1st Edition

Greek and Roman Education A Sourcebook

By Mark Joyal, J.C Yardley, Iain McDougall Copyright 2009
    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    320 Pages
    by Routledge

    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 B.C. into the Middle Ages, is familiar in its details only to relatively few specialists.

    Containing nearly 300 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 Sourcebook is the inclusion not only of the fundamental texts for the study of the subject, but also unfamiliar sources that are of great interest but are 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.

    Introduction  1. Early Greece to ca. 500 B.C.  2. Sparta  3. Athens in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.  4. The Sophists, Socrates, and the Fifth-Century Enlightenment  5. Fourth-Century Theory and Practice: Isocrates, Plato and Aristotle  6. The Hellenistic Period (ca. 335–30 B.C.)  7. Early Rome to ca. 100 B.C.  8. Reading, Writing and Literary Study: Late Roman Republic and Empire  9. Teaching and Learning the Liberal Arts and Rhetoric: Cicero to Quintilian  10. Pagans and Christians: From the Second Century A.D. to the End of Antiquity.  Bibliography.  General index.  Index of passages

    Biography

    Mark Joyal is Professor and Head in the Department of Classics at the University of Manitoba. He specializes in ancient thought and intellectual traditions, Greek language and literature, and the Platonic textual tradition. His publications include The Platonic Theages (Franz Steiner), several edited volumes, and numerous articles and reviews.

    Iain McDougall was Professor and Chair of Classics at the University of Winnipeg until his retirement in 2005. He also served a term as President of the Classical Association of Canada.

    J.C. Yardley, formerly Head of Classics at the Universities of Calgary and Ottawa, is now Emeritus Professor at the University of Ottawa.

    'This excellent collection of ancient documents from the Greek and Latin, ranging from the Mycenaean period (eighth century BCE) through the end of antiquity, is a boon to any student or scholar of the classical Western world or the history of education, and is currently the only sourcebook on this topic.' 
    G. J. Reece, American University, Choice, Vol. 46, No. 09, May 2009

    'This is a first-class sourcebook and an excellent introduction to ancient education. Wide-ranging, stimulating, and backed by the profound scholarship of its editors, it gives students a firm grip on the subject and an ideal starting point for further study.'Sehepunkte

    'The quality of work is high; the sources are well chosen and the translations are accurate and fluent.' - Kalle Korhonen, Arctos vol.45, 2011