and especially within the Greek East, where education was held in high regard, obtaining mastery over a philosophical school’s doctrines and texts and especially receiving formal instruction from one of its professional exponents were often held to be the acme of a person’s educational career.77 The means of gaining a high level of education in antiquity, however, extended beyond philosophy, and schools of thought that were devoted to explore subjects such as medicine and rhetoric also vied to attract the desirant erudite.78 The sense of distinction that people could feel after completing such a high level of training in one of these schools has often been noted by ancient writers and scholars,79 as is the small number of individuals whose circumstances could permit them to undertake such an extended period of contemplation.80 The scenario that the rhetorician Dionysius of Halicarnassus (ca. 60–7 BCE) documents, when a man who was unknown to him ventured to outline his opinion regarding a topic in rhetoric in his presence, is also, I suggest, particularly revealing:
Now initially I supposed that the person who had ventured to make this statement was an ordinary layperson, and I advised you not to pay attention to every paradox you heard.81
κατ᾿ ἀρχὰς μὲν οὖν ὑπελάμβανον τῶν πολλῶν τινα εἶναι τὸν ταῦτ᾿ ἐπιχειρήσαντα λέγειν, καὶ παρῄνουν σοι μὴ πᾶσι τοῖς παραδόξοις προσέχειν.
After first advising his students to largely ignore the visitor, upon apprehending that this man is not actually one “of the many” (τῶν πολλῶν), but that he has received enough education to allow him to discourse knowledgably on this subject, Dionysius gives way to listen to him and intimates that his students can do likewise. Therefore, despite this visitor having no personal connections with Dionysius or his circle of students, once known, his training enabled him to gain a positive reception from this group.
Similarly demonstrating how knowledge can be used to establish or preclude inclusion into intellectual circles, Philostratus records that Polemo (the third head of the Platonic school) likewise had a concern to exclude nonexpert opinion from being voiced within his school,82 while Lucian describes the situation of a philosopher who bore jealously/ill-will (φθονέω) when someone else became a philosopher because he knew he would have to treat him as his equal (ἴσος) in future disputations. Plutarch meanwhile records that because the associates of the poet Aratus judged that he was inexperienced (ἀπειρία) in philosophical study, they tried to prevent him from publicly dialoguing with others on philosophical themes.83
With regards to philosophy and its scholarly expectations, depending upon the particular school of affiliation, over the course of several years84 a student might have to gain familiarity and openly discourse on a wide range of topics as diverse as epistemology, cosmology, mathematics, and the correct manner of parsing of syllogisms and paradoxes, and show their comprehension of an ever-expanding corpus of texts and commentaries.85 Memorably, regarding the extended duration of study that philosophy’s pupils are expected to undertake, Lucian’s Hermotimus depicts with satirical license one student of Stoicism bemoaning that after twenty years of learning he has only just started traversing the long, infrequently traveled, and sweat-inducing road, and exclaiming that:
philosophy is unattainable even over a long period, unless you are very much awake all the time and keep a stern glaring eye on her. The venture is for no mere trifle—whether to perish miserably in the vulgar rabble of the common herd or to find happiness through philosophy.86
φιλοσοφία δὲ καὶ μακρῷ τῷ χρόνῳ ἀνέφικτος, ἢν μὴ πάνυ τις ἐγρηγορότως ἀτενὲς ἀεὶ καὶ γοργὸν ἀποβλέπῃ ἐς αὐτήν, καὶ τὸ κινδύνευμα οὐ περὶ μικρῶν, ἢ ἄθλιον εἶναι ἐν τῷ πολλῷ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν συρφετῷ παραπολόμενον ἢ εὐδαιμονῆσαι φιλοσοφήσαντα.
Meanwhile, the first to second century CE Pythagorean and possibly Stoic-influenced87 allegorical work known as the Tablet of Cebes compares philosophical instruction to be like an arduous physical journey. It portrays the road to true education as being a rocky, trackless wasteland that forces its travelers to climb up a high hill that has a narrow ascent and that features dangerously deep precipices on either side.88 Eventually, the author claims, only if the two sisters named “self-control” and “perseverance” come down and lift the traveler up can those on the journey hope to reach their desired destination.89
The speech of philosophical students was also expected to be carefully honed, with, as Allen Hilton has reflected,90 the reputed proper use of diction and pronunciation being one of the first features that was taken to signify whether a person was educated or not. Hilton, for example, highlights that the poet Ausonius refers to “a scholar’s accent” (doctis accentibus),91 and that Sextus Empiricus remarks on the characteristic difference in speech that differentiates the learned (πιλολόγοι) and laypeople (ιδιῶται).92 It might be further added that Aupelius valuably reflects upon the type of speech that was expected to emanate from a philosopher’s lips, stating: “the philosopher’s reasoning and speaking are to be continuous in time, solemn to the ear, profitable to the mind, and polyphonous in tone” (sed enim philosophi ratio et oratio tempore iugis est et auditu uenerabilis et intellectu utilis et modo omnicana).93 In addition, the expectation that a philosopher will have been coached to speak in a well-ordered way (εὐφυής), and to clearly (καθαρός) read in the style of the philosopher(s) they are reading or discussing is also highlighted by Epictetus and Seneca.94
Given such a demanding series of skills and intellectual requirements, it is no wonder that philosophy’s students are frequently portrayed in classical literature as remaining awake throughout the night so they can devote themselves to their studies,95 and depicted as trembling when they have to speak in front of their fellow students.96 Epictetus, for example, imagines one of his students sitting in a lecture and reflecting: “What are my people at home saying about me? Right now they are thinking that I am advancing in my studies, and they are saying ‘He will come back knowing everything,’” τί λέγουσιν οἱ ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωποι περὶ ἐμοῦ; νῦν οἴονταί με προκόπτειν καὶ λέγουσιν ὅτι῾ήξει ἐκεῖνος πάντα εἰδώς.97 In this regard, it can be observed that the complexity of Stoicism in particular is remarked upon by individuals from within as well as from outside of the school (and is reflected upon by modern scholars too98). Epictetus himself notes the difficulties that people can have in understanding philosophical thought99; for example, regarding discussing philosophical themes, he states: “These are technical terms, which are tiresome for the non-philosopher and difficult for them to comprehend, and yet for our part we are unable to dispense with them,” ῥήματα τεχνικὰ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοῖς ἰδιώταις φορτικὰ καὶ δυσπαρακολούθητα, ὧν ἡμεῖς ἀποστῆναι οὐ δυνάμεθα, and, so, Epictetus continues to reflect, they are unable to move him.100 He elsewhere notes that if an individual in his school reveals insufficient comprehension, then they risk exposing themselves to ridicule from their fellow students; refers to the study of philosophy as being serious/demanding work (συσπουδάζω); and notably, after having apprehended what his tuition under Epictetus will entail, one of his pupils is recorded as exclaiming: “But this requires long preparation, and much effort and study.”
