Scholae ( el, Σχολαί) is a
Latin word, literally meaning "schools" (from the singular ''schola'', ''
school'' or ''group'') that was used in the late
Roman Empire to signify a unit of Imperial Guards. The unit survived in the
Byzantine Empire until the 12th century. Michel Rouche succinctly traced the word's development, especially in the West: "The term ''schola'', which once referred to the imperial guard, came to be applied in turn to a train of warrior-servants who waited on the king, to the group of clergymen who waited on the bishop, to the monks of a monastery, and ultimately to a choral society; it did not mean 'school' before the ninth century."
The imperial ''Scholae''
While the singular ''schola'' still was used to refer to learning of singing and a mode of writing, the plural had an independent meaning. Next to the old kind of school, the
Scholae Palatinae
The ''Scholae Palatinae'' (literally "Palatine Schools", in gr, Σχολαί, Scholai) were an elite military Imperial guard, guard unit, usually ascribed to the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great as a replacement for the ''equites singulares Au ...
, established by
Constantine the Great
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
as a replacement to the
Praetorian Guard, was the training center of the imperial palace guard. It remained based at Constantinople, eventually declining to a purely ceremonial role. However, in the 8th century, the ''Scholae'' were reformed into one of the
elite
In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...
cataphract ''
Tagmata'' regiments, and continued to serve until the reign of
Alexios I Komnenos.
Non-military ''scholae''
Also, the
guilds of ''
notarii'' (
notaries) called themselves one schola, or different scholae. In the 4th century, Pope Sylvester I (died 335) was said to have founded the
schola cantorum
The Schola Cantorum de Paris is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera.
History
La Schola was founded i ...
, reformed by Pope Gregory (died 604), but there was an oral tradition until the written proof for the foundation of this ''schola'' from the 8th century.
Ancient Greek "Σχολαί"
Plural of the Ancient
Greek word "σχολή" (from which its Latin counterpart "Scholae" derives), meaning: 'rest, leisure' (Pi., lA), '(learned) conversation, lecture' (PI., Arist.), 'place of lecture, auditorium, school' (Arist.).
[ "Etymological Dictionary of Greek", Robert Beekes (Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden-Boston, 2010), p.745 ]
See also
*
Praetorian Guard
*
Imperial guard
*
Schola cantorum (papal choir)
*
Schola Medica Salernitana
Not related to scholae:
*
Non scholae, sed vitae discimus
Notes
{{reflist
Sources
*
V. H. Galbraith, ''An Introduction to the Use of the Public Records'' (1934)
*V. H. Galbraith, ''Studies in the Public Records'' (1948)
Roman Empire in late antiquity