unpleasant-- and invariable-- feature of Roman education was corporal punishment. Children were caned on the backs of their hands for making the slightest error; more serious mistakes were corrected by whippings with a leather thong. Is it any wonder that the Romans grew up to take pleasure in the savage spectacles of the amphitheater?

Here is what Quintilian, the greatest teacher of ancient Rome, has to say on the subject in his Institutio Oratoria:

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latine:

Caedi discentes, quamlibet et receptum sit et Chrysippus non improbet, minime velim. Primum, quia deforme atque servile est et certe (quod convenit, si aetatem mutes) iniuria est; deinde, quod, si cui tam est mens illiberalis, ut obiurgatione non corrigatur, is etiam ad plagas ut pessima quaeque mancipia durabitur: postremo, quod ne opus erit quidem hac castigatione, si assiduus studiorum exactor astiterit.

Nunc fere negligentia paedagogorum sic emendari videtur, ut pueri non facere quae recta sunt cogantur sed cur non fecerint puniantur. Denique cum parvulum verberibus coegeris, quid iuveni facias, cui nec adhiberi potest hic metus et maiora discenda sunt?

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In English:

I never want the students to be hit, despite the fact that it is an established practice with the approval of Chrysippus [a famous professor of Stoic philosophy]. First, because it is a shameful form of punishment, fit only for slaves, and is without doubt an unjust action-- as you will readily agree if you imagine it happening at an older age. Next, because if anyone's mind is so ignoble that it cannot be corrected by a verbal scolding, he will actually become hardened to the blows, like the very worst sort of slave. And finally, because there will be no need at all for this sort of punishment if the teacher strictly demands that the lessons be learned.

As a general rule nowadays, the careless instruction that has been given at an early age by pedagogues is corrected by punishing the children for what they have not learned rather than by forcing them to learn what is correct.

In closing, I would ask you this: if you force a child with beatings when he is very young, what means will you use when he grows older and, no longer frightened by threats of blows, has even more difficult subjects to learn?

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