EDUCATION
298
EDUCATION
We have already determined what natures are hkely
to be most easily moulded by the hands of the legisla-
tor. All else is the work of education; we learn some
things by habit and some by instruction" (Pohtics,
Bk. VII). Education, however, must always be
adapted to the peculiar character of the State: "The
citizen should be moulded to suit the form of govern-
ment under which he lives " (ibid., VIII). And again,
" It is right that the citizens should possess a capacity
for affairs and for war, but still more for the enjoy-
ment of peace or leisure; right that they should be
capable of such actions as are indispensable and salu-
tary, but still more of such as are moral per se. It is
with a view to these objects, then, that they should
be educated while they are still children, and at all
other ages, till they pass beyond the need of educa-
tion" (ibid., IV). "Neither must we suppose that
any one of the citizens belongs to himself, for they all
belong to the State, and are each of them a part of the
State, and the care of each part is inseparable from
the care of the whole" (ibid., VIII).
In the theories of Plato and .Aristotle are found the highest reaches of Hellenic thought regarding the pur- pose and nature of education. Each of these great thinkers established schools of philosophy, and each has profoundly affected the thought of all subsequent time, yet neither succeeded in providing an education sound and permanent enough to avert the moral and political downfall of the nation. The diffusion of Greek thought and culture throughout the world by conquest and colonization w'as no remedy for the evils which sprang from an exaggerated iBdividualism. Once the idea was accepted that each man is his own standard of conduct, neither brilliancy of literary pro- duction nor fineness of philosophic speculation could prevent the decay of patriotism, and of a virtue which liad never looked higher than the State for its sanction. Aristotle himself, at the close of his "Ethics", points out the radical difficulty; " Now if arguments and theories were able by themselves to make people good, they would, in the words of Theognis, be enti- tled to receive high and great rewards, and it is with theories that we should have to provide ourselves. But the truth apparently is that, though they are strong enough to encourage and stimulate young men of liberal minds, though they are able to inspire with goodness a character that is naturally noble and sin- cerely loves the beautiful, they are incapable of con- verting the mass of men to goodness and beauty of character." No such "conversion" was aimed at by the Sophists. .Appealing to the natural tendencies of the individual, thej' developed a spirit of selfishness which in turn broke out in discord, thus opening the way for the conquest of Greece by Roman arms.
The Ro.mans. — In striking contrast with the Greek character, that of the Romans was practical, utili- tarian, grave, austere. Their religion was serious, and it permeated their whole life, hallowing all its relations. The family, especially, was far more sacred than in Sparta or Athens, and the position of woman as wife and mother more exalted and influential. Still, as with the Greeks, the power of the father over the life of his child — patria potextas — was absolute, and, in the earlier period at least, the exposure of children was a common practice. In fact the Laws of the Twelve Tables provided for the immediate destruction of deformed offspring and gave the father, during the whole life of his children, the right to imprison, sell, or slay thera. Subsequently, however, a check was placed on such practices. The ideal at which the Roman aimed was neither harmony nor happiness, but the performance of duty and the maintenance of liis rights. \ft this ideal was to be realized through service to the State. Deep as was the family feeling, it was always subordinate to devotion to the public weal. " Parents are dear", said ("icero, "and children and kindred, but all loves are boimd up in the love of
our common country " (De Officiis, I, 17). Education
therefore was essentially a preparation for civic duty.
" The children of the Romans are brought up that they
may one day be able to be of service to the fatherland,
and one must accordingly instruct them in the cus-
toms of the State and in the institutions of their ances-
tors. The fatherland has produced and brought us
up that we may devote to its use the finest capacities
of our mind, talent, and understanding. Therefore
we must learn those arts whereby we may be of greater
service to the State; for that I hold to be the highest
wisdom and virtue."
These words express, at any rate, the spirit of the early Roman education. The home was the only school, and the parents the only teachers. Of scien- tific and a>sthetic training there was little or none. To learn the Laws of the Twelve Tables, to become famUiar with the lives of the men who had made Rome great, and to copy the virtues which he saw in his father were the chief endeavour of the boy and youth. Thus the moral element predominated, and virtues of a practical sort were inculcated: first of all pietas, obedi- ence to parents and to the gods; then prudence, fair dealing, courage, reverence, firmness, and earnestness. These qualities were to be developed, not by abstract or philosophical reasoning, but through the imitation of worthy models and, as far as possible, of hving con- crete examples. Vitcr discimus, "We learn for life", said Seneca; and this plu-ase sums up the whole pur- pose of Roman education. In the course of time, ele- mentary schools {liidi) were opened, but they were conducted by private teachers and were supplemen- tary to the home instruction. Abovit the middle of the third centurj' b. c. foreign influences began to make themselves felt. The works of the Greeks were translated into Latin, Greek teachers were introduced, and schools established in which the etlucational char- acteristics of the Greeks reappeared. LTnder the di- rection of the literatus and the grammaticus education took on a literary character, while in the school of the rhetor the art of oratory was carefully cultivated. The importance which the Romans attached to eloquence is clearly shown by Cicero in his " De Oratore " and by Quintilian in his "Institutes"; to produce the orator became eventually the chief end of education. Quin- tilian's work, moreover, is the principal contribution to educational theory produced in Rome. The hel- lenizing process was a gradual one. The vigorous Roman character yielded but slowly to the intellec- tualism of the Greeks, and when the latter finally tri- umphed, far-reaching changes had come about in Roman society, government, and life. Whatever the causes of decline — political, economic, or moral — they could not be stayed by the importeil refinement of Greek thought and practice. Nevertheless, pagan education as a whole, with its ideals, successes, and failures, has a profound significance. It was the product of the highest human wisdom, speculative and practical, that the world has known. It pursued in turn the ideals that appeal most strongly to the human mind. It engaged the thought of the greatest philos- ophers and the action of the wisest legislators. Art, science, antl literature were placed at its service, and the mighty influence of the State was exerted in its behalf. In itself, therefore, and in its results, it shows how much and how little human reason can accomplish when it seeks no guidance higher than it' self and strives for no purpo.ses other than those which find, or maj' find, their realization in the present phase of existence.
The Jews. — .\mong the pre-Christian peoples the .lews occupy a unique position. ,\s the recipients and custodians of Divine revelation, their conceptions of life and morality were far abuve tho.se of (he (ientiles. God manifeste<l Himself to them directly as a I'er.son, a Spirit, and an ethical Being, guiding them by Hia providence, making known to them His will, and pre-
