Читать книгу The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks - Hugo Blumner - Страница 10

Table of Contents

Schools—At Sparta—At Athens—Methods of Instruction—Reading Lessons—Music—Geometry—The Gymnasia—Physical Training—The Education of Girls.

Here, as in so many other domains of which we must treat, there is a marked distinction between the Doric and Ionic states. In the latter the education of boys was a private duty of the parents, and the State only retained a general right of control; while in the Doric states, and especially at Sparta, with whose institutions we are best acquainted, boys were regarded as belonging, not to the family, but to the State, which undertook the entire charge of their physical and intellectual well-being.

At the age of seven years the Spartan boy left his father’s house to live with companions of his own age, whose occupation and mode of life were regulated by definite rules. All the boys were divided into companies, according to age. Several of these companies were again combined into a troop. At the head of each company and of each troop was a superintendent, chosen from among the youths. His duty was to direct the occupations and exercises of the boys under his charge, and, as leader in their gymnastic exercises, to help them by his example. The general care of their education was in the hands of the trainers (παιδόνομοι), themselves under the control of a Board of Inspection (βιδιαῖοι), but in other respects their power was unlimited, and they had the right, by means of “scourge-bearers” (μαστιγόϕοροι), to inflict punishment for disobedience or other faults. In this office, which was a very responsible one for a single man, they were assisted by the whole body of citizens, who were not only permitted, but even bound by their duty, to take part in the exercises of the boys, instructing, encouraging, or even punishing them. Every Spartan citizen could, in a measure, exercise paternal rights over every boy, and, again, was regarded by every boy in the same light as his own father. Obedience towards their elders, modest and reverent bearing, were impressed on the Spartan boys from their earliest years, and they were thus advantageously distinguished from the somewhat precocious Attic youth. The aim of their whole education was to harden the body and to attain the greatest possible bodily skill. The boys had only the most necessary clothing; from their twelfth year onwards they wore only an upper garment, even in winter, and in all other respects their life was of the simplest, so that it is not a mere figure of speech to talk of Spartan discipline. They received only sufficient food for the barest needs, and, though the boys were often taken to the meals of the grown men, yet these too were anything but luxurious. Their bed was hay or straw; from their fifteenth year onwards reeds or rushes, which they had themselves to fetch from the Eurotas. Indifference to physical pain was carried to an excess which appears to us absolutely barbarous, even in later times, when they had departed in some respects from the original severity of the so-called laws of Lycurgus.

The instruction at Sparta also corresponded to these principles. There was little question of developing the intellect, nor was this part of the public duty, but only a private matter. Those who wished to learn reading and writing doubtless found an opportunity of doing so, but not in the institutes conducted by the State; at any rate, we find no mention of such. Probably most Spartans did learn so much, but very little more. A little arithmetic was added, as mental arithmetic especially was regarded as important on account of its practical utility. But this was all the literary culture which a young Spartan received. They also studied music, for which the Doric race had always natural ability and liking; and this instruction was compulsory. The boys learnt to play the cithara and flute, and to sing songs or choruses of serious moral nature. The inspectors were careful to see that nothing unsuitable was admitted here, and that traditional methods were adhered to in harmony and metre; therefore, every innovation on the domain of music was regarded with suspicion, and departure from the traditional custom was sometimes even punished.

The most important part of the instruction consisted in gymnastic exercises. These were methodically studied on rational principles; the exercises were graduated according to age, and only those were admitted which developed strength and skill, and did not merely fit a man for the career of an athlete. Their first aim was to make their men good warriors, and this they certainly attained. But it was a necessary consequence of the excessive development of the physical side, and the disregard of all higher intellectual developments, that Sparta never attained any real greatness in literature or art. Again, however attractive the moral seriousness developed by the Spartan education may seem to us, we cannot deny that the deadening of the family feeling, and the complete abandonment of everything to the State, produced that hardness and cruelty which we so often meet with in the history of Sparta.

Very different was the system of education at Athens. Here it was left entirely in the hands of individuals. The State provided no public schools, but only appointed certain boards, whose duty it was to see that there were no offences against tradition or morality committed in the private institutes. This duty was entrusted to the superintendents (ἐπιμεληταί and σωϕρονισταί). These were, however, chiefly concerned with the youths, and thus especially with the instruction in the gymnasia. We do not know how far the Areopagus took part in this control.

As a rule, Athenian boys, when they had completed their sixth year, were entrusted to the charge of an old slave, called Paidagogos, whose duty it was, not to train or instruct the boys, but simply to accompany them to school, or on their walks, and to watch over their behaviour. As it was not considered correct for the son of an Athenian citizen to carry his school utensils himself, it was the duty of the paidagogos who accompanied him, to carry his books or his cithara, his strigil, or even his ball. Very often the paidagogos remained in the room (or perhaps in an ante-room) during the lesson, and at the end again accompanied his charge home. Though he was only a slave, and often but slightly educated, he generally had authority given him over the boys entrusted to his care. When they reached the age of eighteen the control of the paidagogos either ceased entirely, or assumed a different character.

It is impossible not to recognise that there were many objections to this system. It was by no means always the worthiest and most trustworthy slaves who were chosen for this office, but rather old men who were of no use for other work, and who were not only entirely ignorant intellectually, but whose manners were often bad. As foreigners they often spoke barbarous Greek, set their charges a bad example by fondness for drink, or else winked at their faults and bad habits; in short, were by no means fitted to have the charge of growing boys. Many complaints seem to have been made, but the practice still continued; in fact, in some respects matters grew worse in the Hellenistic period. On monuments, where we often see them accompanying boys, even in mythological representations (e.g., The Children of Niobe, Archemorus, Medea, etc.), the paidagogoi appear in a special dress corresponding to their non-Hellenic origin—in a chiton with sleeves, rough cloak, and high boots. However, this corresponds to the practice of Greek tragedy, which had fixed costumes for certain characters. In reality the paidagogoi probably dressed much like other citizens.

The instruction at Athens is divided into two headings: music and gymnastics. Let us first consider the former. It appears to have been very rare for boys to be taught at home by private teachers. They were usually sent to some school conducted by an elementary teacher. We know very little about the arrangement and curriculum of these schools. It seems that boys from the same neighbourhood generally attended the nearest school, and were taught there in the same room by one teacher, who had to instruct in turns the beginners and the more advanced pupils. Cases of over-filled classes are mentioned, but these do not refer specially to Athens. It is not improbable that classes not only received different instruction, but were also taught in separate rooms; and that besides the master who was the director and proprietor of the schools, assistants paid by him also took part in the instruction. But in reality we know very little about these matters; it is however, certain that some teachers had no schoolroom at all, but sat out in the street with their scholars—a thing which is only possible in the sunny South. No doubt these were only schools for the poor, and the sons of rich parents did not attend them.

The furniture of the schoolroom was doubtless very simple. A music teacher sometimes set up in his school statues of Apollo and the Muses, but he would be well paid, and we must not expect to find such luxuries in the furniture of ordinary elementary schools. Here probably, there was little more than the benches for the boys, a seat for the master, and some aids to teaching, such as we see hanging on the walls on the few ancient monuments which introduce us to Greek schoolrooms. (Compare Fig. 75.) Among the requisites was a white board. It is not probable that the charts, used in the Roman period to impress dates of mythology and history on the pupils’ minds by plastic representation, were already known to Greek antiquity. The master supplied the ink required for instruction in writing: we may infer this from the fact that Aeschines, who as a boy used to help his father, a schoolmaster, had to mix the ink and sweep out the schoolroom. The salary which the master received for his instruction probably depended on his knowledge and ability; doubtless popular teachers were well paid. But it was not a paying profession, for it is not likely that the school fees, usually paid monthly, were high; also negligent fathers often put off paying them for a long time; while stingy parents kept their children at home during a month in which there were many holidays, in order to save the school fees. We must not assume high culture in these elementary teachers, and we find that the pupils feared their masters more than they loved them, which is natural, seeing that they seem to have made a freer use of canes and sticks than our present pedagogic principles would permit. Still we do not find any Greek pendant to Horace’s Plagosus Orbilius.

Fig. 75.

Instruction usually began early in the morning; we do not know how long it lasted, but there certainly were lessons given in the afternoon; an ordinance of Solon’s forbade their continuance after sunset. We do not know how the elementary and gymnastic instruction were combined. There were plenty of holidays, owing to the numerous feasts and festivals; there were also special school festivals, especially those of the Muses for the grammar schools, and of Hermes for the gymnasia.

A very interesting picture by the vase painter Duris, represented in Fig. 75, gives us, in spite of some artistic liberties, an excellent idea of Attic school teaching in the fifth century B.C. The scenes are represented on the outside of a bowl; on each half five people are depicted: two masters, two pupils, and an oldish man looking on. This cannot, therefore, represent one of the ordinary schoolrooms, where a single master instructs together a whole class of boys, for each boy is being instructed by a separate teacher. Perhaps this is a liberty on the part of the painter, who has grouped together four separate scenes, or else this individual instruction may really have taken place even in the public schools. Masters and pupils are dressed alike, wearing only the himation. It is important, however, to remember what was stated on page 20, that this dress on the monuments by no means corresponds to reality, and, as a rule, the chiton cannot have been wanting under the himation. The masters, some of whom are young and beardless, others more advanced in age, sit on simple stools; with the exception of one pupil, who is learning the lyre, the boys stand upright before them, both arms wrapped in their cloaks, as was considered fitting for well-bred youths. Of course, the boy with the lyre must have the upper part of his body free, and his himation is folded over his knee. There is a difference of opinion as to the two bearded men leaning on their sticks, who are present at these scenes, and attentively looking on; it has been suggested that they are paidagogoi, who have accompanied the boys to school, and are superintending them during the instruction; or else, on account of the manner in which they are sitting, it has been assumed that they are fathers or inspectors.

The subjects taught here all belong to musical instruction (that is, instruction over which the Muses preside), and are partly concerned with grammatical teaching, partly with actual teaching of music. On one side we see a young teacher playing the double pipe, while the boy standing in front of him listens attentively. It is usually assumed that the boy is learning to play the flute, but then it is curious that he has not an instrument in his own hands, like the boy who is learning the lyre; for if he wished to imitate what the teacher is showing him, he would have to take the master’s instrument. There is something, therefore, to be said for the hypothesis that the boy is learning to sing, and the master is giving him on the flute the notes or the melody which he has to sing. The scene on the right of this represents instruction in writing. The boy stands in the same position as the other, before another young teacher, who holds a triptych consisting of three little folding tablets, open before him, and has a pencil in his right hand. He is looking attentively at the tablet, either correcting the boy’s writing or about himself to write a copy for the pupil. On the other side of the picture we have, on the left, musical instruction. Both master and pupil have seven-stringed lyres in their hands; at the moment represented the master seems to be only showing the boy how to grasp the chords by the fingers of the left hand, and is making no use of the rod (πλῆκτρον), which he holds in his right. The boy, who sits bent forward, is trying to imitate the master’s action. The last group represents a pupil who appears to be reciting a poem, the beginning of which is written on the scroll which the master holds in his hand.

Various implements hang on the walls of the schoolroom: at one side a roll of manuscript with a handle; next to it a writing tablet, with a cord fastened round it, and a handle; next, a lyre and a curious cross, which is not easy to interpret; some think that it is meant for a sextant for the geometrical instruction. On the other side hang two drinking-cups, which the pupils are probably allowed to use during the intervals; two seven-stringed lyres; a basket with handle and feet, probably used to contain the manuscripts; and finally, a case for a flute, with the capsule for the mouthpieces hanging to it.

We must now examine more closely the special implements used in musical instruction, and the mode in which that instruction was given. Elementary knowledge of reading and writing was very common, at any rate in Attica, and people who were unacquainted with either were even rarer in ancient Greece than in our own day. In the school of the teacher who had charge of the boys’ elementary grammatical instruction (γραμματιστής), the boy was probably first taught his letters, their names and shapes, and very likely some external helps were used for this purpose; at any rate, these were common in later periods. The next process was combining the letters in syllables; and thus gradually they advanced to reading whole words. At the same time, probably, instruction in writing began. The master made single letters and words for the pupils to copy in the space left free under his lines, and probably helped them a little by guiding their hands. The place of our slate was taken by a wax tablet. This was a wooden tablet covered with a thin coating of wax, in which the letters were scratched with a pointed style, made of bone, ivory, or metal; the broad end was used for flattening the wax when the slate was full, and then it could be used again. There were generally two, three, or more of these tablets connected by hinges, and these were called diptych, triptych, etc. It was only more advanced pupils who were allowed to use such expensive material as papyrus and reeds for writing, and even then, on account of the expense, they were not provided with new paper, but wrote on the back of what had already been used. Chance has preserved to us, in a discovery dating from the age of the Ptolemies, some very interesting specimens of Greek instruction in writing—several wax tablets, six inches long and four inches broad, all containing the same Greek trimeter verses, probably by Menander. The writing on one of these tablets, which was probably the master’s copy, is good and careful; that on the others, the pupils’ copies, is inferior. Under one the word “industrious” has been written by the master’s hand. But slight demands seem to have been made on the pupils in the matter of writing, and more stress was laid on clearness than beauty or speed, since there were always experienced slaves ready to do work of this kind.

For reading lessons the poets were chiefly used, and their writings were inscribed in manuscripts which were either rolled or folded. (Compare Fig. 75.) Homer was used as the school book of the Greeks, from the earliest periods to the fall of the Byzantine Empire, and his writings were read and expounded, as well as other poems in various metres, chiefly of a lyrical character. The master then either gave the boys copies, which he had probably made himself, or else, if they were already able to write, dictated longish passages to them; the pupils also had to learn a good deal by heart. Many teachers prepared anthologies of various writers for reading purposes; those especially were chosen which by their contents were well adapted for the reading of youth, such as Hesiod, Theognis, Phocylides, etc. The boys thus, by their reading and learning, acquired a knowledge of mythology, while at the same time the most important ethical principles were impressed on them. We must be careful not to rate too low the results of this instruction, however little we may think of the Athenian acquirements in the mechanical arts of reading and writing. A people who knew how to appreciate the tragedies of Aeschylus, who could understand the comedies of Aristophanes, with their fulness of mythological, literary, and political allusions, must have possessed a degree of culture which in many respects was far above the average of the present day. It was, of course, easier for the pupils to acquire a large amount of mythological and literary knowledge when there were so few subjects to study; since natural science, geography, history, and foreign languages were all disregarded. In reading, the elements of prosody were also learnt, and these were more fully treated in the musical instruction.

We are no longer in a position to state how arithmetic, with whose practical uses the ancients were naturally well acquainted, was taught; but it is probable that—at any rate at Athens—this instruction was given at home and not at school, and was acquired by children in play by means of concrete objects, which enabled them to learn the principal notions and relations. As regards method, counting on the fingers was very common in Greece. The left hand was used to represent all the units and tens, and with the addition of the right hand all the hundreds and thousands; the mode in which a finger was placed on the open palm and the number of the fingers, which were either bent or stretched out, determined the number required. More complicated calculations were performed by help of an abacus with little stones, an ancient invention long known to the Egyptians, in which the arrangement of the stones in the parallel lines on the board determined their value as units, tens, hundreds, etc. We do not, however, know anything further about the arrangement of the Greek abacus.

The instruction in these elementary subjects occupied the first years of school life. In the twelfth or thirteenth year the instruction in music began, and was given by a special master called the harpist (κιθαριστής), the Greeks regarding music not from the standpoint of the modern amateur, as only a pleasant distraction for hours of recreation, but rather as an essential means of ethical development. The main object of the instruction was not the attainment of facility in execution on any instrument, but rather ability to render as well as possible the productions of the poets, especially the lyrists, and at the same time to accompany themselves suitably on a seven-stringed instrument. Accordingly, most weight was given to the instruction in the lyre (which we see in Fig. 75 in the hand of both teacher and pupil), while the cithara, on account of its louder sounding-board, as well as the phorminx, which was connected with it, if not, in fact, identical, were reserved for the use of professionals, and were regarded as a kind of concert instrument, and therefore learned specially by those who desired to attain something more than average proficiency in music. No doubt there was opportunity given in the ordinary schools for learning both kinds of stringed instrument. The flute, which, when used for purposes of accompaniment, could naturally not be played by the singer, was on this account less popular at Athens; at Thebes, on the other hand, it was universally popular, and it has been supposed that the neglect of the flute at Athens was due to the ancient antagonism between Attica and Boeotia; moreover, the flute, which originally belonged to the Bacchic worship of Asia Minor, with its sharp, shrill tone, was regarded as an exciting instrument, hostile to a calm state of mind, and therefore the philosophers all agreed in considering it unsuitable from a pedagogic point of view. We must not forget that the Greek flute was very different from that to which we give the name at the present day, which is regarded as a somewhat sentimental, effeminate instrument. There was, however, a time when flute-playing was popular at Athens among amateurs; according to Aristotle, the flute was introduced into Attic schools after the time of the Persian Wars, and soon became so popular that almost all the youths of the better classes learnt to play on it. Afterwards, however, apparently about the time of the Peloponnesian War, they recognised how very unsuitable this instrument was for intellectual and musical development, and it was again discarded by people of culture, probably in consequence of the example set by Alcibiades, who was regarded as a leader of fashion. Afterwards the flute was still learnt, and on vase pictures we see flutists and hetaerae playing it, as well as youths, but it was no longer a subject of instruction in the ordinary schools—at any rate, not at Athens. Naturally Sparta carefully avoided an instrument which was regarded as absolutely dangerous in its ethical effect.

No musical instruction, besides the elementary subjects and playing on stringed instruments and singing, was given at school during the best period of Athens. Boys attended school until the age of adolescence: that is, about their sixteenth year; though it is not probable that there was a definite limit of age; those who wished to extend their education had opportunities for doing so, even in the fifth century, by attending the sophists’ lectures. However, compared with the cheap fees of the elementary schools, the honorarium paid to these by their pupils was very high. There was no question of organised school instruction.

In the course of the fourth and the third centuries B.C. some other subjects of instruction were added to these. After the time of Alexander the Great, drawing was also taught to boys; probably this was due to the influence of Pamphilus, who was the Principal of the Painting School of Sicyon. The pupils learnt to draw with a style, or brush, on boxwood tablets, specially prepared for the purpose. As the school of Sicyon laid especial stress on correct drawing, and appears to have been rather behind the others in colouring, we may assume that the instruction in drawing was chiefly confined to outline, but we have few exact details concerning it.

At that time instruction in the elements of geometry was added to the teaching in arithmetic, but only the older boys appear to have learnt it. This seems to have begun as early as the fifth century, but Socrates thought it ought to be limited to what was absolutely necessary. The philosophers of the fourth century, however, recommended geometry as an excellent means for developing and sharpening the intellect and logical powers. Plato even suggests teaching boys in play not only arithmetic and geometry, but also the first principles of astronomy, and afterwards continuing the study more seriously till about their eighteenth year. Astronomy, however, would only signify to them what we now include in mathematical geography. Less educated people had a decided prejudice against geometry and other such abstract studies, on the ground that they were quite superfluous, since they were of no practical use in after years, either for the purposes of private or public life; and the opinion so often heard at the present day prevailed even then, that these subjects, since they could not be practically applied in after life, were only learnt for the purpose of being forgotten as soon as possible.

In this manner the grammatical and musical instruction developed the intellect of the boys, while gymnastic exercises were used to strengthen and train their bodies. Although these did not occupy quite so prominent a position at Athens as in the Dorian states, yet considerable time and attention were devoted to them, since the real aim of all pedagogic efforts was supposed to be the harmonious development of body and mind. It is not easy to determine at what age the gymnastic training began; what Plato and Aristotle say on the subject merely gives the pedagogic opinion of these philosophers, but does not refer to actual existing circumstances. Among modern scholars some assume that both musical and gymnastic instruction began with the seventh year, and that from that time onwards boys went every day to two distinct schools. Others suppose that gymnastic instruction came first, but that at first the exercises were easy ones, suited to the previous life of the child and tending to strengthen his body, and that afterwards the training in elementary subjects began. We have too little information to pronounce a definite opinion.

The buildings in which the boys received their gymnastic training were not, as was formerly supposed, the gymnasia, but the wrestling schools (παλαῖστραι)—a name given to these establishments because wrestling and running were regarded as the most important exercises in elementary gymnastic training. No doubt other gymnastic exercises were practised at the wrestling school. Of course, many changes took place in the course of centuries till the time of the Roman Empire, and therefore it is but natural that very various opinions should prevail about the wrestling school and the gymnasium. The most probable theory is, that, at any rate at Athens in its best period, the instruction in gymnastics was given at the wrestling school, while the gymnasium was used for the further training and development of the youths. The wrestling school was not a public institute, but a private undertaking conducted by a teacher of gymnastics, who received a fee for the use of the building and the instruction given by him. These schools were under directors and managers (παιδοτρίβαι); the institutes usually bore their names, but they were sometimes called after the founder. Like other masters, they had a full disciplinary right over their pupils but they were also subject to the supervision of the inspectors mentioned above, whose duty it was to see that nothing which offended against morality took place in the gymnastic institutes, and also that the instruction was methodical and suited to the different ages. Besides these inspectors, no one else, except the paidagogoi who accompanied their charges, was allowed to be present at the instruction in the wrestling school; an ordinance of Solon’s forbade admission to grown men, but in later times this rule seems to have fallen into disuse.

The gymnastic training had a double purpose; in the first place to teach the boys a modest and dignified bearing (much as dancing is taught in the present day), and in the second, which, of course, was most important, to train them in the chief gymnastic exercises. These were jumping, which included both the high and long jump, for which purpose dumb-bells were generally used; racing, throwing the quoit and the spear, and wrestling. Boxing was not included in the instruction given to boys, nor yet the pancratium, a combination of wrestling and boxing, nor the pentathlum, a combination of five exercises specially used in athletic contests, and therefore not generally practised at the wrestling unless boys were to take part in some public contest, in which case they might, of course, be prepared here beforehand. We shall deal later on in greater detail with the separate exercises, and must therefore content ourselves for the present with merely enumerating them, since the exercises of the boys only differed in degree, but not in kind, from those of the youths and men.

Such was the training given to the boys until about their sixteenth year. This was, however, by no means the end of their education, at any rate not for boys of the better classes, who were not obliged to follow any definite profession; and the gymnastic training extended for several years longer. The years between adolescence and somewhere about the twentieth year were generally called ephebeia; but besides this expression we find a good many others, especially in inscriptions, which prove that there were several sub-divisions for the purposes of gymnastic exercises and tests, made according to age; in fact, they generally distinguished between a first, second, and third class of ephebi. But there were other special names in use. In ancient times the only distinction in the gymnastic tests was between boys and men, and the ephebi were therefore included in the former class; but afterwards they distinguished between boys, youths, and men, though these designations and their sub-divisions according to age seem to have varied a good deal according to time and place. In any case, we must distinguish between the use of the term ephebus in the gymnastic classes and in the State. For State purposes it was not applied till the eighteenth or nineteenth year, and the boy had then to take his oath as a citizen; his name was entered in the book of his deme, and he received a warrior’s shield and spear. The oath taken by the ephebi, composed by Solon, has been preserved to us. The youth had to swear “Never to disgrace his holy arms, never to forsake his comrade in the ranks, but to fight for the holy temples and the common welfare, alone or with others; to leave his country, not in a worse, but in a better state than he found it; to obey the magistrates and the laws, and defend them against attack; finally to hold in honour the religion of his country.” The witnesses to this oath were, besides Zeus, a number of special Attic local deities of military or agrarian importance.

When a boy attained to the condition of ephebus he discarded the himation and adopted the chlamys as his characteristic dress. The hair, which was worn long by boys, was cut short, and this act of cutting the hair was a kind of religious ceremony, since the hair cut off was often dedicated to some deity. This sacred rite, the importance of which we can better understand if we imagine our modern rite of Confirmation combined with the attainment of majority, was usually celebrated as a festival in the family circle. The new ephebi, after taking their oath and receiving their arms, were presented publicly to the people in the Theatre. This usually took place at the festival of Dionysus, immediately before the performance of a tragedy. It is, however, not quite certain whether this introduction was confined to the sons of those only who had fallen in battle, whose equipment was presented to them by the State. This, however, like most of the details which we have about the ephebeia in Ancient Greece, refers specially to Athens; at Sparta and other places there were customs, more or less different, of which we know little or nothing. Moreover, at Athens, as well as in the rest of Greece and Asia Minor, the usage concerning the ephebi underwent many changes during the Hellenistic period and the Roman Empire. The numerous inscriptions give us far more exact details of this later period than of the best time; but we refrain from discussing them, since this institution, which originally had an essentially warlike character, gradually became a mere matter of form, and was confined to the sons of rich citizens, who merely played with the customs without regarding their ethical or political importance. Most of the information which the inscriptions supply about the officers and teachers of the ephebi also belongs to the later period; a great many boards of management for the arrangements concerning the ephebi, which became more and more complicated, were either created fresh or transformed out of the older ones, but their importance and powers were entirely different. Moreover, our purpose is to confine our attention to the classical and Hellenistic period.

We mentioned above that the place where the ephebi received their gymnastic instruction, or practised on their own account, was the gymnasium. The gymnasia, of which every town possessed one or more, were not, like the wrestling schools, private undertakings on the part of gymnastic teachers, but State institutions. At Athens the two oldest institutions of the kind were the Academy and the Cynosarges, at the foot of the Lycabettos, and in the time of Pericles the Lyceum was added as a third; the gymnasium of Ptolemy was not built till the Hellenistic period. The originally simple structure and arrangement of these institutions became in the course of centuries more complicated and extensive; and, though the first gymnasia were probably not more than simple halls supported by columns, with a racecourse attached, in course of time other rooms were added, and also baths, since the gymnastic exercises rendered bathing immediately afterwards absolutely necessary. At the time of Plato a number of different rooms belonging to the gymnasia are mentioned, which show that even at that time these must have been very extensive. We cannot clearly tell, from the accounts of the Greek writers, how these rooms were arranged and connected, and the description given by Vitruvius of a gymnasium is but unsatisfactory, because in many points he is not clear in his expressions. Moreover, it does not give a general scheme, but only a particular description, and this may not refer to his own period, as has been generally assumed, since the Roman gymnasia were on a far more complicated plan than the one described by Vitruvius, but rather to an earlier period, though not the best.

We are enabled to complete and correct the statements of Vitruvius from the ruins of various gymnasia in Asia Minor and Greece, especially those of Pergamum and Olympia. The description of Vitruvius connects the gymnasium and the wrestling school, but we must distinguish this wrestling place, which was a necessary part of the whole plan of the gymnasium, from that mentioned above, which was only used as a gymnastic school for boys. In the plan given by Vitruvius the centre is a square court with covered arcades; connected with this are a space for the ephebi, rooms for exercises with the corycus (boxing with a dummy), for anointing, sprinkling with dust or sand previous to wrestling, bath-rooms for hot and cold baths, etc.; further, in connection with these principal buildings there are covered racecourses, with levelled floors, gardens, and places for exercise, for rest, exedrae, etc. The arrangements of the gymnasium at Olympia, which probably dates from the end of the fourth or the beginning of the third century B.C., seem to have been simpler. We can distinguish two separate buildings—a smaller one, the actual palaestra, which has been almost entirely uncovered; and a larger, the large gymnasium, of which only a little has been excavated. Both lie close together, west of the sacred grove of Altis, near the banks of the Kladeos; it was, in fact, very common to place the gymnasia near running water, in order to have at hand the water so necessary for the baths. We do not, however, find any trace of those complicated bathing arrangements described by Vitruvius, and probably they did not become common till the Roman period. In the wrestling school of Olympia we can only trace one large bath, but still it is possible that there were more extensive arrangements in the larger gymnasium. The wrestling school itself is a square, the sides of which measure about sixty-four yards each, surrounded with Doric arcades; on the south there is a long hall in the Ionic style; on the three other sides are also halls and little rooms, the purpose of which we cannot determine, connected with the inner court by doors or porticoes; on the north wall is the door connecting it with the south hall of the larger gymnasium. This latter was separated from the wrestling place, though, as a rule, this is an integral part, or even the centre of the whole structure; it is oblong in form, and is surrounded by arcades on two or three sides. The eastern hall extends to the length of 210½ yards. No doubt the exercises in jumping, running, throwing the quoit and spear, took place here. The best-preserved ruins are those of Ephesus and Alexandria Troas, but even here we are obliged to be very arbitrary in our attempts at reconstruction.

In any case it is certain that the gymnasia of the classic period gave sufficient opportunity for different kinds of gymnastic exercises, as well as for wrestling and the various contests, and also supplied places for recreation and comfortable repose from the fatigues of physical exertion. The superintendence of the youths who practised here, and the maintaining of order were the duty of the Gymnasiarchs. They had the right of discipline, which they could exercise on any visitor to the gymnasium, and in token of this they carried a rod; thus we often see on vase pictures, among the gymnasts, men with long sticks, probably meant to represent the gymnasiarchs. In the older period at Athens there was but one gymnasiarch, but afterwards several shared the dignity. We cannot decide how far they also exercised a right of control over the wrestling-schools. Besides the gymnasiarch, or perhaps below him, was a board of officials whose duty it was to see to the preservation of the buildings and of the implements used in the gymnasia, while the general superintendence of the gymnastic exercises, and therefore also of the gymnasia, was exercised by the superintendents mentioned above (page 113), and, as a rule, men somewhat advanced in years were chosen for these posts.

There were other officials who were not so much concerned with the external arrangements of the gymnasia as with the instruction given there. The president of the gymnasium and head of the teachers (κοσμητής) is not mentioned until the late Hellenic and Roman periods; under him were the actual teachers and also those who instructed the ephebi in grammar, rhetoric, and philosophy; but in the classic period no instruction of this kind was given. At that time, however, we find the trainer (γυμναστής) acting as gymnastic teacher to the older youths, whose aim was to prepare themselves for athletic contests, and who intended to enter the lists as professional athletes. As boys were sometimes prepared for such contests, no doubt the trainer sometimes took the place of the ordinary teacher; and again, on the other hand, a competent gymnastic master sometimes undertook the training of athletes. Generally speaking, however, in the older period this distinction was maintained, that the boys’ teacher was concerned chiefly with the general training of the body suitable for everyone, and wrestling on a rational and hygienic basis, while the trainer was a professional teacher, and was more concerned with special subjects than the general harmonious development of the body. Below these teachers stood the rubber (ἀλείπης), whose task was originally a purely mechanical one, but gradually when anointing and rubbing came to be regarded from the hygienic point of view, and were perhaps connected with a kind of massage, his standing improved, and after a time he took a far more important position than belonged to him of right.

In spite of the numerous allusions to the instruction of the ephebi which have come down to us, there is a good deal that is still doubtful or unexplained; as, for instance, in how far the trainers also instructed those ephebi who were not in training for the contests, and whether they were paid for their services by the State or by each pupil individually. Afterwards, at any rate, the ephebi as a rule only paid a fee to the teacher for musical instruction, while the gymnastic teacher seems to have been paid by the State.

As for the subjects of gymnastic instruction, these were in part the same as those in which the boys had already been trained in the gymnastic school, but gradually becoming more difficult, while others were added to them which were usually excluded from the wrestling school—namely, boxing, pancratium, and pentathlum. Besides these there was fencing with heavy weapons (ὁπλομαχία); the fencing was not properly connected with the exercises of the gymnastic tests, but it formed an important part of the military education of the ephebi, and was the more important for these because, when they attained their majority as citizens, they had to spend several years in a kind of garrison and frontier service (περίπολοι). This was a training for military service which the ephebi, like all other citizens capable of bearing arms, had to perform from their twentieth year upwards, and they generally served the State for two years before in the manner above mentioned. Methodical instruction in fencing was originally rather looked down upon, but still was accepted in the curriculum of the ephebi, and in the inscriptions the fencing-master (ὁπλόμαχος) has a regular place beside the other masters. Plato also recommends fencing as strengthening for the body and useful in case of war, but he warns people to avoid all display and professionalism.

In the course of time other exercises in arms were added. Throwing the spear was part of the regular gymnastic training practised even by boys; and in many inscriptions of the last three centuries B.C. mention is made of special teachers (ἀκοντίσται). Shooting with bow and arrows was also learnt, and a teacher for this is mentioned in these inscriptions, as well as one who gave instruction in hurling and in the use of machines for throwing. Probably these purely military exercises were not part of the regular gymnastic curriculum. The same may be said of riding. Every youth had to learn riding, for he had to perform his frontier service on horseback; and at the great festivals, especially the Panathenaea, the troops