베스파시아누스 황제의 수사학 학교 신설조치의 사회교육적 배경

초록

The emperor Vespasian established a rhetoric school in the city of Rome in A.D. 71. It was the first rhetoric school in the Roman history maintained by national treasury. This measure corresponded with his general policy which aimed at restoring political and social order after the so-called ‘four emperors’ year’, that is A.D. 69. Since the later period of Roman Republic the art of rhetoric has been recognized as an important means for success and became more and more popular. As a result, many people wanted to learn the art of speaking more easily, neglecting the study of the liberal arts which was the basis of rhetoric education. After the establishment of Roman Empire, the Roman central government needed many officials in order to manage the vast empire. They were selected not according to the expert knowledge, but to the general and liberal education. Therefore the Roman government must have regarded the insufficient rhetoric education as an obstacle menacing the effective ruling over of the empire. The emperor Vespasian founded the rhetoric school with such a practical purpose. But he did not control directly or interfere in managing the school. It showed the fact that the Roman tradition in which educating of children was regarded as a private matter, still prevailed during the early Roman Empire.

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