H.I. Marrou’s A History of Education in Antiquity, Part XXI (Ad Navseam, Episode 216)
About this episode
The episode explores the distinct characteristics of Roman education as discussed by H.I. Marrou, contrasting it with Greek educational ideals.
This week the guys dip back into Marrou, where the author pivots like Yaxel Lendeborg to the Roman side of things. H.I. takes up the "Old Roman Education". Immediately we notice realities that put the lie to the loose notion that the Romans just took from the Greeks and changed the names. While, yes, eventually much of Roman education merges with the Hellenistic ideals explored earlier (and later) tome-wise, at its root, Roman education was fundamentally a different enterprise. Much more than the Greeks, the Roman centered their approach around tradition, the state, and the family. Mos maiorum reigned supreme. The “noble peasant” ideal (even if later on you lived in a high-rise next to the Colosseum and sipped cocktails with your Greek besties) is there at the beginning and never fully disappears. The chief lesson? Even if you show up with an army of Volsci ready to overthrow the state, you still gotta listen to your momma.
More episodes of Ad Navseam
- A Light in the Attic: Lysias' Speech Against Eratosthenes (Ad Navseam, Episode 217)
- Marcus Aurelius' Meditations: A Conversation with Translator Aaron Poochigian (Ad Navseam, Episode 215)
- Man-into-Beast Changes in Ovid, G.B. Riddehough (Gurgle 7)
- Catullus Nose Poetry: Three Neoteric Gems (Ad Navseam, Episode 214)
- H.I. Marrou’s A History of Education in Antiquity, Part XX (Ad Navseam, Episode 213)
- Democracy and the Arts, in America? A Conversation on Tocqueville with Bob Stacey (Ad Navseam, Episode 212)
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