H. I. Marrou's A History of Education in Antiquity has been an
invaluable contribution in the fields of classical studies and history
ever since its original publication in French in 1948. French historian
H. I. Marrou traces the roots of classical education, from the warrior
cultures of Homer, to the increasing importance of rhetoric and
philosophy, to the adaptation of Hellenistic ideals within the Roman
education system, and ending with the rise of Christian schools and
churches in the early medieval period. Marrou shows how education, once
formed as a way to train young warriors, eventually became increasingly
philosophical and secularized as Christianity took hold in the Roman
Empire. Through his examination of the transformation of Greco-Roman
education, Marrou is able to create a better understanding of these
cultures.