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Vincent
Hunink review of: Emiel Eyben,
Christian Laes, Toon van Houdt, Text published in: Paedagogica Historica (Int. Journal of the History of Education) 40, 2004, 828-30 [2005] Judging
by the ever increasing number of general studies and monographs on Roman culture
at large and Roman literature in particular, Roman antiquity continues to
fascinate modern readers and scholars. The ancient written sources themselves
are continually made available through new editions and translations. Recent
decades have even witnessed a proper surge of modern translations into Dutch. Some
of these studies of Roman antiquity may now be conveniently approached by means
of a new publication in Dutch by three scholars from One
may wonder how 'love and eroticism in In
books of this type, ancient sources are usually printed within the context of a
scholarly analysis, but here things have been arranged differently: each of the
three parts consists of an introductory essay about the subject in question,
followed by a choice of translated sources. This splitting up of essays and
translations seems a felicitous choice. It enables a novice reader to be
prepared for the ancient testimonies, while it allows the advanced reader to
easily pick whatever he or she wishes to read. Another
praiseworthy feature of this volume is its attention for the early Christian
period. `Ancient The
middle section of the book, on 'Love, sex, and gender' by Toon van Houdt is no
doubt its best part, but since it concerns matters other than education, I will
not enter into this in detail. Rather, it seems worthwhile briefly to examine
the subjects covered in the first section on 'Parents and children'. Its
introduction by Christian Laes opens with a provocative 'trial' of Roman
antiquity's basic attitudes towards children: a 'plaintiff' first argues that
Roman culture shows a terrible lack of concern for children, what with parents
hardly showing interest in education, a formal school system being virtually
non-existent, and scenes of violence and brutality being ubiquitous even in
daily life. Next, a `defendant' pleads the opposite case, showing how the Romans
greatly cared for their children, for instance by trying to find good nannies,
how they grieved for lost young children, and how they actually developed a
school system, even if it was accessible only to a relatively small group, as it
has been in most periods and cultures other than ours. Of course, the contrast
between both stands serves as a starting point for a more balanced view of
things, where both differences and similarities between the Romans and ourselves
can be highlighted. The Romans were neither brutal barbarians in their thinking
about children and education, nor the very opposite. Laes
presents the reader with some facts about Roman demography (mortality and
fertility), suggesting that early death must have been a widespread phenomenon,
and with a general portrait of daily life in Roman times. Next he highlights
Roman attitudes to children, with paragraphs on collective mourning, the role of
slaves in education, and the notion of an elite. Sections on the rather curious
Roman phenomenon of 'darlings' (child pets) (delicia or pueri delicati),
kept by the wealthy, and of child labour, further testify to the importance of
children in the Roman world. A final paragraph discusses the impact of
Christianity on the life of children. According to Laes, the most important
changes concern the gradual disappearance of accepted forms of paedophilia
(notably the delicia just mentioned), and the increasing focus on living
in the family circle. The translated sources include fragments from ancient
historiography, medicine, philosophy, and literature. A
book such as this does not intend to open up new areas of research but rather to
give a synthesis of recent scholarly work. In this sense, it may be considered a
success. In brief, the reader is given a survey of general topics relative to
Roman education, as well as, for that matter, love and marriage life. Some
critical remarks, however, would seem in order. I do not wish to refer to
omissions of particular issues, something which is, perhaps, unavoidable in any
anthology. However, there is a problem with the choice of fragments: Christian
texts sometimes threaten to dominate the material to the expense of available
`pagan' material. It is rather surprising to find the 4th century Greek (!)
Church father John Chrysostom as the ancient author with the greatest number of
fragments in this book, whereas nothing has been included from say, Catullus or
Virgil -- not the least among Roman poets. In the section on education the
Christian element is perhaps not too dominant, but throughout the book one
cannot help feeling a certain lack of balance in this respect. About
the method of translation, it may be observed that E. Eyben has newly translated
the majority of fragments, even where modern, good Dutch translations were
readily available. It is difficult to see the reasons for such a choice,
particularly since Eyben's style does not quite bring out the liveliness and
different styles of the originals. For instance, sections from the poets Horace,
Maximianus, and Lucan have been translated in prose without further comment,
although published translations are available for the first and second. Yet, to
non-Dutch readers, these considerations about translation will probably be of
less concern. To
sum up, the book presents a helpful introduction to the subjects of Roman
education, sexuality, and marriage life. It does not contain revolutionary
insights or theories, but rather offers a synthesis of scholarly work done in
the last few decades. Some caution seems due with respect to the focus on
Christian thinking, but as a whole, the book offers readers sufficient material
to form their own opinion on Roman attitudes towards children. latest changes here: 30-07-2012 16:01 |
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