After the disintegration of the Roman Empire, the education of the Byzantine Empire continued to develop on the original basis. When higher education in western Europe almost disappeared, institutions of higher learning continued to exist in Byzantine cities. Athens College, medical school and philosophy school in Alexandria, law school in Beirut and famous rhetoric schools in other cities, which were directly inherited from ancient times, were the centers of classical cultural education at that time and played an important role in the development of early Byzantine cultural education. However, in the 4th century, due to the gradual strengthening of Christianity, there was a trend of rejecting ancient Greek culture, and the Alexandria Library in North Africa was burned down at the end of the 4th century. In 4 15 AD, Bishop Cyril instigated the church to kill the famous female mathematician Ebertia. In 529 AD, the Byzantine emperor Justinian ordered the closure of Athens College and exiled all its teachers and scholars. After the closure of Athens College, Constantinople became the center of national education, among which Constantinople University was the most influential. This university was founded in 425 AD, directly established by the imperial government, with the task of training high-level officials for the empire. The school invites famous scholars to give lectures, and the salary is paid by the state, exempting teachers from tax burden. In the 5th century, more than 30 professors taught in this university, teaching Greek, Latin, oratory, the theory of the wise, law and philosophy. Students have studied for five years, and seven arts are the basic subjects of teaching. In the 7th century, the teaching activities of Constantinople University were interrupted. In the mid-9th century, the activities of learning classical cultural knowledge became active again, and secular education was strengthened again. In 863, Constantinople University was rebuilt, and the famous philosopher Leo was appointed as the president. This school offers courses in philosophy, geometry, astronomy and linguistics. Leo personally teaches philosophy and offers subjects such as mathematics, music, grammar, law and medicine. Leo often invited famous scholars to give lectures at school, which made him famous for a while. Scholars who come here are not only young people from all over Byzantium, but also young people from Arab regions and western European countries.
From 10 century to 12 century, with the prosperity of Byzantine Empire and overseas trade, Constantinople became the largest city and cultural center in the Christian world, and the exploration and research on ancient culture reached a climax. Scholars collate, collate, copy and compile ancient manuscripts into books. A large number of ancient works were brought to Italy and the Mediterranean coast by Venetian merchant ships in 1 1, 12 and 13 centuries, which played a positive role in promoting the Renaissance.
In Byzantine Empire, legal education has always been valued. In the early days of the empire, there were law schools not only in Constantinople, but also in some places. After that, the prosperity of legal education was related to the legislative activities of Emperor Justinian. In 528 AD, he appointed a committee of ten legal experts. After years of efforts, the Committee of Ten has compiled the Justinian Code (volume 10), the elements of jurisprudence, the general outline of law and the new version of law, which are collectively called the Civil Code. Justinian took the promotion of legal knowledge as a means to consolidate his rule, so he attached importance to legal education. In the capital and Beirut, law schools are managed by the state, and the study period of both schools is five years. At the end of the 9th century, the state-run legal education declined for a time, but it revived in 1 1 century.
In the Byzantine secular education system, private lectures occupy an important position, and the wind of private lectures is particularly prevalent in cities, especially in ancient Greek cities. Byzantine primary schools have always retained the tradition of the Greek era, that is, schools mainly set up for private people. In these private primary schools, children aged 6 -8 teach primary knowledge of orthography, grammar and arithmetic, as well as primary reading materials such as Homer's epics and hymns. Many scholars give lectures on specialized subjects and teach advanced knowledge. Such as philosophy, grammar, rhetoric, astronomy, history and law. Leo, a famous scholar, gave a private lecture before he became the president of Constantinople University. For another example, the famous philosopher Michel Pseru (10 18- 1078) once recruited disciples to teach philosophy.
In Byzantium, private schools pay attention to imparting classical scientific and cultural knowledge, and compete with Christian schools in teaching content, which has become an important bridge to convey classical culture and made positive contributions to the prosperity of secular scientific and cultural education.