Education in Sparta
Model designed and created by Anton
Terra cotta
Teaching is focused on training men not on educating of children.
In schools of higher education, a master teaches rhetoric (the art of speaking), philosophy and the sciences to a few chosen disciples.
Fascinated by Greek education and its social character, the Romans pick up its literature, add written law but drop athletics along with musical and visual arts.
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These are the thumbnails and texts for this alcove. They can be printed.
Antiquity - Educating to form citizen-warriors
In ancient Greece and Rome the child was seen as comparable to a block of wax to be moulded into a man adapted to the imperatives of society. Children were raised by their mothers until the age of seven. Those from wealthy families were then sent to schools – financed by the families themselves or by the city – where they were taught to read, write and count. The others were sent to work.
Learning was based on memorising, repeating, and reading aloud famous texts that served as examples. The role of the teacher was regarded with little esteem. Corporal punishment to ensure discipline was standard practice.
Scholars at Alexandria
In the third century B.C., Alexandria’s "museiom," which featured botanical and zoological gardens, an observatory and an anatomical laboratory, served as a scientific research centre. Because of the number and diversity of the works it contained, the museum’s library stands as a unique phenomenon in the history of antiquity. It attracted numerous scholarsæincluding philosophers, astronomers and mathematiciansæsome of whom, like Euclid and Archimedes, were quite famous.
The role of sport
In Greece, physical education was considered an essential part of a young person’s training: an initiation into civilized life and the spirit of competition. In addition, it answered various needs in regard to hygiene, esthetics and health. Athletics, which were practised in the nude and seen as the epitome of sport, included wrestling, boxing, running, the long jump, and javelin and discus throwing. At the time of the Romans, sport had lost much of its prestige, and by the Middle Ages, had ceased to exist altogether. In France, sport would eventually make a comeback under the Third Republic.
Source of sound tracks
Education in Sparta
In Sparta, education was organized according to the needs of the State. In order to be accepted by society, one had to be beautiful, well-shaped, and sturdy. Until the age of 7, children were brought up by women, who were looked upon as breeders. Youths were then taken in hand by the State, which conscripted them into highly stratified pre-military youth formations. This particular system of collective education tore children away from their families.
Judaism
The beginning of the second millennium B.C. saw the birth of the Jewish religion, which spread by word of mouth. Its teachings were recorded in the Torah, the book of law, which was later translated into Greek for the Library of Alexandria. At the beginning of the Christian era, the scriptures were studied in Hebrew, a sacred language. In addition to education given in the home, a collective education system was implemented within Hebraic schools. The master was highly respected, since his role was to convey the divine word to children.
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