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

Examines education's changing political and social roles amid the backdrop of the transformations of Late Antiquity.

Alison John (Author)

9781009543422, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 31 December 2025

320 pages
28 x 19 x 2.4 cm, 0.689 kg

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.

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Classical education in the late roman world
2. The cultural ecosystem of late antique gaul
3. The relationship between education and power
4. Education in society and culture
5. Classical education and church schools
Conclusion
Appendix. 1 Prosopography of Teachers and Students in Late Antique Gaul
Appendix. 2 CTh 13.3.11 – Gratian's 'School Edict'
Bibliography
Index Locorum
General Index.

Subject Areas: Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]