Athenaeum (ancient Rome)
Encyclopedia
The Athenaeum was a school (ludus) founded by the Emperor Hadrian
in Rome, for the promotion of literary and scientific studies (ingenuarum artium) and called Athenaeum from the town of Athens, which was still regarded as the seat of intellectual refinement. The Athenaeum was situated near the Capitoline Hill
: its site was discovered in 2009 during excavation for the construction of the Rome Rome Metro C Line, in the middle of what is now Piazza Venezia
.
A staff of professors, for the various branches of study, was regularly engaged. Under Theodosius II
, for example, there were three orators, ten grammarians, five sophists, one philosopher, two lawyers, or jurisconsults. Besides the instruction given by these magistri, poets, orators, and critics were accustomed to recite their compositions there, and these prelections were sometimes honoured with the presence of the emperors themselves. There were other places where such recitations were made, as the Library of Trajan; sometimes also a room was hired, and made into an auditorium.
The Athenaeum seems to have continued in high repute till the fifth century. Little is known of the details of study or discipline in the Athenaeum, but in the constitution of the year 370, there are some regulations respecting students in Rome, from which it would appear that it must have been a very extensive and important institution. And this is confirmed by other statements contained in some of the Fathers and other ancient authors, from which we learn that young men from all parts, after finishing their usual school and college studies in their own town or province, used to resort to Rome as a sort of higher university, for the purpose of completing their education.
After the moving of the capital city to Milan
and Constantinople
similar schools were opened also in these cities, as well as in the others main cities of the Empire, like Carthage
.
Hadrian
Hadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
in Rome, for the promotion of literary and scientific studies (ingenuarum artium) and called Athenaeum from the town of Athens, which was still regarded as the seat of intellectual refinement. The Athenaeum was situated near the Capitoline Hill
Capitoline Hill
The Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...
: its site was discovered in 2009 during excavation for the construction of the Rome Rome Metro C Line, in the middle of what is now Piazza Venezia
Piazza Venezia
The Piazza Venezia is a piazza in central Rome, Italy. It takes its name from Cardinal Venezia who built the adjacent Palazzo Venezia, the former embassy of the city of the Republic of Venice....
.
A staff of professors, for the various branches of study, was regularly engaged. Under Theodosius II
Theodosius II
Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...
, for example, there were three orators, ten grammarians, five sophists, one philosopher, two lawyers, or jurisconsults. Besides the instruction given by these magistri, poets, orators, and critics were accustomed to recite their compositions there, and these prelections were sometimes honoured with the presence of the emperors themselves. There were other places where such recitations were made, as the Library of Trajan; sometimes also a room was hired, and made into an auditorium.
The Athenaeum seems to have continued in high repute till the fifth century. Little is known of the details of study or discipline in the Athenaeum, but in the constitution of the year 370, there are some regulations respecting students in Rome, from which it would appear that it must have been a very extensive and important institution. And this is confirmed by other statements contained in some of the Fathers and other ancient authors, from which we learn that young men from all parts, after finishing their usual school and college studies in their own town or province, used to resort to Rome as a sort of higher university, for the purpose of completing their education.
After the moving of the capital city to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
similar schools were opened also in these cities, as well as in the others main cities of the Empire, like Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
.