Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/301

 CHAP. XVII. EDUCATION-. 295 fthe should never again see her son, appeared joyous, and went round to the temple to thank the gods. What, then, was the power of the state that could thus order the reversal of the natural sentiments, and be obeyed ? The state allowed no man to be indifferent to its interests ; the philosopher or the studious man had no right to live apart. He was obliged to vote in the assembly, and be magistrate in his turn. At a time when discords were frequent, the Athenian law per- mitted no one to remain neutral; he must take sides with one or the other party. Against one who at- tempted to remain indifferent, and not side with either faction, and to appear calm, the law pronounced the punishment of exile with confiscation of property. Education was far from being free among the Greeks. On the contrary, there was nothing over which the state had greater control. At Sparta the father could have' nothing to do with the education of his son. The law appears to have been less rigorous at Athens; still the state managed to have education in the hands of masters of its own choosing. Aristophanes, in an elo- quent passage, shows the Athenian children on their way to school; in order, distributed according to their district, they march in serried ranks, through rain, snow, or scorching heat. These children seem already to understand that they are performing a public duty.* The state wished alone to control education, and Plato gives the motive for this:" "Parents ought not to be free to send or not to send their children to the masters whom the city has chosen ; for the children belong lesa CO their parents than to the city." Aristophanes, Clouds, 9C0-9G5. * Plato, Laws, VII.