civilization lie elsewhere, and these minor sources will be referred to
but briefly and only as they influenced the course of western progress.

The civilization which we now know and enjoy has come down to us from four
main sources. The Greeks, the Romans, and the Christians laid the
foundations, and in the order named, and the study of the early history of
our western civilization is a study of the work and the blending of these
three main forces. It is upon these three foundation stones, superimposed
upon one another, that our modern European and American civilization has
been developed. The Germanic tribes, overrunning the boundaries of the
Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries, added another new force of
largest future significance, and one which profoundly modified all
subsequent progress and development. To these four main sources we have
made many additions in modern times, building an entirely new
superstructure on the old foundations, but the groundwork of our
civilization is composed of these four foundation elements. For these
reasons a history of even modern education almost of necessity goes back,
briefly at least, to the work and contributions of these ancient peoples.

Starting, then, with the work of the Greeks, we shall state briefly the
contributions to the stream of civilization which have come down to us
from each of the important historic peoples or groups or forces, and shall
trace the blending and assimilating processes of the centuries. While
describing briefly the educational institutions and ideas of the different
peoples, we shall be far less concerned, as we progress down the
centuries, with the educational and philosophical theories advanced by
thinkers among them than with what was actually done, and with the lasting
contributions which they made to our educational practices and to our
present-day civilization.