Thinking and Feeling

-What did the different social classes of Ancient Rome think about religion, philosophy, and education?  What was their worldview?
   -During the days of the Republic, it was expected that fathers would be responsible for the education of their sons (daughters I guess were expected to learn from their moms how to look after the house and shit).
      -However, as the empire expanded and Roman culture evolved over time, for the nobility it became typical for their children (both boys and girls) to be educated by Greek slaves.
         -From age 7-12, children were educated in reading, writing (using a stylus with wax tablets), and arithmetic (although the pedagogy during this time would be quite primitive (or backwards) compared to how it's done today, of course).
            -To make matters worse, mistakes were met with corporal punishment (from smacks on the wrist to full-on beatings)!
            -Additionally, children went to school just about every day (no weekends, although there was the exception of random holidays) of the year, and class was based on mind-numbingly boring drills, copying, and rote memorization.  Ugh.
               -The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius famously stated that his lack of formal education (as described above) as a child was one of the greatest things that ever happened to him in his life.
         -As teenagers, they were educated in grammar, literature, (and finally, rhetoric, if their family could afford it).
            -They rigidly studied classic Greek and Latin writers (Homer, Menander, Terence, Ennius, etc.), memorized grammar rules and literary passages, focusing on the order in which the words were written and shit like that.
               -It seems as if maybe that's why the Romans weren't known to be great poets, and probably made them just focused on being pedantic haha.
            -The purpose of rhetoric seemed to be to prepare the teens for life in the highly-litigious Roman public sphere and how to constantly be ready for argument or debate, and it was also seen as the highest form of intellectualism.
               -The emphasis seemed to be more on presentation and theatricality rather than actual content.
                  -Essentially, it was a lot less philosophy and a lot more sophism (ugh) and who could deliver a "better speech".
-So basically, the Roman education system and ethos sucked.
   -Because it was so crappy, many otherwise intellectually-oriented Romans were stunted early on, and those who weren't usually turned to religion (the majority) or philosophy (the minority) in order to satisfy their curiosities and burning existential questions.
      -However, it's worth noting that the religion many of these types turned to was not traditional Roman paganism (which actually had started to dwindle in terms of popularity by the 2nd century AD although people still did the rituals and shit just out of habit/tradition), but actually Eastern cults (due to the Roman wars of expansion in the East) such as Christianity, the mysteries of Isis, Egyptian astrology, etc.
         -These new cults/religions were exciting for many Romans who felt spiritually empty because they offered alternative worldviews, explanations, etc.
            -Christianity in particular flourished with slaves (it was initially known as a flourishing slave religion), the working class, and (perhaps most importantly) women due to its promise of salvation after death (so this shitty world can go fuck itself, basically) and that everyone was equal in the eyes of Yahweh/God.
               -This was incredibly important because slaves, the working class, and women made up the majority of the empire's population (so it's not hard to imagine how easily it spread)!
            -Many of these cults involved initiation rites and complex rituals which were meant to lead its followers to secret, mystical truths about reality and allow them to make predictions about the future and shit like that.
            -Of course, conservative Romans hated these cults and the radical, new, bizarre behavior they encouraged in their adherents.  Unfortunately, it seemed as if even these conservatives had grown bored with the traditional Roman beliefs and rituals and were really only going through the motions out of superstition.
         -Of all of the new cults and religions, it was of course Christianity that flourished the most. 
            -In many respects, Christianity during this time was similar to the other cults in that it had a secret initiation process for new members, but what made it different was that it DEMANDED that its followers forsake all other religions and belief systems, something that was very unusual for a pagan culture which had (up until then) enjoyed a wide variety of harmonious religions and traditions of worship.
               -However, at this point Christianity had already been around and spreading for over 100 years, so by the time it got to Rome itself it had already been "Helenized" (e.g. filtered through influential early Christian theologians and fanatics in the Near East and Greece (like St. Peter (AKA Simon, Simeon, Kepha, Cephas, etc.), St. Paul (AKA Paul the Apostle, Saul of Tarsus, etc.), etc.)). 
                 -These early additions/interpretations to/of Christian doctrine emphasized sexual denial, forsaking material possessions, etc.
                    -To put them more at odds with the Roman powers-that-be, Christians refused to offer sacrifices to the Roman emperors (who were believed to be divine, but if you didn't at least pretend to believe it of course you'd have serious problems).
                       -Even the Jews during this time didn't go that far; they covered their own asses by offering sacrifices to Yahweh in the name of the Roman emperors, (a very clever loophole, BTW)).
                       -Because of this, Christians were persecuted by Roman authorities across the empire, but this didn't stop the cult from spreading.
                          -In fact, something that made Christianity even more appealing to a lot of people was Christians' willingness to die for their faith, something that was probably missing from the other cults and religions.
-Of course, not every intellectual was drawn to religion or mystery cults; a minority got into philosophy, instead, although a lot of ancient philosophy wasn't really that much different than ancient religions. 
   -The big difference was that philosophy was based on human rationality; cults and religions were based on magical rituals and shit. 
      -However, it's important to keep in mind that BOTH schools of thought were typically based on the teachings of godlike mythological figures and rules in which you had to follow and shit like that.
         -During this time in Rome the two big philosophical traditions were Stoicism and Epicureanism, both of which were disdained by the average Roman due to their perceived contrary nature to how most Romans viewed the world and behaved.
            -Stoicism was founded by Zeno (or Zenon) of Citium (or Kition) around 300 BC, and was/is seen by many as a continuation of the Cynic school of thought (which had started up like a century before that).
               -The name comes from the Greek word stoa, meaning "porch", and is in reference to the Stoa Poikile ("Painted Porch"), located on the north side of Ancient Agora of Athens and where Zeno held his teachings.
               -Zeno believed that emotion MUST be subordinate to reason, and by doing this everyone could lead a virtuous life.
                  -It's actually a common misconception that the Stoics were anti-emotions or in favor of everyone acting like robots; instead, they believed that negative emotions are destructive and that everything must be beholden to reason.  When emotions are allowed to cloud our rational minds, that's what allows for chaos and shit to break down (which is contrary to how nature wants things to be).
                     -Essentially, Stoicism was an attempt to combine determinism with a guide for how to successfully manage an individual's free will.  Their ultimate goal was to develop good judgement with a calm mind that could weather any storm, accept the world for what it is along with our own place in it, and to our best with what we have.
               -Stoicism also was surprisingly egalitarian for its time (although in a different way than Christianity (see above)), as Zeno essentially had taught that non-slaves and slaves alike were both still human (e.g. possessing of the same goals, fears, emotions, etc.), although it's obvious for why it didn't catch on among the slave populations compared with Christianity ("life sucks so just accept it and get over it" vs. "life sucks but if you believe in Jesus you can go to Heaven after you die").
                  -Also, it was hard for Stoicism to truly catch on in general because it required lots of hard work and self-reflection; ain't nobody got time for that!
            -Epicureanism, founded by Epicurus of Samos around the same time as Zeno founded Stoicism, introduced the same overall goals in mind as Stoicism (a state of being free of fear, pain, or anxiety) except it promoted a radically different approach- identify that which gives you displeasure or discomfort and then purge it from your life.
               -Like Stoicism, Epicureanism was/is also misunderstood as being an excuse for hedonism and an endless drive for pleasure, when in fact Epicureans were actually quite modest in their pursuit of pleasure and happiness compared with, say, their average fellow Romans.
                  -Epicureans actually believed that hedonism just led to more pain, suffering, and discomfort.  Instead, Epicureans advocated for a way of life in which one enjoyed eating simple meals while hanging out with friends; they didn't get involved in lawsuits, politics, or commercial activities.  Basically, it was all about enjoying the simple things in life, following the Golden Rule, and not being afraid of death (which was the source of everything bad (anger, war, being an asshole, etc.) in the world). 
                    -If you could figure out how to not be afraid to die, then everything else would fall into place in one's own life. 
                    -Also, forget about the gods- if they do exist, then they certainly don't give a shit about us; there's also no Heaven or afterlife, so forget about that shit, too.  When we die, we can't feel anything, so we don't need to be scared of that because we can't feel it!  We're alive now, so just try to make this life the best we can while we can still feel it because it won't matter when we're dead.
                       -Although the tenants of Epicureanism as a whole really aren't that controversial by today's standards, the were typically met with condemnation by the superstitious masses of the ancient world due to its take on the gods or the supernatural. 
   -It's also important to point out that although most men who were into philosophy came from elite or rich families, this certainly wasn't the case for all of them, as there were indeed philosophers (or people who followed these philosophers/philosophies) that did not come wealthy backgrounds.  The cities were full of these "panhandling philosophers" or "street philosophers" who, among other things, might claim their lack of money (or good hygiene) was a choice or virtue.
-All in all, the Roman Empire at this time was beginning to show signs of decay- the education system had become too rigid and encouraging of sophistry; the elites had withdrawn into following new religions, cults, or esoteric philosophy; and the masses were doing everything they could to just stay afloat and survive.  The optimistic days of the Republic were long gone, and society had instead grown self-absorbed and ignorant about the threats that loomed beyond the borders of the empire.