29 But in our day we entrust the
infant to a little Greek servant-girl who is attended by one or two, commonly
the worst of all the slaves, creatures utterly unfit for any important work.
Their stories and their prejudices from the very first fill the child’s tender
and uninstructed mind. No one in the whole house cares what he says or does
before his infant master. Even parents themselves familiarise their little
ones, not with virtue and modesty, but with jesting and glib talk, which lead
on by degrees to shamelessness and to contempt for themselves as well as for
others. Really I think that the characteristic and peculiar vices of this city,
a liking for actors and a passion for gladiators and horses, are all but
conceived in the mother’s womb. When these occupy and possess the mind, how little
room has it left for worthy attainments! Few indeed are to be found who talk of
any other subjects in their homes, and whenever we enter a classroom, what else
is the conversation of the youths. Even with the teachers, these are the more
frequent topics of talk with their scholars. In fact, they draw pupils, not by
strictness of discipline or by giving proof of ability, but by assiduous court
and cunning tricks of flattery.
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