La Educacin Ideal

Quintiliano

[Thatcher Introduction]: Marcus Fabius Quintilianus was a native of Spain. The date of his birth was about 35 .!." of his death about #5 .!. $e be%an to plead causes in Spain" but after acco&pan'in% (alba to )o&e where the latter was proclai&ed e&peror" too* up pleadin% and the teachin% of rhetoric there. To understand the position of orator' and of an instructor in it at thens or )o&e the reader &ust consider how little there was to learn then as co&pared with toda'. The ordinar' education of a bo' was supposed to include &usic" %'&nastics" and %eo&etr'. +nder &usic was included (ree* and ,atin literature" under %eo&etr' what little was *nown in science. The sub-ects for education above what &i%ht be called the %ra&&ar school were orator' and the philosophers. )o&an.s fields for action were politics and war. $e learned to co&&and in the field" and usuall' won the ri%ht to co&&and throu%h politics. The open hi%hwa' throu%h politics was orator'" and hence orator' was considered practicall' the onl' sub-ect worth' to be the end of a 'outh.s education. So Quintilian won honors and wealth in his profession. $e was hi%hl' rewarded b' /espasian and was later the instructor of the %rand0nephews of !o&itian. $is last 'ears were spent in preparin% his wor* on the education of an orator" the 1Institutes.1 2e %ive below his ideas of the ideal )o&an education preli&inar' to the education of the orator. The Institutes. 3oo* I" 4: ,5T F T$5)" then" as soon as his son is born" conceive" first of all" the best possible hopes of hi&6 for he will thus %row the &ore solicitous about his i&prove&ent fro& the ver' be%innin%6 since it is a co&plaint without foundation that 1to ver' few people is %ranted the facult' of co&prehendin% what is i&parted to the&" and that &ost" throu%h dullness of understandin%" lose their labor and their ti&e.1 For" on the contrar'" 'ou will find the %reater nu&ber of &en both read' in conceivin% and 7uic* in learnin%6 since such 7uic*ness is natural to &an6 and as birds are born to fl'" horses to run" and wild beasts to show fierceness" so to us peculiarl' belon% activit' and sa%acit' of understandin%6 whence the ori%in of the &ind is thou%ht to be fro& heaven. 8. 3ut dull and unteachable persons are no &ore produced in the course of nature than are persons &ar*ed b' &onstrosit' and defor&ities6 such are certainl' but few. It will be a proof of this assertion" that" a&on% bo's" %ood pro&ise is shown in the far %reater nu&ber6 and" if it passes off in the pro%ress of ti&e" it is &anifest that it was not natural abilit'" but care" that was wantin%. 3. 3ut one surpasses another" 'ou will sa'" in abilit'. I %rant that this is true6 but onl' so far as to acco&plish &ore or less6 whereas there is no one who has not %ained so&ethin% b' stud'. ,et hi& who is convinced of this truth" bestow" as soon as he beco&es a parent" the &ost vi%ilant possible care on cherishin% the hopes of a future orator. 9. 3efore all thin%s" let the tal* of the child.s nurses not be un%ra&&atical. :hr'sippus wished the&" if possible" to be wo&en of so&e *nowled%e6 at an' rate he would have the best" as far as circu&stances would allow" chosen. To their &orals" doubtless" attention is first to be paid6 but let the& also spea* with propriet'. 5. It is the' that the child will hear first6 it is their words that he will tr' to for& b' i&itation. 2e are b' nature &ost tenacious of what we have i&bibed in our infant 'ears6 as the flavor" with

which 'ou scent vessels when new" re&ains in the&6 nor can the colors of wool" for which its plain whiteness has been e;chan%ed" be effaced6 and those ver' habits" which are of a &ore ob-ectionable nature" adhere with the %reater tenacit'6 for %ood ones are easil' chan%ed for the worse" but when will 'ou chan%e bad ones into %ood< ,et the child not be accusto&ed" therefore" even while he is 'et an infant" to phraseolo%' which &ust be unlearned. =. In parents I should wish that there should be as &uch learnin% as possible. >or do I spea*" indeed" &erel' of fathers6 for we have heard that :ornelia" the &other of the (racchi ?whose ver' learned writin% in her letters has co&e down to posterit'@" contributed %reatl' to their elo7uence6 the dau%hter of ,aelius is said to have e;hibited her father.s ele%ance in her conversation6 and the oration of the dau%hter of Quintus $ortensius" delivered before the Triu&viri" is read not &erel' as an honor to her se;. A. >or let those parents" who have not had the fortune to %et learnin% the&selves" bestow the less care on the instruction of their children" but let the&" on this ver' account" be &ore solicitous as to other particulars. Bf the bo's" a&on% who& he who is destined to this prospect is to be educated" the sa&e &a' be said as concernin% nurses. C. Bf paeda%o%i this further &a' be said" that the' should either be &en of ac*nowled%ed learnin%" which I should wish to be the first ob-ect" or that the' should be conscious of their want of learnin%6 for none are &ore pernicious than those who" havin% %one so&e little be'ond the first ele&ents" clothe the&selves in a &ista*en persuasion of their own *nowled%e6 since the' disdain to 'ield to those who are s*illed in teachin%" and" %rowin% i&perious" and so&eti&es fierce" in a certain ri%ht" as it were" of e;ercisin% their authorit' ?with which that sort of &en are %enerall' puffed up@" the' teach onl' their own foll'. #. >or is their &isconduct less pre-udicial to the &anners of their pupils6 for ,eonides" the tutor of le;ander" as is related b' !io%enes of 3ab'lon" tinctured hi& with certain bad habits" which adhered to hi&" fro& his childish education" even when he was %rown up and beco&e the %reatest of *in%s. 4D. If I see& to &' reader to re7uire a %reat deal" let hi& consider that it is an orator that is to be educated6 an arduous tas*" even when nothin% is deficient for the for&ation of his character6 and that &ore and &ore difficult labors 'et re&ain6 for there is need of constant stud'" the &ost e;cellent teachers" and a variet' of &ental e;ercises. 44. The best of rules" therefore" are to be laid down6 and if an' one shall refuse to observe the&" the fault will lie" not in the &ethod" but in the &an. If" however" it should not be the %ood fortune of children to have such nurses as I should wish" let the& at least have one attentive paeda%o%us" not uns*illed in lan%ua%e" who" if an'thin% is spo*en incorrectl' b' the nurse in the presence of his pupil" &a' at once correct it" and not let it settle in his &ind. 3ut let it be understood that what I prescribed at first is the ri%ht course" and this onl' a re&ed'. 48. I prefer that a bo' should be%in with the (ree* lan%ua%e" because he will ac7uire ,atin" which is in %eneral use" even thou%h we tried to prevent hi&" and because" at the sa&e ti&e" he ou%ht first to be instructed in (ree* learnin%" fro& which ours is derived. 43. Eet I should not wish this rule to be so superstitiousl' observed that he should for a lon% ti&e spea* or learn onl' (ree*" as is the custo& with &ost people6 for hence arise &an' faults of pronunciation" which is viciousl' adapted to forei%n sounds" and also of lan%ua%e" in which when (ree* idio&s have beco&e inherent b' constant usa%e" the' *eep their place &ost pertinaciousl' even when we spea* a different ton%ue. 49. The stud' of ,atin ou%ht therefore to follow at no lon% interval" and soon after to *eep pace with the (ree*6 and thus it will happen" that" when we have be%un to attend to both ton%ues with e7ual care" neither will i&pede the other.

45. So&e have thou%ht that bo's" as lon% as the' are under seven 'ears of a%e" should not be set to learn" because that is the earliest a%e that can understand what is tau%ht" and endure the labor of learnin%. Bf which opinion a %reat &an' writers sa' that $esiod was" at least such writers as lived before ristophanes the %ra&&arian" for he was the first to den' that the wor*$'pothe*ai" in which this opinion is found" was the wor* of that poet. 4=. 3ut other writers li*ewise" a&on% who& is 5rastothenes" have %iven the sa&e advice. Those" however" advise better" who" li*e :hr'sippus" thin* that no part of a child.s life should be e;e&pt fro& tuition6 for :hr'sippus" thou%h he has allowed three 'ears to the nurses" 'et is of the opinion that the &inds of children &a' be i&bued with e;cellent instruction even b' the&. 4A. nd wh' should not that a%e be under the influence of learnin%" which is now confessedl' sub-ect to &oral influence< I a& not indeed i%norant that" durin% the whole ti&e of which I a& spea*in%" scarcel' as &uch can be done as one 'ear &a' afterwards acco&plish" 'et those who are of the opinion which I have &entioned" appear with re%ard to this part of life to have spared not so &uch the learners as the teachers. 4C. 2hat else" after the' are able to spea*" will children do better" for the' &ust do so&ethin%< Br wh' should we despise the %ain" how little soever it be" previous to the a%e of seven 'ears< For certainl'" s&all as &a' be the proficienc' which an earlier a%e e;hibits" the child will 'et learn so&ethin% %reater durin% the ver' 'ear in which he would have been learnin% so&ethin% less. 4#. This advance&ent e;tended throu%h each 'ear" is a profit on the whole6 and whatever is %ained in infanc' is an ac7uisition to 'outh. The sa&e rule should be prescribed as to the followin% 'ears" so that what ever' bo' has to learn" he &a' not be too late in be%innin% to learn. ,et us not then lose even the earliest period of life" and so &uch the less" as the ele&ents of learnin% depend on the &e&or' alone" which not onl' e;ists in children" but is at that ti&e of life even &ost tenacious. 8D. Eet I a& not so unac7uainted with differences of a%e" as to thin* that we should ur%e those of tender 'ears severel'" or e;act a full co&ple&ent of wor* fro& the&6 for it will be necessar'" above all thin%s" to ta*e care lest the child should conceive a disli*e to the application which he cannot 'et love" and continue to dread the bitterness which he has once tasted" even be'ond the 'ears of infanc'. ,et his instruction be an a&use&ent to hi&6 let hi& be 7uestioned and praised6 and let hi& never feel pleased that he does not *now a thin%6 and so&eti&es" if he is unwillin% to learn" let another be tau%ht before hi&" of who& he &a' be envious. ,et hi& strive for victor' now and then" and %enerall' suppose that he %ains it6 and let his powers be called forth b' rewards" such as that a%e priFes. 84. 2e are %ivin% s&all instructions" while professin% to educate an orator6 but even studies have their infanc'6 and as the rearin% of the ver' stron%est bodies co&&enced with &il* and the cradle" so he" who was to be the &ost elo7uent of &en" once uttered cries" tried to spea* at first with a stutterin% voice" and hesitated at the shapes of the letters. >or" if it is i&possible to learn a thin% co&pletel'" is it therefore unnecessar' to learn it at all. 88. If no one bla&es a father" who thin*s that these &atters are not to be ne%lected in re%ard to his son" wh' should he be bla&ed who co&&unicates to the public what he would practice to advanta%e in his own house< nd this is so &uch the &ore the case" as 'oun%er &inds &ore easil' ta*e in s&all thin%s6 and as bodies cannot be for&ed to certain fle;ures of the li&bs unless while the' are tender" so even stren%th itself &a*es our &inds li*ewise &ore un'ieldin% to &ost thin%s. 83. 2ould Ghilip" *in% of Macedon" have wished the first principles of learnin% to be co&&unicated to his son le;ander b' ristotle" the %reatest philosopher of that a%e" or would ristotle have underta*en that office" if the' had not both thou%ht that the first rudi&ents of

instruction are best treated b' the &ost acco&plished teacher" and have an influence on the whole course< 89. ,et us suppose" then" that le;ander were co&&itted to &e" and laid in &' lap" an infant worth' of so &uch solicitude ?thou%h ever' &an thin*s his own son worth' of si&ilar solicitude@" should I be asha&ed" even in teachin% hi& his ver' letters" to point out so&e co&pendious &ethods of instruction< For that at least" which I see practiced in re%ard to &ost children" b' no &eans pleases &e" na&el'" that the' learn the na&es and order of the letters before the' learn their shapes. 85. This &ethod hinders their reco%nition of the&" as" while the' follow their &e&or' that ta*es the lead" the' do not fi; their attention on the for&s of the letters. This is the reason wh' teachers" even when the' appear to have fi;ed the& sufficientl' in the &inds of children" in the strai%ht order in which the' are usuall' first written" &a*e the& %o over the& a%ain the contrar' wa'" and confuse the& b' variousl' chan%in% the arran%e&ent" until their pupils *now the& b' their shape" not b' their place. It will be best for children" therefore" to be tau%ht the appearances and na&es of the letters at once" as the' are tau%ht those of &en. 8=. 3ut that which is hurtful with re%ard to letters" will be no i&pedi&ent with re%ard to s'llables. I do not disapprove" however" the practice" which is well *nown" of %ivin% children" for the sa*e of sti&ulatin% the&