Mark Joyal - Greek and Roman Education: A Sourcebook

Modern Western education finds its origins in the practices, systems, and schools of the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is in the field of education, in fact, that classical antiquity has exerted one of its clearest influences on the modern world. Yet the story of Greek and Roman education, extending from the eighth century BC into the Middle Ages, is familiar in its details only to relatively few specialists.

Containing nearly three hundred translated texts and documents, Greek and Roman Education: A Sourcebook is the first book to provide readers with a large, diverse, and representative sample of the primary evidence for ancient Greek and Roman education. A special feature of this source-book is the inclusion of not only the fundamental texts for the study of the subject, but also unfamiliar sources that are of great interest but not easily accessible, including inscriptions on stone and Greek papyri from Egypt. Introductions to each chapter and to each selection provide the guidance which readers need to set the historical periods, themes, and topics into meaningful contexts. Fully illustrated and including extensive suggestions for further reading, together with an index of passages explored, students will have no further need for any other sourcebook on Greek and Roman education.

Mark Joyal is Professor and Head of the Department of Classics at the University of Manitoba. Iain McDougall was Professor of Classics and Chair of Department at the University of Winnipeg. J.C. Yardley, formerly Head of Classics at the Universities of Calgary and Ottawa, is now Emeritus Professor at the University of Ottawa.

A Sourcebook

Mark Joyal, Iain McDougall, J.C. Yardley

First published 2009

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2009 Mark Joyal, Iain McDougall, J.C. Yardley

Typeset in Times New Roman by

Book Now Ltd, London

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Joyal, Mark.

Greek and Roman education: a sourcebook/Mark Joyal, Iain McDougall,

J.C. Yardley.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Education, Greek. 2. EducationRome. I. McDougall, Iain. II. Yardley, J.C., 1942 III. Title.

LA71.J69 2008

370.938dc22 2008010910

ISBN10: 0415338069 (hbk)

ISBN10: 0415338077 (pbk)

ISBN13: 9780415338066 (hbk)

ISBN13: 9780415338073 (pbk)

Like most areas of classical studies, Greek and Roman education has in recent decades been the object of significant attention in scholarly research and publication. While much of this work has contributed greatly to our understanding of the subject, none of it has had the aim of providing readers with a large and representative sample of the enormous body of relevant primary evidence. It is this basic and longstanding need that the present volume is intended to fill.

Even though this sourcebook contains nearly 300 translated texts and documents, as well as 10 illustrations, its coverage is by no means complete. The chronological scope of this field, extending as it does from the eighth century BC (at least) to the end of antiquity even to the early Middle Ages precludes such a treatment. In some cases our decision about what to include and what could be omitted was based on practical considerations. For instance, it was impossible to present in their entirety the two long passages from the Republic on the educational schemes in Platos ideal state (selections 5.8 and 5.9) without sacrificing many shorter but important and less-familiar items; and although we have severely limited what we printed from these two passages, we have identified the full contexts for our readers in the knowledge that translations of the Republic are easily accessible. Notwithstanding decisions such as these, we are confident that this book contains most of the central texts, and much else besides, for the serious study of Greek and Roman education. Furthermore, its organization, including the introductions to each chapter and to each selection or set of selections, as well as the suggestions for further reading, should enable the reader to gain a deep understanding of this unusually fascinating and influential element of ancient life and society. Although scholars in many disciplines will find a great deal in this book to interest them, we have tried to keep the needs of students and non-specialist readers clearly in view.

The three contributors to this book were each responsible for different parts of the overall project. McDougall translated approximately two-thirds of the Greek texts, including all the papyri and most of the inscriptions, and Yardley translated all but a handful of the Latin texts. Joyal translated the remaining texts, organized the material, and wrote the general introduction, the chapter introductions, the introductions to each of the selections, the footnotes, and the indexes. At several stages all three of us took the opportunity to comment on each others work.

Over the time in which this book has gradually reached completion we have received help from several friends and colleagues. Many years ago Alan Booth compiled an initial list of passages which formed the basis for the much larger collection that has since developed. Mark Golden read an advanced version of the book as it was nearing completion and offered many suggestions for improvement which we have gratefully adopted. Annette Tefeteller provided bibliographical help and other advice on . At Routledge, Richard Stoneman, Amy Laurens and Lalle Pursglove showed exemplary patience and support even as we failed to meet one deadline after another. At an early stage the anonymous readers for the press also provided sensible criticism and guidance. Chris Kelk, a friend of the three authors, generously took time out from his acting career to proofread the final version. The University of Manitoba provided the resources necessary for the purchase of the images and permissions listed in the Acknowledgements.

and b: Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY

: Photo The Trustees of the British Museum

: Runion des Muses Nationaux/Art Resource, NY

: The Center for the Tebtunis Papyri, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley

: Deutsches Archologisches Institut, Berlin, from P. Schazmann, Das Gymnasium, AvP VI (Berlin 1923) pl. 12

: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

: British Library Board. All Rights Reserved (Add. 34186)