Learning and Power in Late Antique Gaul : Classical Education and the End of Roman Rule

This book explores the relationships between cultural practices and political structures in late antique Gaul. It investigates what uses and values education has in a society – how is education valued by communities, governments and by individuals, and how does this change in response to political, religious, and cultural upheavals?

This book traces the changing political and social roles of classical education in late antique Gaul. It argues that the collapse of Roman political power in Gaul changed the way education was practiced and perceived by Gallo-Romans. Neither the barbarian kingdoms nor the Church directly caused the decline of classical schools, but these new structures of power did not encourage or support a cultural and political climate in which classical education mattered; while Latin remained the language of the Church, and literacy and knowledge of law were valued by barbarian courts, training in classical grammar and rhetoric was no longer seen as a prerequisite for political power and cultural prestige. This study demonstrates that these fundamental shifts in what education meant to individuals and power brokers resulted in the eventual end of the classical schools of grammar and rhetoric that had once defined Roman aristocratic public and private life.