Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

GYMNASIUM.

197

GYMNASIUM.

GYMNASIUM (yvp.v6.nov). The whole
education of a Greek youth was divided into
three parts,-—grammar, music, and gymnas-
tics (yp6.ixjio.Ta., povo-LKyj, yup.vacrn.K7j), to which
Aristotle adds a fourth, the art of drawing
or painting. Gymnastics, however, were
thought by the ancients a matter of such im-
portance, that this pari of education alone
occupied as much time and attention as all
the others put together ; and while the latter
necessarily ceased at a certain period of life,
gymnastics continued to be cultivated by per-
sons of all ages, though those of an advanced
age naturally took lighter and less fatiguing
exercises than boys and youths. The an-
cients, and more especially the Greeks, seem
to have been thoroughly convinced that the
mind could not possibly be in a healthy state,
unless the body was likewise in perfect
health, and no means were thought, either
by philosophers or physicians, to be more
conducive to preserve or restore bodily health
than well-regulated exercise. The word
gymnastics is derived from yvp-ros (naked),
because the persons who performed their ex-
ercises in public or private gymnasia were
either entirely naked, or merely covered by
the short chiton. Gymnastic exercises among
the Greeks seem to have been as old as
the Greek nation itself; but they were, as
might be supposed, of a rude and mostly of a

Gymnusium, after the discription uf Vitruvius.

warlike character. They were generally held
in the open air, and in plains near a river,
which afforded an opportunity for swimming
and bathing. It was about the time of Solon
that the Greek towns began to build their
regular gymnasia as places of exercise for
the young, with baths, and other conve-
niences for philosophers and all persons who
sought intellectual amusements. There
was probably no Greek town of any im-
portance which did not possess its gym-
nasium. Athens possessed three great
gymnasia, the Lyceum (\vKeiov), Cyno-
sarges (Kvvocrapyes), and the Academia (Aica-
6r)/xt'a); to which, in later times, several
smaller ones were added. Respecting the
superintendence and administration of the
gymnasia at Athens, we know that Solon in
his legislation thought them worthy of great
attention ; and the transgression of some of
his laws relating to the gymnasia was pun-
ished with death. His laws mention a ma-
gistrate, called the gymnasiarch (yvpvacn'apxos
or yvpvao-iapxr)1;), who was entrusted with
the whole management of the gymnasia, and
with everything connected therewith. His
office was one of the regular liturgies like the
choregia and trierarchy, and was attended
with considerable expense. He had to main-
tain and pay the persons who were preparing
themselves for the games and contests in the
public festivals, to provide them with oil,
and perhaps with the wrestlers' dust. It also
devolved upon him to adorn the gymnasium,
or the place where the agones were held.
The gymnasiarch was a real magistrate, and
invested with a kind of jurisdiction over all
those who frequented or were connected with
the gymnasia. Another part of his duties
was to conduct the solemn games at certain
great festivals, especially the torch-race
(Aafx7ra£r)0opi'a), for which he selected the
most distinguished among the ephebi of the
gymnasia. The number of gymnasiarehs was
ten, one from every tribe. An office of very
great importance, in an educational point of
view, was that of the Sophronistae (o-ux\>po-
vurrax). Their province was to inspire the
youths with a love of o-aitppoo-vvr], and to pro-
tect this virtue against all injurious influ-
ences. In early times their number at Athens
was ten, one from every tribe, with a salary
of one drachma per day. Their duty not
only required them to be present at all the
games of the ephebi, but to watch and correct
their conduct wherever they might meet
them, both within and without the gymna-
sium. The instructions in the gymnasia
were given by the Gymnastae (yvp.va.<naL~)
and the Paedotrihae (7rai8oTptj3ai') ; at a later
period Uypopaedutribae were added. The