This paper deals with the reality of pedagogues in the Roman Empire. Itaims at the fullest survey of the literary source material given up till now, butalso takes into account epigraphical, papyrological, and iconographical sources.The study is mainly concerned with the level of discourse, confronting uschiefly with ancient preoccupations and anxieties. On the one hand educatorscould be depicted as brutal rascals because they were considered socially inferior.Since, however, a fundamental contradiction was experienced between thehope of a future of government and the slave-like way free boys were treatedby their educators, a whole discourse of differential equations was created tothe extent that the latter were temporarily upgraded to figures of authoritywith almost parental airs of concern. In studying this positive and negativepicturing of Roman pedagogues, I make use of the concept of differentialequations, as applied by Joshel and Murnaghan concerning women and slavesin Antiquity. Finally, I present a text by Libanius, which has never been includedin the discussion, but offers an almost unique synthesis of ancient thinkingabout pedagogues.
