Saint Augustine was a student of rehtoric. Later he went on to teach the subject in the North African city of Carthage near his hometown. As per his Confessions, Augustine had some real trouble from his pupils. It came mainly from a group calling themselves 'subverters'. They specialised in persecuting and outraging the modesty of new students by abusing and jeering at them.
(Sounds familar? Don't say ragging is a modern phenomenon. We have it on the greatest possible authority that it is atleast fourteen centuries old! )
Augustine became so frustrated with the unruly behaviour of the 'subverters' that he finally decided to leave the university and Carthage itself. He was told of the extreme discipline and 'studiousness' of students in Rome. He went to Rome and started teaching there. Of course, the students there were disciplined and devoted to their studies. Augustine was pleased indeed. But a different kind of disappointment awaited him. His new pupils studied well taking full advantage of their unique master's skills. However, at the end of the course when it was time for them to pay the Professor the fee for his labours, they quietly left him without paying a penny! "The students in Carthage were much better in this respect", laments Augustine.
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