of philosophy was prejudicial to religion, but Claudianus was one, says Sidonius, ‘qui ... indesinenter _salva religione_ philosopharetur’.[1109] Plato was the main inspiration. Most of the Gallic Platonists were Christians, though Sidonius says that those who attack Faustus for his mystic philosophy will find ‘ecclesiae Christi Platonis academiam militare’.[1110] From Sidonius and Claudianus we should judge that Aristotle—especially the _Ethics_ and the _Categories_—was fairly prevalent in Gaul.[1111] _Methods and Masters._ Ennodius in his lines on ‘Grammatica’[1112] maintains that even in teaching philosophy a joke with the class is permissible, and that strict discipline must not always imply terror, and Sulpicius Severus writes to Bishop Paul[1113] commending his success in dealing with pupils without threats or force. But, on the whole, the pagan tradition of discipline was not mellowed by Christianity. It was rather reinforced by the ascetic spirit of the monasteries, and intensified by the added religious motive of mortification. The text ‘Quem enim diligit Dominus, increpat: flagellat autem omnem filium quem recipit’, was literally and extensively applied. Jerome talks quite naturally of education as equivalent to ‘manum ferulae subducere’,[1114] and the severe training of Lérins is indicated by the phrase of Sidonius; ‘post desudatas militiae Lerinensis excubias’ (the sweated vigils of your campaign at Lérins).[1115] Valerianus, in his homily ‘De bono disciplinae’,[1116] illustrates the ideas of the time on this subject, and strengthens the impression that we get from reading the various ‘Regulae’ for the cloisters. He expatiates on the disciplined order of nature, and everywhere thinks of ‘disciplina’ as equivalent to ‘castigatio’, which is always assumed to be the corner-stone of teaching and the condition of progress on the part of the pupil. The militarism of the Roman Empire lingers on in seemingly uncongenial surroundings. Great stress is laid on fear. Fear has the great virtue of always obeying. It therefore knows how to avoid threatening dangers, or the wrath of judgement. Because of this estimable quality it has the power of keeping you safe. ‘All vices are prostrate before fear.’ He appeals to the word of the Prophet: ‘servite Domino in timore et exultate ei cum tremore’. The Old Testament harshness suits the temper of these disciplinarians very well, and appears far more frequently than the gentleness of Christ or the humanity of common sense.