Didascalic system

The Didascalic system (from Lygene didaskalos, 'teacher') was a model of the state in Vasarea during the Reign of Trials when a spiritual and intellectual authority was acknowledged as a transmitter of higher knowledge or 'master' to an official ruler identified with secular power or 'disciple', providing legitimacy to the state as a valid entity in the cosmic order of Arta, at least to the point the magisterial teacher provided correct teachings and the discipular ruler accepted them.

In the context of Vasarean society being typically divided into self-sufficient vishes united only loosely by sel-like institutions, who further presumed equal status in the Reign of Trials' language of Arta, there were few alternatives to this kind of partnership for a state-building force to be validated in claiming superiority, and the formally subordinate status to a more sublime mentor would present the official ruler in a favorably humble light. Didascalism could thus be read as the Vasarean expression of the White Order's ideals, in the absence of the exclusive dominance of Pastism or its affiliated institutions.

The two bodies of master and disciple always enjoyed a close intimate relationship and equal dignity, on which the health and coherence of the entire polity rested. The specific arrangement of didascalism ranged from generous patronage by a powerful officialdom, to the division of practiced power between master and disciple as co-rulers, and the teacher acting as a state in its own right. Common examples of magisterial institutions included dams and academies, but teachers were also patronized on an individual basis, which in areas further from Carsa was the original norm. The spread of academies may have been pushed for, through institutionalizing the practice of mentorship, in order to make the various kinds of magisterial learning more accessible for the benefit of official rulers.