Learning Cities in Late Antiquity

The Local Dimension of Education

Jan R. Stenger

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781351578301
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

Education in the Graeco-Roman world was a hallmark of the polis. Yet the complex ways in which pedagogical theory and practice intersected with their local environments has not been much explored in recent scholarship. Learning Cities in Late Antiquity suggests a new explanatory model that helps to understand better how conditions in the cities shaped learning and teaching, and how, in turn, education had an impact on its urban context.

Drawing inspiration from the modern idea of 'learning cities', the chapters explore the interplay of teachers, learners, political leaders, communities and institutions in the Mediterranean polis, with a focus on the well-documented city of Gaza in the sixth century CE. They demonstrate in detail that formal and informal teaching, as well as educational thinking, not only responded to specifically local needs, but also exerted considerable influence on local society.

With its interdisciplinary and comparatist approach, the volume aims to contextualise ancient education, in order to stimulate further research on ancient learning cities. It also highlights the benefits of historical research to theory and practice in modern education.

Chapter 1

Learning cities

A novel approach to ancient paideia

Jan R. Stenger

Polis and paideia

Still in late antiquity, separated by eight centuries from the great teachers Plato and Aristotle, the city of Athens continued to enthral young men who were drawn by the call of philosophy. Deeply rooted in their minds was the belief that the classical polis was the epitome of paideia, the characteristically Greek way of learning. One of these expectant students was Proclus (412–485 CE), born in Constantinople to a family of high social status, who was going to become head of the venerable Academy. Thanks to the hagiographic Life of Proclus, written by the Neoplatonic scholar Marinus of Neapolis, we can imagine the impact that Athens had on Proclus’ intellectual and spiritual formation. Indeed, throughout the account of the philosopher’s life the city figures as the place where he attained the consummation of his studies, took active part in civic affairs and eventually rose to superhuman status. Right from his student days, it is self-evident that the Neoplatonic saint can achieve his fulfilment only in the place that is imbued with the aura of his great forebears, from Plato to Proclus’ teacher, Syrianus:

[Proclus] set off for Athens, escorted by all the oracles and the gods and good daemons who are custodians of philosophy. For in order that the succession from Plato might be preserved genuine and pure, the gods were leading him towards the custodian of philosophy [Athens]. This was proved manifestly by the events leading up to his residence, and the truly divine omens that clearly predicted the inheritance from his father and the succession to the school decreed from above.¹

As soon as Proclus, guided by divine Providence, enters the city it is clear that his philosophical teaching and religious devotion will bring the seemingly inevitable downfall of Athens to a halt. Over the course of Marinus’ biography we see Proclus engaging in politics, counselling and teaching the Athenian people for their common welfare, and putting his stamp on the religious life of the polis.² Naturally, he is in the end hailed by none other than the god Asclepius as ‘the glory of the city’.³ Apart from other important layers of meaning, the Life of Proclus conveys the idea that the teaching intellectual is an eminently public figure whose expertise and benevolence are indispensable for the well-being of the civic community. In a cityscape interlaced with symbolic meanings and values, the saintly philosopher constantly demonstrates that Athens is unthinkable without the Academy, and vice versa.

Another, but in some respects similar, picture of Athens as a Mecca of learning is conjured up in the philosophical dialogue Theophrastus, written by the scholar Aeneas of Gaza (end of the fifth century). Unlike Proclus’ life, the conversation between the pagan philosopher Theophrastus, the Christian student Euxitheus and his friend Aegyptus does not take place in the Greek capital. Yet Athens as the mother of philosophy is constantly in the background of the eristic discussion of the creation of the cosmos and the immortality of the soul, most prominently in the opening part. There we find Euxitheus, who is on a journey to Greece, talking to his student friend Aegyptus in Alexandria about his plans to study with the pre-eminent philosophers in Athens. However, it soon turns out that Euxitheus is to be spared from continuing his trip:

AEGYPTUS Back then all was fine, but now that is gone and come to an end. […] The orchestra and the horse-race are thriving, while philosophy and the homes of the Muses have sunk into terrible stillness.

EUXITHEUS As I myself suspected this I bypassed Egypt and was heading to Athens, to see if there was somehow any wise man left among the Athenians. […]

AEGYPTUS But you have in fact gained Athens, my friend. For if you want to see neither the Acropolis nor the Propylaea nor the dockyards, but a wise man, then Theophrastus, the great glory of the Athenians, has arrived among us and has been here the third day already. […] For neither among the Athenians nor among any others can one meet anyone wiser than Theophrastus.

EUXITHEUS You are describing a god-send, if I should find along the Nile the philosophy of the Athenians, so that I do not have to travel the wide sea to learn these things. […] There was no point, then, in my journey to the Athenians, if, as you say, no one of any worth remains to respond to my inquiry. But it was not in vain that I broke off my journey, if in accordance with some divine favour, I find at the Nile the one who is pre-eminent in philosophy and the best of the Athenians.⁴

Traditional philosophical schooling is, Aegyptus claims, in steep decline, not least because of the mediocrity of teachers and the students’ lack of commitment to learning. Yet, strikingly, the passage bears witness to the fact that in the eyes of fifth-century educated men Athens is still credited with a particular type and level of paideia, though the intellectual rigour of the Athenian philosophers belongs to a bygone era. That philosophy is said to have relocated to Alexandria nicely encapsulates, on the one hand, the rootedness of learning in famous metropolises and, on the other hand, the dependence of studies on the presence of distinguished scholars. In addition, Aeneas’ Theophrastus, to no less degree than his letters, points to the importance of student travel at the time and, further, to that of student experience and networking.⁵ Differences in genre, style and intentions notwithstanding, both Marinus’ Life of Proclus and Aeneas’ dialogue reflect full awareness of the local dimension of teaching and learning.

This volume investigates the significant correlation between polis and education during the period of late antiquity. It focusses on one particularly illuminating case: the city of Gaza in Palestine. A number of key questions will be addressed in order to gain insight into the nature of the, as Robert Kaster puts it, ‘archipelago of cities where schools of liberal letters were to be found’⁶: above all, we shall consider what exactly it means to posit a symbiotic union of learning and city. How is this interplay spelled out in the daily life of schools and cities? An answer to this question requires an in-depth examination of the precise place of learning within the polis, ‘place’ being defined in multiple dimensions as physical, social, economic and so on. Further, we need to identify the agents and factors which are involved in the interplay and the ways in which they intersect. Since education is comprised of not only practices but also ideas and theories, it is important to explore the notions of learning, individual, community and society that flow from the symbiosis. Finally, in what ways do learning and the ambient conditions correlate; does education alter the face of its place in significant ways; and, if so, how does it do so? Consideration of these questions will open up new avenues beyond the tacit assumption that the ancient city simply provided the physical environment for learning. In order to better understand how ancient cities informed the intellectual life that flourished within their walls, and vice versa, we may draw inspiration from a recent approach that has put the local dimension of learning on the map.

Learning cities

Education and learning are at the forefront of current debates across the globe, from governments’ considerations of how to prepare states for future challenges to non-governmental organisations (NGOs)’ disseminating their ideas on building inclusive societies by widening access and participation in learning. What is remarkable in this globalised education discourse is the stress on cities or local communities, running as a thread through many statements, strategies and publications. One notion in particular has increasingly gained in popularity over the last decades: that of learning cities and regions.⁷ This idea, which encapsulates the strong link between education and its civic context, has even been made a cornerstone of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)’s mission to improve people’s living conditions around the world.⁸ As evidence of its universal appeal, over 1,000 cities have joined the UNESCO initiative in the meantime and market themselves as learning cities, as is manifest in the worldwide network stretching from Beijing to Mexico City, from Espoo in Finland to Melton in Australia.⁹ Despite its enormous attractiveness and stimulating force, the notion of learning cities or regions is rather loosely defined, as can already be guessed from the huge variation among the cities just mentioned.

Yet some core features emerge. According to what has become a semi-official definition, learning cities are characterised by inclusive learning from elementary to higher education, a revitalisation of learning in families and communities, enhancing learning in and for the workplace, the use of modern learning technologies and the quest for quality and excellence in learning.¹⁰ Chief among the defining features, however, is the idea of lifelong learning, which has the potential to transform the urban society into a community of learners, regardless of age, class, gender and other distinctions. How important the concept of learning throughout life has become in the education sector is also visible in the attention it has received from, among others, UNESCO and the European Commission.¹¹ With their broad scope, as enshrined in the internationally agreed constitutive features, the learning cities initiatives can attain their goals and reach out to their beneficiaries only if they bring together a great number of diverse stakeholders: the implementation and further development of effective measures naturally require the close partnership of public authorities, private enterprises, education and research institutions, civic organisations and key individuals. These partners commit to long-term collaboration in order to make possible the prosperity of not only the civic community but also the individuals living there.

The global network of learning cities and its underlying ideology clearly owe their rise to the challenges faced by urban centres and regions of any scale in a globalising world. In a fast-changing environment with its host of uncertainties the idea of lifelong learning is seen to address many of the burning issues in our societies because citizens who acquire knowledge and skills in a wide range of contexts are believed to be better equipped to adapt to any changes. Building on such ideal citizen-learners, stakeholders in learning cities schemes seek to facilitate a sustainable social, economic and environmental development of the civic body and simultaneously seek the empowerment of individuals. What drives these ambitious objectives is evidently the belief in education as a powerful mechanism in engineering society and stimulating economic growth. Deeply woven into the fabric of learning cities is the now widespread paradigm of educationalisation, according to which education is the key to solving urgent social problems, for example, race, class and gender inequality, public health problems and crime.¹² It is beyond the scope and intentions of this introduction to discuss whether or not education is successful in carrying out these missions. But it is relevant here to note that all these agendas either explicitly or tacitly rest on the assumption that the implementation of adequate measures must start at a local level. Although every city is unique, and, on the surface, Beijing and Espoo have little in common, the main objectives, such as social cohesion, cultural prosperity and the empowerment of individuals, are evidently shared by many a civic community around the globe and cannot be attained unless the local stakeholders play an active role in the process.

Against this backdrop it is unsurprising that the public debate, as well as academic research, on learning cities is dominated by current concerns and is profoundly ahistorical. And yet the complex interplay of educational activities and their urban environment has a long pedigree. The localisation of the acquisition of knowledge and skills made its presence felt in former periods and distant civilisations too: for example in early modern university towns.¹³ In light of the interdependence of higher education and the city on various levels throughout the centuries it seems promising to bring the two strands of research,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of contributors
• Preface
• 1 Learning cities: a novel approach to ancient paideia
• 2 The role of big data in elucidating learning cities ancient, present and future
• 3 The importance of the Greek polis for Greek literature, or why Gaza?
• 4 Augustine’s rhetorics of theology: religious debates in late antique Carthage
• 5 Jerome, Quintilian and Little Paula: asceticism, education and ideology
• 6 The sixth-century city in the Roman East: survival or demise of the traditional urban context?
• 7 Town and gown in the orations of Choricius of Gaza
• 8 Ideals of education and sophistic realities in late antique Gaza
• 9 Procopius of Gaza and the debate on rhetoric versus law in his letters: was there a leading form of knowledge in Late Antiquity?
• 10 Tradition and habituation in rhetorical and monastic education at Gaza
• 11 Consensus versus diktat: two models of cultural leadership in Gaza
• Index