The Christian form of the Greek paideia in the fourth century A.D.

Abstract

Paideia, in the fullest sense in which the Greeks conceived it was the process of education by which all that is peculiarly human about a man is evoked. Through paideia man tends to his most noble self-fulfilment. The drive to consummate this became a strong cohesive force in antiquity and contributed largely to that nexus of loyalties which held together the people of the Roman Empire even after Rome lost ground as the dominant city of the Mediterranean. Paideia became in these days a factor of prime social and political importance within the society and a dividing line between Roman and barbarian, But at the same time too, it was a way of life for the individual, so that the idea of paideia was a serious rival to the religions in claiming allegiance and faith from its disciples. For it meant not only the initial formal education of a "boy, but also tho result: this education on the person. It included the process of further growth throughout the man’s life as the cultural ideal of self-realization at the basis of his education was more perfectly achieved.