Stanley F Bonner
Biographic Data
| ID | 3874913 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stanley F Bonner |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stanley F |
| FAMILY NAME | Bonner |
| SIGNATURE | BONNER S F |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 84 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 33 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1938 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Education within the family
In the beginning, teachers of Greek who were introduced into Roman families came from cities of Italy in which Greek was spoken, not yet from Greece itself. One of the earliest known tutors was Livius Andronicus, who, we are told, ‘was given his freedom, in recognition of his intellectual ability, by Livius Salinator, whose children he taught’.[ 1 ] There is some uncertainty as to which Livius Salinator this was, particularly as St Jerome, who gi…
The hazards of a fee-paying system
For the vast majority of teachers in our period, the main and often the sole source of remuneration was the fee ( mercês ) which pupils, or more usually their parents, agreed to pay for their instruction. If, in general practice, this fee had been payable in advance, teachers would have been in a much stronger position, and parents would have had to take the risk that the standard of teaching might not come up to their expectations. So Aristotle …
Primary education
The circumstances under which Roman children learned to read and write, and the extent of the linguistic knowledge which they acquired at an early age, varied considerably according to their family background. Many received their lessons at home, when the father, mother or other relative had the leisure and ability to teach them, or when, as often happened, their ‘pedagogue’ was competent to do so. Others, whose home circumstances were less favou…
The problem of accommodation
There is scarcely any part of the study of Roman education in which precise information is so difficult to obtain as that which concerns the localities and premises in which teaching took place. From Hellenistic Greece there is more evidence, for archaeological excavation has not only brought to light the remains of gymnasia and palaestrae, but has secured therefrom a rich harvest of inscriptions of educational interest; [ 1 ] though, even in Gre…
Equipment
School work in ancient times began at a very early hour. Rather in the way that the old English grammar schools might be instructed by statute to commence ‘at sixe of the clocke’, or at six in summer and seven in winter, [ 1 ] Roman schoolmasters, by a generally accepted tradition, awaited their pupils at the crack of dawn. Martial says that even before cock-crow boys were on their way to school, and would stop on the way to break their fast at a…
The Grammatical syllabus
The teaching of grammar, with which the secondary stage of education began, laid the foundations both for the subsequent study of the poets and for the training of the future orator. [ 1 ] It may be seen to have fallen into two major parts.[ 2 ] The first part was mainly formal, and was concerned with classification of the letters, the scansion of verse, the parts of speech, and declension and conjugation. [ 3 ] The second part dealt with correct…
Declamation as a preparation for the lawcourts
In teaching their pupils to distinguish the various types of issue which could arise in legal cases, the rhetoricians had, as we have seen, provided illustrative examples of each type, and had explained what the relevant topics were, for both accusation and defence. It was necessary, however, to supplement this doctrine with actual practice in speaking, and teachers therefore not only used the textbook examples, but invented many others of their …
Primary schools and ‘pedagogues’
Viewed against the background of Roman family life as a whole, the accession of tutors, such as those whom we have described, would appear to have been something of a luxury, and the children who benefited from such teaching generally belonged to the more favoured classes of society. Moreover, as this kind of tuition was provided by scholars, who had a particular interest in such subjects as language and literature, rhetoric, or philosophy, it wa…
Study of the poets (continued)
Those leading scholars who, like Varro, defined the various duties of the ‘grammarian’ in the treatment of authors, or, like Dionysius Thrax, divided his subject into its component parts, produced a brief classification, in which reading ( anagnosis, lectio ) stood first, and was separated from exposition ( exegesis, enarratio ), which came next.[ 1 ] But in actual teaching practice there was no such sharp distinction between them, for the one me…
Declamations on historical themes
Ancient rhetorical teaching, at all stages, was based on a combination of theory and practice. From the beginning, for each type of exercise, boys had been told what the rules for treatment were, before they wrote out and read aloud their own versions of the subjects prescribed. As the preliminary exercises became more advanced, they had begun to approximate — as in the Impersonation and the Thesis — to miniature speeches in themselves. The rheto…
Education within the family
Thanks to Plutarch’s admirable biography of the elder Cato, we are enabled to obtain a series of most interesting glimpses into the training which that remarkable, if rather formidable, personality gave his son.[ 1 ] First, we see him hurrying away from the Senate House so as to be certain of being back at home when the child was bathed and put to bed; for only important public business would cause him to forego this pleasure. Then we see him tea…
Learning the art of the advocate
The main doctrines of the rhetorical handbooks on the subject of speech-construction, which were concerned with the basic component parts of introduction, statement of the case, arguments to strengthen one’s position and refute that of an opponent, and peroration, and which gave detailed instructions on how to determine the central issue and to handle it, were quite obviously designed to be especially applicable to law-court cases. These precepts…
The Roman student abroad
Long before the end of the Republic, it often happened that Romans with intellectual interests, when on official service abroad, would take the opportunity of visiting one or other of the main centres of learning, in order to listen to their leading scholars, and perhaps to join in friendly discussion with them.[ 1 ] Athens, Rhodes and various cities of Asia Minor welcomed such visits, which could give rise to a stimulating exchange of ideas, and…
Study of the poets
At the primary level of education, as we saw, pupils had made their first acquaintance with some of the Greek and Latin poets by copying out and learning by heart selected passages of limited extent. Now, with the grammaticus , they began continuous study, usually of full texts, and their lessons included not only reading aloud and memorizing, but also the detailed exposition of the master. Naturally, with this degree of thoroughness, only a limi…
Cicero and the ideal of oratorical education
At one of the most important points in his whole career, just before taking on the prosecution of Verres, Cicero had to address a Roman court in a preliminary process ( divinatio ), in order to prove that he was a more suitable person to conduct the case than his opponent, the Sicilian freedman’s son, Caecilius. One of the arguments which he then used in his own favour was that he had received an education far superior to that of his rival. He wa…
Progress into rhetoric
Although the course of the grammaticus in language and literature could be both interesting and instructive, it was not originally designed to provide any opportunity for constructive work in prose, essential though this was for those whose ultimate objective was usually to become good public speakers. Traditionally, this was part of the province of rhetoric, and Greek rhetoricians, long before Quintilian’s day, had evolved a whole series of exer…
Schools of Grammar and Literature
Many of the educated Greeks, of varying background and social status, who arrived in Rome from the mid-second century B.C. onwards must have been as surprised as was Polybius to find that there was no officially established system of education, such as existed in so many of the Greek cities.[ 1 ] They missed the highly organized communities of the Greek gymnasia, equipped either at public expense or by private benefaction with a very efficient pr…
Education in a decadent society
When Octavian*s victory at Actium had brought to an end the long turmoil of the civil wars, and the Augustan peace ensued, Rome became not only more resplendent with her many new marble buildings, but a much more cosmopolitan city than before. [ 1 ] Many scholars and teachers were among those who now flocked to it from all parts of the Mediterranean world. [ 2 ] Their presence, together with the increased availability of books in the new public l…
The Grammatical syllabus (continued)
From the time of the early Greek sophists, Protagoras and Prodicus, the teaching of the correct use of language had been regarded as an indispensable part of educationa.[ 1 ] It had strong support from the philosophers, for both Peripatetics and Stoics were agreed in recognizing pure Greek ( Hellenismos ) to be the very fountain-head of good style. [ 2 ] In the Hellenistic period, the need for concentration on this aspect of speech and writing be…
Early Roman upbringing
In seeking to form some impression of what Roman family life was like and how children were brought up in the days before the second Punic War, it is best to look first at the Sabines, the near neighbours of the Romans, with whom they then had much in common. Both were agricultural communities, and historically they were closely connected. There is good reason to believe that from the regal period onwards, despite intermittent border warfare, the…
Conclusion
In our own time, when education has become so vast an enterprise, and is a subject on which a multitude of voices can claim a hearing, it may well be the common opinion that there is little or nothing to be learnt any longer from the experience of two thousand years ago. But perhaps those who have followed the story of Roman education to this point will be disposed to agree that it still carries a few lessons for today. Obviously, there was much …
The rhetoric schools and their critics
The art of rhetoric, the creation of the Greeks, was late in gaining acceptance at Rome. Certainly, in the centuries which preceded its introduction, there must always have been men who surpassed the rest in readiness of speech {facundia ), and who were chosen to represent them, for ‘spokesman’ was what orator originally meant. But there is no evidence that they were trained to do so. In a community which had seen so much political strife and so …
Education in Ancient Rome
Education in Ancient Rome (1977) examines the development, structure and role of education from the third century B.C. to the time of Trajan, a period which saw great changes in Roman society. It provides a historical background, showing the effects upon the educational system of Rome’s transition from an agricultural community to a great metropolis, tracing the development of primary, grammar and rhetoric schools, and discussing the standards of…
Education in Ancient Rome
This volume examines the development, structure and role of education from the third century B.C to the time of Trajan, a period which saw great changes in Roman society. When originally published it was the first complete review of the subject for half a century and was based on a new collection and analysis of ancient source material. The book is divided into three parts. The first provides historical background, showing the effects upon the ed…
Education in Ancient Rome
Education in Ancient Rome
Education in Ancient Rome (1977) examines the development, structure and role of education from the third century B.C. to the time of Trajan, a period which saw great changes in Roman society. It provides a historical background, showing the effects upon the educational system of Rome’s transition from an agricultural community to a great metropolis, tracing the development of primary, grammar and rhetoric schools, and discussing the standards of…
Lucan and the Declamation Schools
Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the Peripatetic Mean of Style
The Literary Treatises of Dionysius of Halicarnassus. A Study in the Development of Critical Method
The Literary Treatises of Dionysius of Halicarnassus
The Education of a Roman
M. L. Clarke, Rhetoric at Rome, a Historical Survey. London
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Lucan and the Declamation Schools
The Street-Teacher
Education in Ancient Rome
This volume examines the development, structure and role of education from the third century B.C to the time of Trajan, a period which saw great changes in Roman society. When originally published it was the first complete review of the subject for half a century and was based on a new collection and analysis of ancient source material. The book is divided into three parts. The first provides historical background, showing the effects upon the ed…
Education in Ancient Rome
Education in Ancient Rome
This volume examines the development, structure and role of education from the third century B.C to the time of Trajan, a period which saw great changes in Roman society. When originally published it was the first complete review of the subject for half a century and was based on a new collection and analysis of ancient source material. The book is divided into three parts. The first provides historical background, showing the effects upon the ed…
Education within the family
In the beginning, teachers of Greek who were introduced into Roman families came from cities of Italy in which Greek was spoken, not yet from Greece itself. One of the earliest known tutors was Livius Andronicus, who, we are told, ‘was given his freedom, in recognition of his intellectual ability, by Livius Salinator, whose children he taught’.[ 1 ] There is some uncertainty as to which Livius Salinator this was, particularly as St Jerome, who gi…
The hazards of a fee-paying system
For the vast majority of teachers in our period, the main and often the sole source of remuneration was the fee ( mercês ) which pupils, or more usually their parents, agreed to pay for their instruction. If, in general practice, this fee had been payable in advance, teachers would have been in a much stronger position, and parents would have had to take the risk that the standard of teaching might not come up to their expectations. So Aristotle …
Primary education
The circumstances under which Roman children learned to read and write, and the extent of the linguistic knowledge which they acquired at an early age, varied considerably according to their family background. Many received their lessons at home, when the father, mother or other relative had the leisure and ability to teach them, or when, as often happened, their ‘pedagogue’ was competent to do so. Others, whose home circumstances were less favou…
The problem of accommodation
There is scarcely any part of the study of Roman education in which precise information is so difficult to obtain as that which concerns the localities and premises in which teaching took place. From Hellenistic Greece there is more evidence, for archaeological excavation has not only brought to light the remains of gymnasia and palaestrae, but has secured therefrom a rich harvest of inscriptions of educational interest; [ 1 ] though, even in Gre…
Equipment
School work in ancient times began at a very early hour. Rather in the way that the old English grammar schools might be instructed by statute to commence ‘at sixe of the clocke’, or at six in summer and seven in winter, [ 1 ] Roman schoolmasters, by a generally accepted tradition, awaited their pupils at the crack of dawn. Martial says that even before cock-crow boys were on their way to school, and would stop on the way to break their fast at a…
The Grammatical syllabus
The teaching of grammar, with which the secondary stage of education began, laid the foundations both for the subsequent study of the poets and for the training of the future orator. [ 1 ] It may be seen to have fallen into two major parts.[ 2 ] The first part was mainly formal, and was concerned with classification of the letters, the scansion of verse, the parts of speech, and declension and conjugation. [ 3 ] The second part dealt with correct…
Declamation as a preparation for the lawcourts
In teaching their pupils to distinguish the various types of issue which could arise in legal cases, the rhetoricians had, as we have seen, provided illustrative examples of each type, and had explained what the relevant topics were, for both accusation and defence. It was necessary, however, to supplement this doctrine with actual practice in speaking, and teachers therefore not only used the textbook examples, but invented many others of their …
Primary schools and ‘pedagogues’
Viewed against the background of Roman family life as a whole, the accession of tutors, such as those whom we have described, would appear to have been something of a luxury, and the children who benefited from such teaching generally belonged to the more favoured classes of society. Moreover, as this kind of tuition was provided by scholars, who had a particular interest in such subjects as language and literature, rhetoric, or philosophy, it wa…
Study of the poets (continued)
Those leading scholars who, like Varro, defined the various duties of the ‘grammarian’ in the treatment of authors, or, like Dionysius Thrax, divided his subject into its component parts, produced a brief classification, in which reading ( anagnosis, lectio ) stood first, and was separated from exposition ( exegesis, enarratio ), which came next.[ 1 ] But in actual teaching practice there was no such sharp distinction between them, for the one me…
Declamations on historical themes
Ancient rhetorical teaching, at all stages, was based on a combination of theory and practice. From the beginning, for each type of exercise, boys had been told what the rules for treatment were, before they wrote out and read aloud their own versions of the subjects prescribed. As the preliminary exercises became more advanced, they had begun to approximate — as in the Impersonation and the Thesis — to miniature speeches in themselves. The rheto…
Education within the family
Thanks to Plutarch’s admirable biography of the elder Cato, we are enabled to obtain a series of most interesting glimpses into the training which that remarkable, if rather formidable, personality gave his son.[ 1 ] First, we see him hurrying away from the Senate House so as to be certain of being back at home when the child was bathed and put to bed; for only important public business would cause him to forego this pleasure. Then we see him tea…
Learning the art of the advocate
The main doctrines of the rhetorical handbooks on the subject of speech-construction, which were concerned with the basic component parts of introduction, statement of the case, arguments to strengthen one’s position and refute that of an opponent, and peroration, and which gave detailed instructions on how to determine the central issue and to handle it, were quite obviously designed to be especially applicable to law-court cases. These precepts…
The Roman student abroad
Long before the end of the Republic, it often happened that Romans with intellectual interests, when on official service abroad, would take the opportunity of visiting one or other of the main centres of learning, in order to listen to their leading scholars, and perhaps to join in friendly discussion with them.[ 1 ] Athens, Rhodes and various cities of Asia Minor welcomed such visits, which could give rise to a stimulating exchange of ideas, and…
Study of the poets
At the primary level of education, as we saw, pupils had made their first acquaintance with some of the Greek and Latin poets by copying out and learning by heart selected passages of limited extent. Now, with the grammaticus , they began continuous study, usually of full texts, and their lessons included not only reading aloud and memorizing, but also the detailed exposition of the master. Naturally, with this degree of thoroughness, only a limi…
Cicero and the ideal of oratorical education
At one of the most important points in his whole career, just before taking on the prosecution of Verres, Cicero had to address a Roman court in a preliminary process ( divinatio ), in order to prove that he was a more suitable person to conduct the case than his opponent, the Sicilian freedman’s son, Caecilius. One of the arguments which he then used in his own favour was that he had received an education far superior to that of his rival. He wa…
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