, statue identified with either Leo I, Marcian or Theodosius II, founder of the University of Constantinople. Byzantine society on the whole was an educated one. Primary education was widely available, sometimes even at village level, and—uniquely in that era—for both sexes. Female participation in culture was relatively high. Scholarship was fostered not only in Constantinople but also in institutions operated in major cities such as
Antioch and
Alexandria. The original school, named
Pandidakterion, was founded in 425 by Emperor
Theodosius II in the
Capitolium of Constantinople with 31 chairs: 10 each for Greek and Latin grammar; two for law; one for philosophy; and eight chairs for rhetoric, with five taught in Greek and three in Latin. The sole purpose of the
Pandidakterion was to educate civil servants for the administration of the state. The main content of higher education for most students was rhetoric, philosophy and law with the aim of producing competent, learned personnel to staff the bureaucratic postings of state and church. In this sense the university was the secular equivalent of the Theological Schools. The university maintained an active philosophical tradition of
Platonism and
Aristotelianism, with the former being the longest unbroken Platonic school, running for close to two millennia until the 15th century. . The School of
Magnaura was founded in the 9th century but did not last very long, and in the 11th new schools of philosophy and law were established at the Capitol School. The period of decline began with the
Latin conquest of 1204 although the university survived as a non-secular institution under Church management until the
Fall of Constantinople in 1453, and was refounded as the
Phanar Greek Orthodox College. The primary university of the city became a
madrasa (now
Istanbul University), established by
Mehmet II following the conquest of the city. Both of these institutions are still operational today.
Matthaios Kamariotis, lecturer of the university, became the first director of
Phanar Greek Orthodox College, which was established in 1454. == Status ==