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II.—Education.
The place most closely connected with St.
Basil’s early years is neither Cæsarea nor Neocæsarea,
but an insignificant village not far from the latter place, where he
was brought up by his admirable grandmother Macrina.21
| 21 Epp. cciv., ccx.,
ccxxiii. | In this neighbourhood his family had
considerable property, and here he afterwards resided. The estate
was at Annesi on the river Iris (Jekil-Irmak),22
| 22 Epp. iii.,
ccxxiii. The researches of Prof. W. M. Ramsay enable the exact
spot to be identified with approximate certainty, and, with his
guidance, a pilgrim to the scenes of Basil’s boyhood and earlier
monastic labours might feel himself on fairly sure ground. He
refers to the description of St. Basil’s hermitage given by
Gregory of Nazianzus in his Ep. iv., a description which may be
compared with that of Basil himself in Ep. xiv., as one which
“can hardly refer to any other spot than the rocky glen below
Turkhal. Ibora,” in which the diocese Annesi was situated,
“cannot be placed further down, because it is the frontier
bishopric of Pontus towards Sebasteia, and further up there is no rocky
glen until the territory of Comana is reached. Gregory Nyssenus,
in his treatise on baptism” (Migne, iii. 324 c.) “speaks of
Comana as a neighbouring city. Tillemont, thinking that the
treatise was written at Nyssa, infers that Nyssa and Comana were near
each other. The truth is that Gregory must have written his
treatise at Annesi. We may therefore infer that the territory of
Ibora adjoined that of Comana on the east and that of Sebasteia on the
south, and touched the Iris from the boundary of Comana down to the
point below Turkhal. The boundary was probably near Tokat, and
Ibora itself may have been actually situated near Turkhal.”
Prof. W. M. Ramsay, Hist. Geog. of Asia Minor, p.
326. |
and lay in the neighbourhood of scenery of romantic beauty.
Basil’s own description23
of his retreat on
the opposite side of the Iris matches the reference of Gregory of
Nazianzus24
to the narrow glen
among lofty mountains, which keep it always in shadow and darkness,
while far below the river foams and roars in its narrow precipitous
bed.
There is some little difficulty in understanding
the statement of Basil in Letter CCXVI., that the house of his brother
Peter, which he visited in 375, and which we may assume to have been on
the family property (cf. Letter CX. § 1) was “not far
from Neocæsarea.” As a matter of fact, the Iris
nowhere winds nearer to Neocæsarea than at a distance of about
twenty miles, and Turkhal is not at the nearest point. But it is
all a question of degree. Relatively to Cæsarea,
Basil’s usual place of residence, Annesi is near
Neocæsarea. An analogy would be found in the statement of a
writer usually residing in London, that if he came to Sheffield he
would be not far from Doncaster.25
| 25 On the visits to
Peter, Prof. W. M. Ramsay writes: “The first and more
natural interpretation is that Peter lived at a place further up the
Iris than Dazimon, in the direction of Neocæsarea. But on
more careful consideration it is obvious that, after the troubles in
Dazimon, Basil went to take a holiday with his brother Peter, and
therefore he did not necessarily continue his journey onward from
Dazimon. The expression of neighbourhood to the district of
Neocæsarea is doubtless only comparative. Basil’s
usual residence was at Cæsarea. Moreover, as Ibora has now
been placed, its territory probably touched that of
Neocæsarea.” Hist. Geog. of A.M. p.
328. |
At Annesi his mother Emmelia erected a chapel in honour
of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste to which their relics were
translated. It is possible that Basil was present at the
dedication services, lasting
all night long, which are related to have sent his brother Gregory to
sleep.26
| 26 Greg. Nyss.,
Orat. in xl. Mart. | Here, then,
Basil was taught the rudiments of religion by his
grandmother,27
| 27 Greg. Naz.,
Or. xliii. | and by his
father,28
in accordance with
the teaching of the great Gregory the Wonder-worker.29
| 29 See Ep. cciv.
and note on p. 250. | Here he learned the Catholic
faith.
At an early age he seems to have been sent to
school at Cæsarea,30
| 30 i.e. the
Cappadocian Cæsarea. The theory of Tillemont that
Cæsarea of Palestine was the scene of Basil’s early school
life seems hardly to deserve the careful refutation of Maran (Vit.
Bas. i. 5). cf. Ep. xlv. p. 148, and p. 145, n.
cf. also note on p. 141 on a possible intercourse between the
boy Basil and the young princes Gallus and Julian in their seclusion at
Macellum. The park and palace of Macellum (Amm. Marc.
“fundus”) was near Mt. Argæus (Soz. v. 2) and
close to Cæsarea. If Basil and Julian did ever study the
Bible together, it seems more probably that they should do so at
Macellum, while the prince was still being educated as a Christian,
than afterwards at Athens, when the residence at Nicomedia has resulted
in the apostasy. cf. Maran, Vit. Bas. ii.
4. | and there to have
formed the acquaintance of an Eusebius, otherwise unknown,31
Hesychius,32
and Gregory of
Nazianzus,33
and to have
conceived a boyish admiration for Dianius the archbishop.34
From Cæsarea Basil went to Constantinople,
and there studied rhetoric and philosophy with success.
Socrates35
and
Sozomen36
say that he worked
at Antioch under Libanius. It may be that both these writers
have confounded Basil of Cæsarea with the Basil to whom
Chrysostom dedicated his De Sacerdotio, and who was perhaps
the bishop of Raphanea, who signed the creed of
Constantinople.37
| 37 Maran, Vit.
Bas. ii., Fabricius, Ed. Harles. vol. ix. |
There is no corroboration of a sojourn of Basil of
Cæsarea at Antioch. Libanius was at Constantinople in
347,38
| 38 He does not seem to
have been at Antioch until 353, D.C.B. iii. 710, when Basil was
at Athens. | and there Basil may have attended his
lectures.39
| 39 cf. the
correspondence with Libanius, of which the genuineness has been
questioned, in Letters cccxxxv.–ccclix.
Letter cccxxxix. suggests a possibility of some study of
Hebrew. But Basil always uses the LXX. |
From Constantinople the young Cappadocian student
proceeded in 351 to Athens. Of an university town of the 4th
century we have a lively picture in the writings of his
friend,40
| 40 Greg. Naz.,
Or. xliii., and poem De Vita Sua. | and are reminded
that the rough horse-play of the modern undergraduate is a
survival of a very ancient barbarism. The lads were
affiliated to certain fraternities,41
| 41 φράτριαι.
Greg., De Vita Sua, 215. | and
looked out for the arrival of every new student at the city, with
the object of attaching him to the classes of this or that
teacher. Kinsmen were on the watch for kinsmen and
acquaintances for acquaintances; sometimes it was mere
good-humoured violence which secured the person of the
freshman. The first step in this grotesque matriculation was
an entertainment; then the guest of the day was conducted with
ceremonial procession through the agora to the entrance of the
baths. There they leaped round him with wild cries, and
refused him admission. At last an entry was forced with mock
fury, and the neophyte was made free of the mysteries of the baths
and of the lecture halls. Gregory of Nazianzus, a student a
little senior to Basil, succeeded in sparing him the ordeal of
this initiation, and his dignity and sweetness of character seem
to have secured him immunity from rough usage without loss of
popularity.42
| 42 A somewhat similar
exemption is recorded of Dean Stanley at Rugby. | At Athens
the two young Cappadocians were noted among their contemporaries
for three things: their diligence and success in work; their
stainless and devout life; and their close mutual affection.
Everything was common to them. They were as one soul.
What formed the closest bond of union was their faith. God
and their love of what is best made them one.43
| 43 Greg. Naz.,
Or. xliii. 20, 21; Carm. xi. 221–235:
“῾Ο δ᾽
εἰς ἔν ἡμᾶς
διαφερόντως
ἤγαγε
Τοῦτ ἦν θεός
τε καὶ πόθος
τῶν
κρεισσόνων.”
Ullman (Life of Greg.) quotes
Cic., De Amicitia, xxv.: “Amicitiæ vis est
in eo ut unus quasi animus fiat ex
pluribus.” | Himerius, a pagan, and
Prohæresius, an Armenian Christian, are mentioned among the
well-known professors whose classes Basil attended.44
| 44 Soc. iv. 26 and Soz. vi.
17. | Among early friendships, formed
possibly during his university career, Basil’s own letters
name those with Terentius45
and
Sophronius.46
If the Libanian correspondence be accepted as
genuine, we may add Celsus, a pupil of Libanius, to the
group.47
But if we
except Basil’s affection for Gregory of Nazianzus, of none
of these intimacies is the interest so great as of that which is
recorded to have been formed between Basil and the young prince
Julian.48
| 48 Greg. Naz.,
Or. iv., Epp. xxxix., xl., xli., on the first of which
see note. | One incident
of the Athenian sojourn, which led to bitter consequences in after
days, was the brief communication with Apollinarius, and the
letter written “from layman to layman,”49
which his opponents made a handle for
much malevolence, and perhaps for forgery. Julian arrived at
Athens after the middle of the year 355.50
| 50 Amm. Mar. xv. 2,
8. “Permissus” is no doubt an euphemism for
“coactus.” | Basil’s departure thence and
return to Cæsarea may therefore be approximately fixed early in
356.51
| 51 “Non enim citius
contigit anno 355 exeunte aut ineunte 356, si
quidem ibi vidit Basilius Julianum, qui in hanc urbem venit jam media
parte anni 355elapsa: neque etiam serius, quia spatia
inter studia litterarum et sacerdotium nimis contrahi non patitur rerum
Basilii gestarum multitudo.” Maran. | Basil starts for his life’s
work with the equipment of the most liberal education which the
age could supply. He has studied Greek literature, rhetoric,
and philosophy under the most famous teachers. He has been
brought into contact with every class of mind. His training
has been no narrow hothouse forcing of theological opinion and
ecclesiastical sentiment. The world which he is to renounce,
to confront, to influence is not a world unknown to him.52
| 52 On the education of
Basil, Eug. Fialon remarks (Etude Historique et Litteraire, p.
15): “Saint Grégoire, sur le trône patriarcal
de Constantinople, déclarait ne pas savoir la langue de
Rome. Il en fut de même de Saint Basile. Du moins,
c’est vainement qu’on chercherait dans ses ouvrages quelque
trace des poètes ou des prosateurs Latins. Si des passages
de l’Hexaméron semblent tirés de Cicéron ou de
Pline, il ne faut pas s’y méprendre.
C’étaint de sortes de lieux cammuns qui se retrouvent dans
Plutarque et dans Élien-ceux-ci les avaient empruntés à
quelque vieil auteur, Aristotle, par exemple, et c’est à
cette source première qu’avaient puisé Grecs et
Latins. Les Grecs poussaient même si loin l’ignorance
du ayant à dire comment le mot ciel s’exprime en Latin,
l’écrit a peu pres comme il devait l’entendre
prononcer aux Romains, Κέλουμ, sans se
préoccuper de la quantité ni de l’etymologie…La
littérature Grecque était donc le fonds unique des
études en Orient, et certes elle pouvait, à elle seule,
satisfaire de nobles intelligences…C’est dans Homère
que les jeunes Grecs apprenaient à lire. Pendant tout le
cours de leurs études, ils expliquaient ses poèmes…Ses
vers remplissent la correspondances des pères de l’Eglise,
et plus d’une comparaison profane passe de ses poèmes dans
leurs homélies. Après Homère, venaient
Hésiode et les tragiques Hérodote et Thucydide,
Démosthène, Isocrate, et Lysias. Ainsi poètes,
historiens, orateurs, formaient l’esprit, dirigeaient le
cœur, élevaient l’âme des enfants. Mais ces
auteurs étaient les coryphées du paganisme, et plus
d’une passage de leur livres blessait la morale sévère
du christianisme. Nul doute qu’un maitre religieux, un
saint, comme le père de Basile, á propos des dieux
d’Homére,…dût plus d’une fois déplorer
l’aveuglement d’un si beau
génie.…Jusqu’ici, les études de Basile repondent
à peu près á notre instruction secondaire. Alors,
comme aujourd’hui ces première études n’etaient
qu’un acheminement à des travaux plus serieux. Muni de
ce premier bagage littéraire, un jeune homme rich, et que voulait
briller dans le monde, allait dans les grands centres, à Antioche,
à Alexandrie, à Constantinople, et surtout à
Athènes, ètudier l’éloquence et la
philosophie.” | He has seen heathenism in all the
autumn grace of its decline, and comes away victorious from
seductions which were fatal to some young men of early Christian
associations. Athens no doubt contributed its share of
influence to the apostasy of Julian. Basil, happily, was
found to be rooted more firmly in the faith.53
| 53 cf. C.
Ullman, Life of Gregory of Naz. chap. ii., and Greg. Naz.,
Or. xliii. 21. βλαβεραὶ
μὲν τοῖς
ἄλλοις
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