Early Christianity

Why was Christianity more successful than any other spiritual movement within the ancient world?

By Jorge Aliaga Cacho.

'The decisive figures in early Christianity were travelling apostles, prophets, and disciples who move from place to place and could rely on small groups of sympathizers in these places. For the organisation, these groups of sympathizers remained within the framework of Judaism'. (Ref.8.p.8). 

Theissen defines the salient characteristics of these charismatics as homelessness, lack of family, lack of possessions, and lack of protection.

The wandering Cynic philosophers, he says, are in some ways analogous. 

In three centuries, Christianity became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire, unique in its imperial sponsorship. Eusebius (c.260-340, Bishop of Caesarea from c.313, prominent in the Council of Nicaea. He wrote an Ecclesiastical History down to 324 AD) divided the expansion of Christendom into three phases:

1- The mission of the Apostles.

2- The period around the 180s.

3- The period preceding the conversion of Constantine (312 AD).

The missionary activity of Pauline Christianity is the best-documented segment of the early Christian movement (Ref.3,p,7). Even at this early stage in its development, fundamental internal changes were in process:

Pauline Christianity...was entirely urban. In that respect, it stood on the growing edge of the Christian movement, for it was in the cities of the Roman empire that Christianity, though born in the village culture of Palestine, had its greatest successes until well after the time of Constantine'. (Ref.3,p.8).

'Whereas in earliest Palestinian Christianity the wandering charismatics were the decisive authorities, in a Hellenistic setting, the chief emphasis was soon laid on the local communities'. (Ref.8,p.115).

'Paul hardly quotes the words of Jesus. And even if he had known a number of them, the ethnic radicalism of the Jesus movement, its pattern of dispensing with family, homeland, possessions, and protection, would hardly have found a place in the communities which he founded'. (Ref.8,p.115).

Political and social change swept through the Mediterranean from the age of Alexander the Great to the time of Constantine, a period of six and a half centuries. These changes were urban-based, carried vìa the process of Hellenisation perfected by Alexander, a process which consisted of founding cities and establishing in them the Greek institutions of the body of citizens (demos), governing council (boule ) and educational system. This process of urbanization was continued by the Roman Empire, ushered in by the victory of Octavian at Actium (31 BC). Colonies were useful: they compensated veterans, provided potential military strength in dangerous areas, and revived the eastern economy. The early empire created a climate of stability and security for urban people in the provinces. Urbansociet developed and became even more complex than it had been during the Hellenistic age. These changes were in the general direction of a common Graeco-Roman culture, a culture where Greek was the standard urban language of the eastern Roman provinces, where Christianity originated. The Greek language, however, did not penetrate far into the countryside, where numerous local dialects prevailed.

Because of the cities of the Eastern Roman Empire shared a common language and culture, the early Pauline missionaries could travel from city to city, confident that they would be able to communicate their message when they arrived. The Roman Empire depended on fast, reliable communication by land and sea both for the movement of troops and for trade. The imperial government built and maintained the legendary Roman Road System, while the military presence of land and sea minimized brigandage and piracy. Most of the early Christian ministry was carried out by people who were travelling from place to place for other reasons, as merchants or artisans, for example. Paul himself was a tentmaker. It was not unusual for artisans to move from place to place with the tools of their trade, seeking out the appropriate district (tentmakers quarter, street of the spice merchants, or whatever). of whichever town they came to.

'...The spread of foreign cults closely followed the spread of trade...Christianity repeated this already established pattern'. (Ref.3,p.18).

According to the ''Acts of the Apostles'', the Pauline missionaries would go first to the Jewish synagogue and find opportunities to speak and debate at the regular Sabbath services. Following the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by Roman forces in 70 AD., many Jews scattered to new settlements throughout the Mediterranean, a process often referred to as the 'Diàspora'; Jewish communities were therefore widely dispersed and provided the seedbed for the Christian movement. The missionaries could also make use of extended family ties and networks of relationships within and between cities. 'Family' in this period included not only the bonds of kinship but the master/slave and patron/client relationships; a large 'household' could thus extend to hundreds of people.

Another useful form of social relationship was voluntary association. These have been known in Greek cities since the 5th century. Friends, neighbors, relations, or working associates could find a meeting place, draw up a constitution, and declare themselves an association, whether professional or purely social.

The pagan Roman Empire was tolerant of all the gods. Jews and Christians were persecuted (Jews occasionally, Christian more frequently) because these monotheistic, intolerant religions denied the validity of any other form of belief. MacMullen (Ref.4,p.2) quotes Eusebius:

'The pagans...have thoroughly persuaded themselves that they act rightly in honoring the deities and that we are guilty of the greatest impiety in making no account of powers so manifest and so beneficent, but directly break the laws which require everyone to reverence ancestral custom, la Patria, and not disturb what should be inviolable, but to work orderly in following the religion of our forefathers, and not to be meddlesome through a love of innovation'.

The Ancient World, drawing on the cultures of ancient Greece and Egypt, the Phoenician, Hellenistic, and finally, Roman Empires, supported myriad gods and their associated cults, festival, and oracles. The essence of belief in the pagan world was its diversity. The concepts of heresy and schism were unknown: the pagan writer Celsus speaks of the fury with which a heretic was pursued by those who professed religion of love. Gods were often worshipped far outside their local areas of origin, carried by traders, soldiers, mercenaries, slaves, and government officials. Even a superficial study of Roman Britain reveals numerous Celtic deities bearing the name of a Romano-Celtic equivalent. Romano-Celtic temple friezes depict Celtic gods alongside those from the Roman pantheon. It was accepted custom to pay one's respects to many gods, depending on civic requirements or individual needs and personal preference. The word 'pagan' used as a generic term for 'non- Christian' first appear in Christian inscriptions of the early fourth century (Ref.2,p.30). In everyday use, it meant either a civilian or a rustic. Christians used it as a slang to describe those who did not belong to their 'faith' - an equivalent of the Greek use of the word 'barbarian'. The principal pagan civic cults were rich:

'In Syria, the sanctuary wall of Damascus embraced a sacral area twice the size of a football field, constituting at the same time the principal bazaar of that great caravan city'. (Ref.4,p.26).

'Religious centers constituting also cultural centers, with zoological parks, aviaries, museums, concerts, art galleries, and public lectures, or the equivalent of all these things provided nowhere else in mos cities...In this description, we encounter a distinctive and ubiquitous feature of cult centers, a place where several people could seat down together to eat and drink'. (Ref.4,p.35).

Pagan religious beliefs and cult practices thus served to maintain the very fabric of society. The early Roman Empire saw the rise of the host of new cults and mystery religions including Mithraism and the many sects of Gnosticism. The mystery religions often included elements of belief in reincarnation or metempsychosis (the latter particularly among the Pythagoreans) while some of their practices are not dissimilar to those of the Christians:

'As to Mithraism, it grew like Syrian cults, cell by cell. All meetings in underground chapels, members dined together, sang hymns, and from time to time participated in rites that brought promotion through a series of titles and roles'.(Ref.4,p.53).

The educated classes had the leisure to dabble in philosophy. After the first century BC, the dominant philosophy of the Roman ruling class was Stoicism. The Stoics were pantheistic materialists who believed that happiness lies in accepting the law of the universe; their outlook was international and they denounce slavery. The emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), who presided over a period in which Christian were persecuted, was a prominent Stoic philosopher of his day.

It was expected those wealthy citizens, as a matter of civic duty, would support the important cults. This was a financial burden which holders of public office were required to bear. The prestige of magistrates and other officials was a reflection of their public munificence:

'The obverse was the dodgers in their midst, people who claimed one of the various exemptions from voluntary service which Roman law resected, or who tried to pass the most expensive types of magistracy to somebody better placed to take them'. (Ref.2,p.52).

The cities relied on these public benefactors to finance services (such as the heated public baths) and public life, as income from rents and taxes was limited and there was no direct taxation of the rich. In contrast to this reliance of the pagan civic cults on rich benefactors, Troelsch states:

''...The Early Church sought and won her new adherents chiefly among the lower classes in the cities, and that member of the well-to-do, educated upper classes only began to enter the Church in the second century, and then only very gradually...from the beginning no class distinctions were recognized'. (Ref.7,p.41).

However, he also points out that:

'From the very outset some of the members come from the upper classes; indeed it was they who were chiefly responsible for providing the necessary financial support and places where the Christians could gather for fellowship and worship'. (Ref.7,p.42).

In the 180s, according to Eusebius, there seems to have been a rise in the number of prominent Christians in Rome, Carthage, and Alexandria and it seems reasonable to accept the view that Christianity grew and spread in numbers. However, as Herrin states, 'Christianity was only one among many thriving cults. It appears to have spread easily among the urban poor, who were doubtless attracted by its egalitarian insistence on the worth of every individual' (Ref.6,p.58). Before the time of Constantine, it is difficult to estimate the size and distribution of the Christian population. Fox quotes one statistic, from a letter written by the Bishop of Rome:

'A staff of 154 ministers of varying rank (including fifty-two exorcists and more than fifteen hundred widows and poor people'. were said by the Bishop of Rome to be supported by Rome`s Christians in the year 251'. (Ref.2,p.268).

In the 240s the Christian thinker Origen admitted that Christians were only a tiny fraction of the world's inhabitants. They were prolific authors, however: 'most of the best Greek and Latin literature which survives is Christian' (Ref.2,p.270). In Fox's opinion, this literary production is the world of a small, but an extremely articulate minority. Most of it could be termed pro-Christian propaganda. Christian writers do not inform us of the degree to which Christians lapsed into paganism or Judaism. The Christian church did not have an impact on society as a whole:

'The inscriptions, pagan histories, texts, and papyri make next to no reference to Christians before 250...At this date, there were no church buildings on public ground, yet the tradition of regular attendance at services was very strong. Christians met in enlarged private houses or rooms'. (Ref.2,pp.269,271).

What the Church has developed, however, was its internal organisation.

According to Theissen:

'In the relatively peaceful period down to the beginning of the third century AD, it succeeded in building up a stable organisation and establishing institutional norms like a pattern of ministry, a canon, and a confession of faith'. (Ref.8,p.118).

When Constantine granted the Christian Church his imperial support, structures and administrative mechanisms had been developed over the preceding three centuries which enabled the Church to develop into an economically powerful and overtly political body:

'When he reorganised the empire, Constantine could rely on a small, well organised Christian minority...Christianity became more and more the social cement of the totalitarian state of late antiquity'. (Ref.8,p.119).

The impression given by the previous quote is of a monolithic, structured system of belief, but in the beginning, Christianity was home to a wide variety of sects and heresies (see appendix). Arianism was widespread during the fourth century and there were various Gnostic Christian sects. Over this variety of beliefs was gradually impose on an organised administrative structure. Before the end of the second century, quite apart from the bishops themselves, the hierarchy comprised sub-deacons, who assisted the deacons in their secular duties; a distinct order of lectors, whose duty was to read the scriptures to the congregation, and to take care of the copies used in the church; acolytes, who waited on the bishop; exorcists (the church was renowned by the quality of its exorcists); and ostarii or vergers, who cleansed and arrange the church, and opened and shut it at the due times (see Ref.9,p.206). It had not taken long for the original equalitarian ethos to be altered out of recognition.

Herrin (Ref.6). believes that the rise of Christianity delayed the decline of the Roman Empire. Constantine removed the imperial capital to Constantinople, which developed a Christian character, while Rome, which remained the largest and richest city in the West retained its pagan administration. Christianity was established as the Roman state religion by the fourth-century emperor Theodosius. Throughout the fourth and fifth centuries, the Roman empire was physically whittled away by a variety of invaders including Goths, Huns, and Vandals. In the fifth century, theWestern half of the Roman empire ceased to have any formal existence. The invaders, however, took on the trappings of Roman culture so that, although the imperial order was disrupted, it was not destroyed. Roman administration, coinage, ceremonial, and patronage was adopted for the barbarians' own use. The barbarian tribes had converted to Arian Christianity during the fourth century, and most of the barbarian leaders tried to maintain diplomatic links with Constantinople, the capital of the eastern empire, to in some sense legitimize their occupation.

The Christian church for a long time helped transmit Latin and Greek culture, recommending the study of classical authors. It was not until the sixth century that western bishops began to pressure for conformity in belief and began to denounce pagan learning. According to Herrin:

'Ancient cults, usually emptied of their original belief, persisted nonetheless, perhaps because people had always celebrated the wine harvest and looked forward to the festivities'. (Ref.6,p.76).

A recent program recounted the experience of a visitor to Spain who attended the celebrations for the local saint's day. The image of the saint (whose name escapes me) was respectfully carried to the village square where the local population proceeded to pelt it with rotten fruit in retribution for a poor harvest. Had the harvest been a good one, incense and donations of food would have been the order of the day. This seems to be a clear indication of the echoes of paganism persisting into the present.

By the sixth century, the Christian church held a dominant social position and became openly antagonistic to classical pagan learning and beliefs. In the opinion of Herrin:

'It was in the East where continuity of language made ancient writings so much more accessible that serious commitment to paganism could live on, albeit among very tiny circles of intellectuals who were no threat to the church'. (Ref.6,p.77).

In 529 the emperor Justinian prohibited pagans from holding positions of public education financed by city councils.

'Classical learning, being dependent upon imperial and civic support for its propagation, also had to accommodate the new belief that so rapidly altered the religious allegiance of its paymasters. But in so doing, it lost its monopoly on teaching and provoked the opposition of ecclesiastical culture'.

Social control had therefore passed into the hands of the Christian church. It controlled education: its hierarchy provided a means of social advancement: the doctrines of hell, damnation, and everlasting tortures had had time to be absorbed into the human psyche enabling the Church to dominate by fear. By the fourth century, many prominent pagans had been driven to the refuge of their villages or into bankruptcy and were unable to support the public facade of paganism; by the sixth century professed pagans could not legally pass on their states; they could not enter on profitable carers: their sanctuaries had been stripped of land and wealth.

The mantle of power cloaked the Christian Church which entered a period of cultural dominance which endured until the Renaissance of the 14th to 16th centuries once again encouraged the development of free thought.

Harvie Ferguson in his book ''Religious Transformation in Western Society'' corroborates the last point when he states that in the formation of the West Christianity played a very important role. According to Ferguson the new conception of God, brought up by Christianity, ...' sought to unite two fundamentally different ideas: God as a Creator, as the first cause of all material things; and God as personal salvation, as the end for which human existence was contrived. The ultimate significance and fate of the individual were thus linked, necessarily and essentially, to a cosmic principle'. (Ref.5,p.xi).

However, coming back to the end of antiquity, we would like to argue that the fait acompli of early Christianity was heavily influenced by the conversion of Constantin. It is true that this not mean the immediate adoption of Christianity by the empire but it did influence the future development of Christianity until it acquired the form of a state religion. Exemption of taxes, gifts of money, legal status, etc., gained which provided Christians with a better chance of defeating their religious rivals.

By the end of antiquity, Christianity had endowed the empire with an official religion and, as Harvie Ferguson states: 'it was a state religion in the sense that it was the beneficiary of authoritative protection and privilege. The state encouraged in some circumstances its exclusive services...' Hence the continuous efforts it made to wrest from the state those immunities and privileges which would secure its secular survival'. (Ref.5,p.72). Later when barbarian leaders adopted Christianity, it infringed more on the political terrain, exploiting credal orthodoxy in pursuit of further power and political authority.

Summary

Early Christianity spread from city to city in the Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, thanks to the common urban language (Greek), culture and ties to religion (initially Jewish), family networks, and trade associations.

Christianity expanded (slowly) during a long period of persecution up to the age of Constantine (312 AD).

Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 AD, after his victory over the co-emperor of the Western Empire, Maxentius, at the Milvian Bridge outside Rome. During his campaign he was said to have seen a vision of the Cross o Christ superimposed on the sun, accompanied by the words 'In this sign conquer'. By the Edict of Milan (313) he formally recognized Christianity as one of the religions legally permitted within the Roman Empire. He summoned and presided over the first general council of the church of Nicaea in 325.

Christianity perhaps it would be fairer to say the ''Church'', thus gradually attained a position of economic and cultural dominance, superimposing itself on the structure of paganism, taking over the old religious sites and festivals, converting the gods into saints, Isis into Mary, Osiris into Jesus.

After Constantine, Christian propaganda became dominant, and the voices of paganism were gradually stifled.

References

1  Mcmullen, Ramsay

    Christianising the Roman Empire - Yale University Press, 1984.

2   Fox, Robin Lane

     Pagans and Christians - Penguin, 1986.

3   Meeks, Wayne A.

     The first urban Christians - Yale University Press, 1983.

4   Mcmullen, Ramsay

     Paganism in the Roman Empire - Yale University Press, 1981.

5   Ferguson, Harvie

     Religious transformation in western society - London: Routledge, 1992.

6   Herrin, Judith

     The formation of Christendom - Princeton University Press, 1987.

7   Troelsch, Ernst

     The social teaching of the Christian Churches (Vol.1) - University of Chicago Press, 1960.

     (Originally published in London: Allen&Udwin, 1931).

8   Theissen, Gerd

     The first followers of Jesus - London: SCM Press, 1978.

9    Kellett, E.E.

      A short history of religious - London: Gollancz, 1993.

Rastros del avance educativo en el 'Huauco', Cajamarca.

Gran honor ver el nombre de mi abuelo Dn. Emilio Aliaga y Reyna en este registro històrico hecho por el gran educador cajamarquino, Gutenberg Aliaga Zegarra.

Por Gutenberg Aliaga Zegarra

Podríamos aseverar que, desde hace más de cien años en Sucre, antes Huauco, existieron hombres dedicados con verdadera entrega a la educación, dedicados a enrumbar a niños y jóvenes hacia el porvenir. Los frutos saltan a la vista.

Es necesario conocer algo sobre el quehacer educativo en nuestro lar natal desde inicios del siglo pasado.

De saber, por medio de la tradición oral que nos reportan nuestros viejos octogenarios, que aún deambulan por calles y plaza de nuestro Sucre, sobre el avance educativo.

De saber, en base a la escueta información que obtuve en los amarillentos archivos, que aún habían escapado a la acción destructora de la polilla y el gusano; pero, que no pudieron escapar de las manos criminales que los hicieron ceniza hace muy poco tiempo, cuando se construyó el nuevo local escolar.

De saber, como se gestó la educación en el Huauco y quién o quiénes fueron los pioneros de nuestra educación en estos pagos que heredamos del histórico Carhuacushma.

Han desfilado, una tras otra, figuras de hombres y nombres imperecederos, con verdadera vocación de maestros, que hicieron del Huauco y de su escuela, santuarios del saber; hombres que, por su entrega total a la niñez, sus nombres quedarán grabados con letras de oro en el corazón de todo sucrense.

Hacia fines de 1890 e inicios de 1900, funcionaron en el Huauco los llamados colegios particulares, regentados o dirigidos por verdaderos maestros de vocación, muchos de ellos sin título académico. Así tuvimos las Escuelas o Colegios Particulares de don Marcelino Rojas, Agapito Mariñas, del Dr. Melquíades Horna, de doña Vicenta Sánchez y el Colegio Particular de don Artemio Tavera Soragastúa, en donde se impartía también la educación secundaria.

Así, pues, estos eximios maestros han sido los pioneros de la educación en Sucre, los emblemas sublimes de nuestro magisterio. Y sus seguidores han de convertirse, con el tiempo, en estelas luminosas para las juventudes de ayer, hoy y siempre.

De estos Colegios Particulares egresaron hombres que sobresalieron en el campo del intelecto, la política, el comercio, la industria y otras actividades humanas, especialmente del Colegio Particular de don Artemio Tavera Sorogastúa, inquieto e inteligente joven cajamarquino, que llegó al Huauco aprovechando la permanencia en esta parroquia de su padre, el cura Tavera, quedándose magnetizado el joven de marras por el verdor de nuestra campiña, el encanto de nuestras mujeres y el embrujo del “agua de la Tulula”. Fue él quien, con tesón y entrega total a la niñez, enrumbara hacia brillantes metas del profesionalismo a hombres de la dimensión de Clodomiro Chávez, Nazario Chávez, Aladino Escalante Sánchez, Saúl Silva, José María Zegarra Reyna, Alcibíades Horna Marín, Eloy Silva, Manuel Quevedo Reyna, entre otros preclaros hijos sucrenses.

El año de 1904, se instala el gobierno de don José Pardo, cuyo objetivo principal era la de impulsar la educación a lo largo y ancho del suelo patrio. El Huauco se ve favorecido con la creación de su Escuela Fiscal Elemental.

En 1905, un 1° de marzo, se crea la Escuela Fiscal Elemental N° 809 del Huauco. Es nombrado como su primer Director don Marcelino Rojas, de 62 años de edad y con 8 años de práctica docente, quien había obtenido su título un 26 de enero de 1875, otorgado por el Presidente del Honorable Concejo Departamental de Cajamarca, presidido por don Vicente Sousa.

La enseñanza por estos años solo se impartía hasta el Segundo Año, funcionando con un solo “PRECEPTOR” que, a la vez, hacía de Director. En el mes de mayo del mismo año, se realiza la primera visita Escolar Reglamentaria por el ilustre maestro celendino, don Pedro Ortiz Montoya.

En 1907, siendo Inspector Distrital de Educación don Manuel R. Chávez Reyna llega al Huauco como auxiliar don José Demetrio Sánchez Aliaga, flamante normalista profesionalizado en Lima.

En 1908, un 24 de julio, es nombrado como Preceptor Auxiliar en forma interina por orden del señor Prefecto del departamento de Cajamarca, don Emiliano Ayulo, de 18 años de edad, con estudios de secundaria.

El hombre que, años más tarde diera la idea salvadora de la creación de nuestro colegio “San José”, don Alcibíades Horna Marín, ocupa el cuarto puesto en el Cuadro de Honor correspondiente a los exámenes finales del Primer Año y en el Segundo Año, ocupando el tercero puesto en Cuadro de Honor, está el hombre que años más tarde ha de ser el padre del fundador de nuestro colegio don Elías Rodríguez Chávez.

En 1909, un 15 de marzo, son nombrados preceptores auxiliares don Eloy Silva, don Víctor Manuel Rocha y don Luis Toribio Herrera, de 23 años de edad y tres meses de práctica, sin diploma, con tercer año de media.

Según Decreto Prefectural del 7 de agosto es nombrado Auxiliar don Leonidas Acosta, de 23 años de edad y 7 meses de práctica, sin diploma.

En 1910, llega al Huauco, en visita Escolar Reglamentaria, el Inspector Departamental, don Juan Clemente Vergel; autor del libro “Aritmética”, curso fundamental que se enseñaba en aquellos años.

En 1911, hasta fines de marzo ejerce la dirección de la Escuela don Marcelino Rojas. En abril del mismo año se hace cargo de la Dirección don Luis Díaz Pinedo, nombrándose también como auxiliar a don Rafael A. Tavera Guarnillas.

En 1912, asume la Dirección don Víctor Manuel Rocha.

En 1914, se incorpora a esta pléyade de educadores don Manuel Quevedo Reyna, hombre que más tarde dirigiera los destinos del Huauco, considerándosele ahora como uno de los caballeros ejemplares del ayer.

En 1915, es nombrado auxiliar don Emilio Aliaga y Reyna, asumiendo luego la Dirección.

En 1916, con fecha 13 de abril es nombrado por el Ministerio del Ramo don Nicanor Aliaga Zegarra, de 34 años de edad y 7 meses de práctica, con instrucción primaria completa, haciéndose cargo de la Dirección el 1° de mayo del mismo año.

En 1917, ocupando el primer puesto en el Cuadro de Honor del Primer año está el alumno Hildebrando Zegarra Reyna, quien años más tarde se convirtiera en el forjador del fútbol huauqueño y ocupando el tercer puesto en el Segundo Año está el alumno Aladino Escalante Sánchez, quien años después sería Primer Director Pedagógico del Colegio “Celendin”, hoy “Coronel Cortesana”.

El 19 de diciembre de ese año se crea la Escuela Fiscal de Mujeres N° 810.

En 1918, el 1° de marzo, según Resolución N° 4013, el señor Alcalde don Nazario Chávez y el señor Inspector de Educación, don Manuel Gil, dieron posesión como Director de la Escuela a don Luis Toribio Herrera. Pero el 12 de marzo las mismas autoridades, de acuerdo a la Resolución 382 de fecha 13 de febrero, dan posesión como Director al Normalista Diplomado don Manuel R. Marín, de 35 años de práctica, en reemplazo de don Luis Toribio Herrera.

El 26 de mayo, según oficio N° 16 del 7 de abril, fue nombrado, por la renuncia de don Guillermo A. Urrelo, el señor Rodolfo Salazar quien, al iniciar sus actividades educativas el Colegio “San José” en 1964, cedió gentilmente su casa para que funcione nuestro colegio.

En 1920, el Normalista Manuel R. Marín, en presencia del señor Alcalde don Benjamín Marín Calla, entrega la Dirección de la Escuela al normalista Saúl Silva; quedando como su auxiliar el preceptor Eloy Silva.

En 1922, asume la Dirección de la Escuela el normalista José Demetrio Sánchez.

En 1924, deja de ser Escuela Fiscal Elemental N° 809, para ser Escuela Fiscal Elemental N° 802.

En 1925, asume la Dirección de la Escuela el preceptor Eloy Silva.

En 1926, el preceptor Eloy entrega la Dirección de nuestra Escuela al normalista Clemente V. Díaz Cáceres, en mérito al Oficio N° 347 del 2 de octubre, emitido por la Inspección de Enseñanza de Celendin. Según Resolución N° 337 del 21 de octubre es nombrado como auxiliar el normalista Máximo Silva Gómez.

En 1928, es nombrado como tercer Auxiliar don Nicanor Aliaga Zegarra.

El 27 de abril, por orden superior, la Escuela Fiscal Elemental N° 802 es elevada a la categoría de CENTRO ESCOLAR N° 83, por orden dada del Director Departamental de apellido Badani.

Es imperativo relevar el nivel al que llegó el Centro Escolar N° 83 bajo la dirección del Normalista Clemente Díaz. Fue tal su renombre, que transcendió los límites del distrito para atraer, como poderoso imán, a alumnos hasta de otros departamentos. No era para menos, dada la calidad de los auxiliares de entonces, en especial de: Máximo Silva Gómez, Víctor Camacho Sánchez, Víctor Sánchez Quevedo, Manuel Quevedo Reyna, quienes hicieron de la enseñanza la mística de su vida. Ser alumno del 83, por entonces, fue un timbre de honor y orgullo para quienes lo fueron.

''Facundo'': Civilization and Barbarism.

By Jorge Aliaga Cacho

Firstly, I would like to suggest that Sarmiento in this undertaking couples the biographical theme with that of the realm of present reality, therefore, the work is a denunciation of his enemy Rosas.

The life of Juan Facundo Quiroga (1788-1835), his biography, provides Sarmiento with the opportunity to formulate his critique. I would like to provide a very short outline of Facundo Quiroga's life before embarking on the analysis of Sarmiento's ''Facundo''.

At a very young aged Facundo Quiroga worked on the land in La Rioja. In 1812 Facundo Quiroga started helping the independence movement by providing them with cattle and other resources. In 1820 Facundo Quiroga recaptured La Rioja, and took political control of the province, after a rebellion from neighbouring San Juan. In 1826, despite having joined the unitarios, Facundo Quiroga confronted president Rivadavia because of political and ideological disagreements. Quiroga`s response to Rivadavia's ecclesiastical reforms was his rallying cry ''Religion or Death''.

After defeating General La Madrid in Tala (182 6) and Rincòn (1827), a union of provincial governments was created to fight central government power. The forces of General La Paz overpowered Facundo Quiroga at La Tablada and Oncativo in 1830. Quiroga, after fleeing to Buenos Aires sought support from Juan Manuel de Rosas (1793-1877). With Rosas' support, Quiroga initiated his second campaign in 1831.

In 1833 put hero participated in the Campaign of the Desert organized by Rosas and, in the same year, Facundo Quiroga was assassinated in Barranca Yaco after following a conciliation meeting attended by the provincial governments of Salta and Tucuman.

Roberto Gonzalez Echevarrìa, in his book ''Myth and Archive'' (A Theory of Latin American Narrative), has written: 'Facundo is a book that is impossible to pigeonhole; it is a sociological study of Argentine culture, a political pamphlet against the dictatorship of Juan Manuel Rosas, a philològical investigation of the origins of Argentine literature, a biography of the provincial caudillo. ''Facundo'', Sarmiento's autobiography, a nostalgic evocation of the homeland by a political exile, a novel based on the figure of Quiroga; to me is like a Phenomenology of the Spirit. Whatever one makes of the book, Facundo is one of those classics whose influence is pervasive and enduring and which is claimed by several disciplines at once. The fact that Sarmiento rose to become president of Argentina and put into practice policies that had such a tremendous impact on the course of his country's history adds to the canonical status of his book'. (1).

The first chapter is entitled 'Aspecto Fìsico de la Repùblica Argentina y personajes, hàbitos e ideas que engendra'. This chapter gives us a vivid picture of the region`s geography and a profile of its inhabitants: it is a physical study of the South-American region. After an outline of the subcontinent's landmarks, Sarmiento passes on to describe in more detail the characteristics of the gaucho but not before giving us his first impression of the 'Indian'.

'Al sur y al norte acechaban los salvajes, que aguardan las noches de luna para caer cual enjambres de hienas, sobre los ganados que pacen en los campus, y sobre las indefensas poblaciones'. (2).

In the last passage, Sarmiento was describing the Malones or Indian invasions of towns and estancias.

Sarmiento`s mentioning of the rivers and their influence on political configurations are lucid. He envisages, in the first chapter, the federal development of North Amèrica, (p.60) and the contribution made by the navigation of the interior, particularly the navigation of the San Lorenzo, in the north, the Mississippi in the south, and the channels in the centre, which exposed many parts of the north-American territory to the Atlantic. The Argentinian Republic Sarmiento asserts es ''una sola e indivisible''.

In ''Facundo'' Sarmiento stresses the monopoly of Buenos Aires. He states that the terrains organisation is centralist and Unitarian (p.60) an argues that even if Rosas had cried ''¡Federaciòn o Muerte!'' Rosas would have accepted the established unitarian system of government.

But Sarmiento explains that what he wanted to be was unity with civilization and in freedom, and what Rosas had given was unity with barbarism and slavery (p.60).

Sarmiento`s main political argument can be seen in this first chapter. There, he very clearly expresses his preference for the development of Buenos Aires:

''Lo que por ahora interesa conocer, es que los progresos de la civilizaciòn se acumulan sòlo en Buenos Aires: la Pampa es un malìsimo conductor para llevarla y distribuirla en las provincias, y ya veremos lo que de aquì results. Pero sobre todos los accidentes peculiares a ciertas partes de aquel territories, predomina una facciòn general, uniforme y constant; ya sea que la tierra este cubierta de la lujosa y colosal vegetaciòn de los tròpicos, ya sea que arbustos enfermizos, espinosos y despacibles revelen la escasa porciòn de humedad que les da vida; ya en fin, que la Pampa ostente us despejada y monòtnoma faz, la superficie de la tierra es generalmente llana y unida, sin que basten a interrumpir esta continuidad sin lìmites las sierras de San Luis y Cordoba en el centro, y algunas ramifications avanzadas de los Andes al norte'. (3).

Sarmiento, after favouring Buenos Aires, draws a comparison between the Pampa and the plains of the Tigris and the Euphrates. The experiences of the caravans travelling long distances between Arab places are, in his view, similar to the experiences of the caravans which travel to Buenos Aires.

Sarmiento considers the leader of Asian caravans to be reminiscent of the capataces in Argentina. In his opinion, both need a strong will to cope with the vandals and insubordination.

They also need, according to Sarmiento, chicote de fierro and it is in this fashion, Sarmiento argues, that Argentina`s life should be established, with the mandate of the brutal force.

'Si los bàrbaros la asaltan, forman un cìrculo atando unas carretas con otras, y casi siempre resisten victoriosamente a la codicia de los salvajes avidos de sangre y de pillaje. (4).

Chapter two is entitled 'Originalidad y personajes argentinos'. There Sarmiento asserts that if there is something important in Argentinian literature such writings ought to be found in the description of the great natural scenery, and particularly, he argues, by the description of the struggle between European civilization and Indigenous barbarism, between the intelligence and the matter. (p.75,76).

Sarmiento suggests that America has peculiarities, characteristics, that are out of the circle of ideas in which the European spirit is educated. This is why he explains that those dramatic elements become unrecognisable outside Argentina.

'Si un destello de literatura nacional puede brillar momentaneamente en las nuevas cociedades Americans, es el resultara de la descripciòn de las grandiosas escenas naturales, y sobre todo de la lucha entre la inteligencia y la materia; lucha imponente en Amèrica, y que da lugar a escenas tan peculiares, tan caracteristicas y tan fuera del cìrculo de ideas en que se ha educado el espìritu europeo, porque los resortes dramàticos se vuelven desconocidos fuera del paìs'. (p.75,76).

Julio Ramos in his contribution to 'Revista Iberoamericana', provides a chance of reconciliation in Sarmiento`s texts. Ramos comments about Sarmiento`s reply to Alsina when the latter criticizes the `defects' and 'spontaneity' of his 'poetry':

'La respuesta de Sarmiento a Alsina es sumamente ambigua. En todo caso, Sarmiento le asegura que no retocarìa la obra, y asume el ''defecto'' de la ''espontaneidad'', de la ''poesìa'', como un complemento de la escritura de la historia. Modo que al no basarse sòlo en la racionalidad europea -en la escritura de la ciudad-, podìa llegar a escuchar la voz alienada del otro, para asì incluìrla en el orden de un (nuevo discurso). La ''informalidad'', la ''inmediatez'', la ''indisciplina'' del Facundo eran entonces las condiciones de la posibilidad del acercamiento a la tradiciòn (oral) ''bàrbara'' que habìa que incorporar, representàndola'. (5).

Sarmiento supports his argument by stating the case of a north-american writer, author of ''The Last of the Mohicans'': 'El ùnico romanticista norteamericano que haya logrado hacerse un nombre europeo, es Fenimore Cooper, y eso porque transportò la escena de sus descripciones fuera del cìrculo ocupado por los plantadores, al limite entre la vida bàrbara y la civilizaciòn, al teatro de la guerra en que las razas indìgenas y la raza sajona estàn combatiendo por la posesiòn del terreno``.(6).

In Sarmiento`s view, Cooper`s description of the habits and costumes of the Mohican gives the impression of imitating the costumes and habits of the Pampa.

Sarmiento gives a similar opinion of the merits of the literary discourse provided by the Argentinian Esteban Echevarrìa and his poem 'La Cautiva'. (p.76).

Roberto Gonzàles (contributions to ''Revista Iberoamericana'', N°142, also gives importance to the topological element when he refers to the 'barroque' in Latina American literature: 'Mucho del encanto de la literatura barroca latinoamericana se halla en las contorsiones topològicas que se requieren para describir el Nuevo Mundo como un collage de piezas del Viejo. En cambio, los viajeros cientìficos trajeron un conceto de la historia que permitirìa que una singular naturaleza americana sentara las bases de un ser American distinto y autonomo' (p.394).

Roberto Gonzàles also comments on the disposition of the scientific travellers when they wrote their accounts. Gonzàles thinks that it was very difficult for travellers to maintain their cultural identity while exploring the natural American environment.

'La prueba màs ardua para el viajero era, sin embargo, mantener su sentido de identidad a la vez que exploraba el mundo natural americano; establecer una distancia de la realidad descrita, sin por ello distorsionarla; permanecer alejado, continuar escribiendo como otro, en medio de una realidad que amenazaba con revelar un conocimiento que concebiblemente podrìa, por su poderoso atractivo, hacer perder al viajero su sentido de identidad'.(7)..

We could elaborate on the following questions:

What was the idea of these scientific, or non-scientific, travellers?

Why did they abandon the known world to visit the 'unknown'?

Was this the effect of Kantian influence?

Was it the Kantina man-cosmic unity postulate?

Roberto Gonzàles provides us with an answer:

'El ideal, era por supuesto, el descubrimiento de uno mismo, un uno mismo en que naturaleza y persona constituyeran una unidad indivisible, unidad en la cual la exhuberante y hasta sombrìa belleza del mundo natural estarìa en perfecta armonòa con el alma del viajero en busca de sus secretos'. (8).

''Facundo'' clearly shows Sarmiento`s fascination with the work of the European explorers. The vivid narration of the physical aspects of the region are truly proof of their influence. The importance that Sarmiento gave to the work of the explorers is confirmed in his statement quoted by Gonzales, in Revista Iberoamericana, N°142, (p. 397), and quoted in our next paragraph:

'Sud Amèrica en general, y Argentina en partiicular, necesita de un Tocqueville que, armado con el conocimiento de la teoròa social ,como el viajero cintìfico con sus baròmetros, brùjulas y octantes, viniera y penetrara las profundidades de nuestra vida polìtica como en un vasto territorio inexplorado por la ciencia y lo revelara a Europa, a Francia...'.

According to Gonzàles this quotation from Sarmiento unveils the origin of the scientific instruments which Melquiades would bring to Macondo many years later. Gonzales considers that the most interesting point in the discussion is that the travellers's scientific literature resolves ''Facundo'' as a text and this creates a new narrative form in America. (p.397).

Sarmiento`s outline has some loopholes. Although his vision of the barbarian is full of contradictions we can distinguish, particularly in Los cuadros costumbristas, the gaucho`s knowledge and the campesino`s culture.

Knowledge and recognition of the environment are key features in the collection of costumbrista passages. The barbarian has a word. His (her) word has value in terms of the producction of reason. El gaucho ''rastreador'' has his domestic y popular science:

'El màs conspicuous de todos, el màs extraordinario, es el gaucho rastreador', writes Sarmiento in p.82.

Then Sarmmiento writes on p.83:

'Yo mismo he conocido a Calibar, que ha ejercido en una provincia, su oficio durante cuarenta años consecutivos. Tiene ahora cerca de ochenta años: encorvado por la edad conserva sin embargo, un aspecto venerable y lleno de dignidad'.

The knowledge possessed by the gaucho 'baqueano' is indispensable for the military enterprise'.

'El Baqueano es un gaucho grave y reservado que conoce a palmos veinte mil leguas cuadradas de llanuras bosques y montañas. Es el topògrafo màs completo, es el ùnico mapa que lleva un general para dirigir los movimientos de su campaña'. (9).

Julio Ramos argues that the gaucho ''cantor'' is the one who holds a superior traditional knowledge. This statement is supported by the following passage in 'Facundo':

'El cantor està haciendo candorosamente el mismo trabajo de crònica, historia, biografìa, que el bardo de la Edad Media, y sus versos orales serìan recogidos màs tarde como los documentos y datos en que habrìa de apoyarse el historiador futuro, si a su laldo no estuviese otra sociedad culta'. (10).

''Facundo'' in chapter 3, entitled 'Asociaciòn', describes the association of estancias. There, Sarmiento describes the pueblos pastores, the 'vulgar' aspects of campesino`s life.

'Salen, pues, los varones sin saber fijamente a donde. Una vuelta a los ganados, una visita a una crìa, o a la querencia de un caballo predilecto, invierte una pequeña parte del dìa; el resto lo absorbe una reuniòn en un venta o pulperìa'. (11).

The pulperìa es the social nucleus of the gaucho. It has been said that the pulperìa is a product of the casual meetings held by the gauchos.

'Todo accidente es inaugural por definiciòn, independiente del pasado; es un presente violentamente separado de la historia, un comienzo, como el que el palelontòlogo espera encontrar en cuevas y excavaciones'. (12).

Sarmiento states that the gauchos from the vicinity meet in the pulperìa. In the pulperìa, gauchos enquire about lost cattle, about the tigre`s predations, etc. The pulperìa is the place of the gaucho cantor, a place to fraternise and drink alcohol.

'En esta vida tan sin emociones, el juego sacude los espiritus enervados, el licor enciende las imaginaciones adormecidas. Esta asociaciòn accidental de todos los dìas viene por su repeticiòn, a formar una sociedad màs estrecha que la de donde partiò cada individuo, y en esta asamblea sin objeto pùblico, sin interès social, empiezan a echarse los rudimentos de las reputaciones que màs tarde, y andando los años, van a aparecer en la escena polìtica'. (13).

The fourth chapter of ''Facundo'', entitled Revoluciòn de 1810, shows Sarmiento's opinion weighted towards the idea that the Revolution for independence was primarily due to the influence of European ideas. This is the case, according to Sarmiento, in all American countries. He writes:

'En toda la Amèrica fueron los mismmos, nacidos del mismo origen, a saber el movimiento de las ideas europeas'. (14).

Sarmiento believes that the revolution for independence was only meaningful for, and in the interests of, the Argentinian cities. He thinks that people in the campañas could only understand the external effect of independence, namely, independence from the king.

'La campaña pastora no podìa mirar la cuestiòn bajo otro aspecto. Libertad, responsabilidad del poder, todas las cuestiones que la revoluciòn se proponìa resolver, eran extrañas a su manera de vivir, a sus necesidades'. (15).

Roberto Gonzales Echevarrìa in his ''Myth and Archive'' writes that 'in Sarmiento, these reports were permeated by a 'scientific racism' that decried the deleterious influence non-European races had on the moral, intellectual, cultural, and material progress in Latin America'.

'Inferior' (my brackets) races could play a role, even if a negative one, in natural history, but not in cultural history. The new republics, as is known, often engaged in campaigns to exterminate the Indians, now under the banner of modernization'. (16). Gonzales ends his paragraph criticizing also Juan Manuel Rosas and mentions that Charles Darwin witnessed Rosas leading a raid against Indians.

What is clear is that rebellions in Latin America were a common feature from the arrival of the Europeans. The Inca resistance in Vilcabamba, for instance, or the struggles by the native Caribbeans narrated by Irwing Wallace are only a few examples of what could be the basis for a different interpretation of American history.

Comment of the romantic version of history as interpreted by Sarmiento`s ''Facundo'' was given by Augusto Tamayo Vargas in his ''Literatura Peruana''. His view o ''Facundo'' is as follows:

Es 'escrita con la fuerza expresiva y la despreocupaciòn formal consiguiente que caracterizan al romanticismo; y donde se plantea la lucha de la ''civilizaciòn y la barbarie'', con acre crìtica a la ùltima, pero con aliento que procede de ella. Y el relato nostàlgico, nutrido de ensoñaciòn y de realidad humilde y tierna que constituye la segunda, con el hogar pobre, la vida del pequeño pueblo y el rumoroso amontonar de los detalles privados de una biografìa novelesca que por antonomasia se llama romàntica. (17).

In ''Facundo'' Sarmiento also criticizes the montoneras and opines that, even when they appeared during the first days of Artigas, these guerrilla units already had characteristics of brutal ferocity and terrorist spirit. In this chapter Sarmiento accuses Rosas of plagiarism, of having invented nothing of his own:

'Rosas no ha inventado nada; su talento ha consistido sòlo en plagiar a sus antecesores, y hacer de los instintos brutales de las masas ignorantes un sistema meditado y coordinado friamente. (18).

This chapter also shows Sarmiento`s concern for the lack of a proper judiciary system in Argentina and particularly the need for an educational system.

- 'Sòlo tres jòvenes se estàn educando fuera de la provincia. Sòlo hay un mèdico San Juanino.

No hay tres jòvenes que sepan inglès, ni cuatro que hablen francès.

Uno sòlo hay que ha cursado matemàticas.

Un sòlo joven hay que posee instrucciòn digna de un pueblo culto.

El Sr. Rawson, distinguido ya por sus talentos extraordinarios. Su padre es norteamericano, y a esto ha debido recibir educaciòn.

No hay diez ciudadanos que sepan màs que leer y escribir.

No hay un militar que haya servido en ejèrcitos de lìnea fuera de la Repùblica'. (19).

Sarmiento considered moral and religious education superior to elementary instruction. Fewer crimes, he asserts, had been committed in San Juan because moral instruction was a priority in the school there. We ought to remember that Don Domingo Faustino Sarmiento worked for many years as a teacher and also as a miner, journalist, clerk among other occupations. I would argue that there is no doubt about his educational knowledge, on the contrary, his theoretical and practical knowledge of life perhaps gave him the authority to deal with the problems of education in Argentina.

The question, however, is what sort of education and for what sort of development. The debate that ''Facundo'' inaugurates, which founded Latin American narrative writing, was essential until the Novela de la Tierra, and it seems is a matter of debate also in our present days.

REFERENCES

1 Gonzales, Echevarrìa Roberto,

''Myth and archive'', p.99, Cambridge, 1990.

2 Sarniento, Domingo Faustino,

''Facundo'', p.56, Càtedra, Madrid, 1993.

3 Idem, p.60.

4 Idem, p.62.

5 Ramos, Julio,

'Escritura y Oralidad en el ''Facundo''.

In Revista Iberoamericana N°142, pp.561-562, 1988.

6 Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino,

''Facundo'', p.76, Càtedra, Madrid, 1993.

7 Gonzales, Roberto Echevarrìa, Revista Iberoamericana, N°142, p.395.

8 Idem, p.395.

9 Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino, ''Facundo'', p.85, Càtedra, Madrid, 1993.

10 Idem, p.91.

11 Idem, p.97.

12 Gonzales, R, Revista Iberoamericana, N°142, p.400, 1988.

13 Idem, pp. 97,98.

14 Idem, p.107.

15 Idem, p.108.

16 Gonzales, Echevarrìa Roberto, ''Myth and archive'', p.149.

17 Tamayo, Vargas Augusto, ''Literatura Peruana'', vol 2. p.568, J. Godard, Lima.

18 Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino, ''Facundo'', p.111.

19 Sarmiento, Domingo Faustino, ''Facundo'', p.119.