Education is rarely a solitary act. Even when you sit alone with a book, you’re drinking in that author’s wisdom, almost as if they were speaking directly to you. It’s kind of a magic trick, really.
Still, nothing compares to being guided in person, one-on-one or in small group sessions, by someone who’s walked the path before you. And across time, people have recognized that power. Here’s a glimpse at four ancient civilizations that used tutorship to shape generations of leaders, folks we still read about to this day.
Greece
In ancient Athens, if you were the son of a wealthy family, you might begin studying with a private tutor when you were around seven years old. This was usually a philosopher, someone who could guide you through subjects like logic, rhetoric, music, and physical training, with the ultimate goal of molding you into a virtuous citizen.
Examples of famous Greek tutors are legion—including Socrates, who tutored Plato, who himself later tutored Aristotle. Socrates taught using what we now call the Socratic method: asking persistent, probing questions to help students uncover what is actually true for themselves.
Rome
Since leaders of Rome deeply respected the legacy Greece had left behind, its educational systems looked a lot like Grecian ones. Elite boys were tutored in philosophy, rhetoric, and statesmanship, whereas girls from upper-class families were sometimes taught to read, write, and play music. Tutors lived in the family home and accompanied children throughout their days, making sure they carried out their learning in everyday life.
The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius recorded his thoughts on self-improvement in the book Meditations. There, he reflects fondly on one of his tutors, Rusticus—who taught him to “read carefully and not to be satisfied with a superficial understanding of things,” among other lessons.
China
In imperial China, men from wealthy or landowning families could take the keju, a primarily written exam that offered a path to government roles for those who passed. Because the exam covered rigorous topics—Confucian teachings, policy questions, and the like—families who could afford it hired scholars or former officials to prepare their sons, emphasizing rote memorization, calligraphy, and, yes, moral instruction.
But centuries before this era existed probably the most iconic tutor in Chinese history: Confucius himself. Of his many disciples, Yan Hui was said to be his favorite. According to The Analects, a collection of Confucian sayings put together by his disciples, Confucius lived close to Yan Hui, and they spent their days talking deeply about virtue and proper conduct.
India
Tutorship in ancient India was spiritual and immersive. Boys from higher castes would study under a guru—often in the forest—with knowledge passed down almost entirely by oral tradition. Students were expected to memorize Vedic texts, pore over Sanskrit mantras, and discuss ethics, math, astronomy, music, and martial arts.
The Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic, details one of the more well-known tutor-student relationships, between Drona and the Kuru princes. The princes, children of two royal brothers in the Kuru dynasty, trained with the warrior Drona in a forest gurukul (a type of boarding school) in things like archery, swordsmanship, and mace combat. According to the epic, his most advanced students even learned to use supernatural, energetic weapons called Astras.
Tutorship in the modern age
Tutors in ancient civilizations were revered as moral guides. They helped their tutees discover their sense of virtue, duty, and proper conduct.
Fortunately, finding a tutor—or a mentor, as we might call them today—isn’t limited to the elite. No matter what type of wisdom you seek, there’s definitely someone out there who’s already walked the path you’re drawn to and can help you navigate the way successfully.
What wisdom are you hungry for? Start here on SweepIQ by typing your burning questions into our chat interface and soaking up what knowledge you discover. Then, when you need even deeper insights, go find that mentor. After all, close, character-shaping guidance is where some of the most powerful learning can happen.
