Volume 1 - Discourses - Books I - II - College of Stoic Philosophers

INTRODUCTIONproblem of 1right living.^ The regular class exerciseswere clearly reading and interpretation ofcharacteristic portions of Stoic philosophical works,,somewhat as in an oral examination ; problems informal logic,,these apparently conducted by assistants,or advanced pupils ;and the preparation of themesor essays on a large scale which required muchwriting and allowed an ambitious pupil to imitatethe style of celebrated authors. The Master supervisedthe formal instruction in even logic, thoughitmight be conducted by others,, but there is noindication that he delivered systematic lectures,although he clearly made special preparation tocriticize the interpretations of his pupils (I. 10, 8).From the nature of the comments, which presupposea fair elementary training in literature, we can feelsure that only young men and not boys were admittedto the school, and there are some remarkswhich sound very much like introductions to thegeneral subject of study, while others are prettyclearly addressed to those who were about to leaveconstituting, in fact, an early and somewhatrudimentary variety of Commencement Address?Some of the pupils were preparing to teach, but themajority, no doubt, like Arrian, were of high socialposition and contemplated entering the public service.For a proper understanding of the Discourses itisimportant to bear in mind their true character,1Colardeau, pp. 71113, has an. admirable discussion ofthe method and technique of instruction employed. Inview of the singularly valuable nature of the material itseems strange that more attention has not been paid toEpicfcetus in the history of ancient education.zSee Halbauer, p. 45 ff., for a good discussion of thosepoints and a critique of the views of Bruns, Colardeau, andHarbmann,xiv