Education is a complex phenomenon, involving a wide range of influences and institutions, and covering a broad range of skills and knowledge. Studies on education in classical and late antiquity have for the most part looked to uncover what formal education looked like, whether with the private tutors of imperial Rome or the famous professors of late antique Bordeaux. As Tabea Meurer and Veronika Egetenmeyr convincingly argue in their introduction (authors and titles are listed at the end of the review) formal education is only a small part of a much broader and wide-ranging social and cultural process. In their words (p. 5), “[we are] more interested in how communities based participation on the education capital of their members”: consequently Meurer and Egetenmeyr adopt a more holistic view, informed by the conception of education espoused by Peter Gemeinhardt (whose foreword to the volume is a neat touch). This ultimately leads Meurer and Egetenmeyr to see education as a “continuum of socialization, upbringing and teaching” that transcends the classroom, something close to the German concept of Bildung, literally “formation”, but perhaps more aptly “formative influences.” In tracing these influences the editors embrace a pluralistic approach, exploring how the “mechanisms of in-and exclusion operate along cultural, social, political and socio-economic lines.” This is a welcome theoretical conception that directly informs the overarching methodological approach that is pursued in different ways in each of the chapters that follow. At times the results are clearly impressive, but at others, it seems doubtful that the available evidence is sufficient to realise the volume’s ambitions. Below I discuss each of the chapters in the volume before offering some concluding remarks.
Egetenmeyr analyses the education of Eucherius of Lyon, both formal and informal, including during his pivotal time in the monastic community of Lérins. Egetenmeyr begins by interpreting Eucherius’ lament about the difficulties of life in his epistle to Valerian as a lament for the decline of late antique Gaul, alongside Salvian and Orientius. Clearly all Gaul did not in fact burn on the same funeral pyre, something which Egetenmeyr subsequently acknowledges (p. 42): “the images of the late antique authors draw of the approaching end of the world are poetic in nature and must not be understood literally.” The chapter’s detailed description of the educational landscape at Lérins is well researched and clearly presented, but when Egetenmeyr turns her attention directly to Eucherius, the limitations of the evidence loom. Consequently, Egetenmeyr turns to a close reading of Eucherius’ extant works to infer what his education must have included, and then considers how Eucherius constructed educational communities. This is a solid start to the volume.
Raphael Schwitter analyses “school poetry”, which includes both the kind of “poetry suitable for school teaching” (p. 71) and also poetry written about school or in a school setting. Schwitter does well to show that critical neglect of this poetry is not a fair reflection of its literary worth, as he goes about defining its key elements, and analysing specific examples from a wide range of material. Schwitter includes some material from Italy and Africa, which enables him to supplement the limited evidence from Gaul. In the end, Schwitter convincingly shows that school poetry should be considered an integral part of elite literary culture, while also being responsive “to the evolving political, cultural and religious frameworks of late antique society” (p.84).
Joop van Waarden’s chapter extends the insightful approach that he pioneered for reading pronoun variation in Sidonius’ correspondence to other letter writers in late antique Gaul, all of whom vary their use of singular and plural first and second person pronouns for a variety of effects. The analysis of Mamertus Claudianus is necessarily limited given that only a handful of letters of his survive, but perhaps van Waarden may here have engaged in a specific comparison between Claudianus’ informal letter to Sidonius, preserved as Ep. 4.2 in Sidonius’ collection, and Sidonius’ grandiose reply, complete with pronoun variation, which is so grandiose as to undercut its praise. The analysis of Ruricius is interesting, but perhaps at times a little forced, given that van Waarden at times does not explain why Ruricius changed from a single to a plural pronoun or vice versa (which then raises the question as to whether Ruricius was keen to exploit the subtleties of pronoun variation in a manner similar to Sidonius).
Jan-Markus Kötter considers the context of the Gallic Chronicle of 452 as an educational community centred in southern Gaul and connected to the monastery at Lérins. The approach is largely prosopographical, but Kötter also considers the chronicles’ references to Sulpicius Severus’ vita Martini, which promote Martin as an exemplum for the rejection of both the trappings of secular power and an overly politicised clergy. As Kötter concludes, it is clear that the Chronicle’s message is distinctly subversive of the norms of power in late antique Gaul.
Christian Stadermann uses the “European migration crisis” as a hook into his discussion of barbarian migration into Gaul. While this is an interesting chapter that has much of value, the link to education is not consistently made clear. The reference to Commodianus as “a fifth-century poet living in Southern Gaul” may raise some eyebrows given the longstanding controversy about Commodian’s date and location`, something which Stadermann freely acknowledges in his footnotes.
Gernot Michael Müller’s chapter is a refined piece of scholarship. His analysis segues from Sidonius’ Carmina minora by way of a selection of Sidonius’ epistles to the Epistolae Austrasicae, a collection of letters that range from the late fifth to the late sixth century. As Müller argues, Sidonius’ minor poems carefully construct an educational community, with Sidonius at its centre, that is distinctly exclusive of barbarians, but in his correspondence this educational community is far more inclusive of others – an inconsistency that problematises greatly scholarly efforts to find out what Sidonius really thought of the barbarians. The analysis of the Epistolae Austrasicae allows Müller to make the diachronic argument that education became reconfigured in a more inclusive way in Merovingian Gaul, enabling individuals from different backgrounds to use it in their in self-representation.
Judith Hindermann analyses Sidonius’ use of lists, which feature extensively in his poems, but also occur in some his letters. Hindermann prefers the term ‘lists’ to ‘catalogues’ given the epic connotations of the latter, but at times uses both interchangeably. The analysis is carefully made and clearly shows the sophistication that Sidonius gains from using lists in a wide variety of ways for various effects.
Hendrik Hess explores references to women in epistolary collections including especially the letters of Sidonius. He provides useful context for his analysis, including discussion of education in Gallic epistolary collections, and what can be gleaned concerning female education in Late Antiquity from a range of evidence, most of which either predates Sidonius or is not from Gaul. Part of the challenge for Hess are the limitations of this evidence, which lends itself to overinterpretation, such as in the case of the Projecta Casket, which as a wedding gift, unsurprisingly depicts both newlyweds.
Maik Patzelt analyses the rules recorded by Caesarius of Arles for young women in cloisters, carefully interpreting them against the background of the Gallic synods. These rules constitute a system of formation that stressed obedience and duty. Ultimately, as Patzelt argues, the system looked to restrict women, hindering their capacity to obtain religious authority.
Willum Westenholz analyses Sidonius’ lukewarm endorsements in several of his letters of recommendation. His attention to Sidonius’ tone is admirable, and he does well to elucidate the sophistication that underpins Sidonius’ selection of what to write and what not to write, and the many techniques that Sidonius uses to give nuance to his expression
Alison John’s chapter extends her perceptive analysis of the use and knowledge of Greek in Sidonius to his wider literary circle. This is an important counter to the once prevalent assumption that Greek had all but died out in the Latin West by the mid fifth century and is likely to provoke further lines of research, including whether Greek texts are part of the allusive repertoire for authors like Sidonius.
Nikolas Hächler analyses the impressive treasure horde found at Kaiseraugst, near modern Basel, which includes the ‘Tray of Achilles.’ Hächler’s arguments that the treasure reflects a combination of élite interests, along social, economic, political and military lines are well considered and clearly presented. This chapter extends the breadth of the volume into material culture, something which may have merited further analysis were the collection of chapters to be any bigger.
In the final chapter Meurer covers well-trodden but unavoidable ground given the relative abundance of evidence provided by Ausonius for education in fourth century Bordeaux. She does well to analyse the evidentiary and historical value of Ausonius’ text and show how it constructs an educational community that valued not just collocation in Bordeaux but a ‘kinship of mind’ (p. 379) while diminishing political ambitions. Perhaps, coming at the end of the volume, this was a missed opportunity to consider how representative or not the educational climate was in Bordeaux relative to the rest of Gaul.
In sum, these chapters cover a lot of ground, and open up new avenues for research. The editors and contributors should be congratulated for a fine contribution to scholarship both to Late Antique Gaul, but also the conception and analysis of education in Late Antiquity.[1]
Authors and Titles
Peter Gemeinhardt, ‘Foreword’
Tabea L. Meurer and Veronika Egetenmeyr, ‘Acknowledgement’
Tabea L. Meurer and Veronika Egetenmeyr, ‘Introduction: Approaches to Education and In-/Exclusion’
Veronika Egetenmeyr, ‘Eucherius of Lyon and the Education Communities of Lérins’
Raphael Schwitter, ‘Writing Poetry in the School of Gaul – Rhetorical Practice and Literary Pursuit’
Joop van Waarden, ‘A Gentleman Weighs His ‘You’ and I. Inclusion in the Letters of Faustus, Mamertus Claudianus, Ruricius, Avitus and Ennodius’
Jan-Markus Kötter, ‘Nova Martini. Die Bildungsgemeinschaft der Gallischen Chronik von 452’
Christian Stadermann, ‘Barbarians within the Gates. Integration and Disintegration in Late Roman Gaul’
Gernot Michael Müller, ‘Zwischen Abgrengsung und Integration: Sidonius Apollinaris’ Carmina minora im Horizont der Bildungsgeschichte des fünften und sechsten Jahrhunderts’
Judith Hindermann, ‘Lists as Means of Education. The Inclusion of Literary Authorities in Sidonius Apollinaris’ Letters and Poems’
Hendrik Hess, ‘The Role of Women in Gallic Letter Collections in the Second Half of the Fifth Century’
Maik Patzelt, ‘The Fusion of Secular and Spiritual Education in Gallic Cloisters. A Rereading of Caesarius’ Regula ad virgines’
Willum Westenholz, ‘When You Have Nothing Nice to Say … Some Unkind Letters of Recommendation from the Pen of Sidonius Apollinaris’
Alison John, ‘Greek in the Literary Circles of Sidonius’ Gaul’
Nicholas Hächler, ‘(Re-)Presenting παιδεία through Objects. Exclusion and Inclusion through the studia litterarum on the Example of the Treasure of Kaiseraugst’
Tabea L. Meurer, ‘Ausonius’ Professores. A Landscape of Learning in Fourth-Century Gaul?’
Notes
[1] I spotted very few typos. LaVelle Norman should be LaValle Norman (p. 243fn36 and 253).