The Gymnasium of Virtue: Education and Culture in Ancient Sparta

Studies in the History of Greece and Rome

by Nigel M. Kennell

From antiquity to the present, the ancient city of Sparta has been seen as a model either of discipline, obedience, and virtue or of totalitarianism, conformity, and tyranny. But virtually all observers, regardless of their image of the city, have agreed that the government-run educational system, or agoge, formed the cornerstone of the distinctive Spartan way of life. The Gymnasium of Virtue is the first book devoted exclusively to the study of education in ancient Sparta, covering the period from the sixth century B.C. to the fourth century A.D. In placing the agoge in its proper historical and cultural context, Nigel Kennell refutes the popular notion that classical Spartan education was a conservative amalgam of "primitive" customs not found elsewhere in Greece. He argues instead that later political and cultural movements made the system appear to be more distinctive than it actually had been, as a means of asserting Sparta's claim to be a unique society. Using epigraphical, literary, and archaeological evidence, Kennell describes the development of all aspects of Spartan education, including the age-grade system and the physical contests that were integral to the system, among them the notorious endurance contest, at which naked boys were flogged in public. He shows that Spartan education reached its apogee in the early Roman Empire, when Spartans sought to distinguish themselves from other Greeks. Specifically, Kennell attributes many of the changes instituted in the later period to one person - the philosopher Sphaerus the Borysthenite, who was an adviser to the revolutionary king Cleomenes III in the third century B.C.

Genres: History, Education

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Esme N]

If anyone reading this happens to be desperate for a book about the education system in several eras of ancient spartan history, I say go for it.

[Stephen Marte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great examination of the Spartan training system known as the 'agoge.' The author gets into a certain amount of minutiae, but that didn't bother me. Enjoyed the details about such festivals as the planistai and the endurance contest at the Temple of Artemis Orthia. It becomes clear through Kennell's book that the agoge went through various phases where it changed. We tend to think of the agoge as one continuous educational system for Sparta's soldiers, but from reading this book it becomes obvious that it changed quite a bit over the centuries. Sadly, we know more about the agoge when Sparta was in its decline than when it was in its golden age. Not really meant for the casual reader, but if you are fascinated by the Spartans and want to know more about the agoge, this is among the few books out there on the subject.