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MOMMSEN, THEODOR (1817–1903)

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 684 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MOMMSEN, THEODOR (1817–1903)

MOMMSEN, THEODOR (1817–1903) , See also:

German historian and archaeologist, was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born on the 3oth of See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November 1817 at Garding, in See also:

SCHLESWIG (Dan. Slesvig)

Schleswig. After being educated at the university of See also:

KIEL

Kiel he devoted himself to the study of See also:

ROMAN

Roman See also:

law and antiquities. In 1843 a See also:

grant from the Danish See also:

government enabled him to undertake 11 See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey to See also:

Italy, which was to be decisive for his future career. There he began the study of Roman See also:

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

inscriptions, in association with other See also:

ITALIAN

Italian and German scholars, especially See also:

BORGHESI, BARTOLOMMEO (1781-1860)

Borghesi, de See also:

Rossi and Henzen. His first See also:

WORK

work was directed to the restoration of the old Italian dialects, and the See also:

French government, which at one See also:

time proposed to undertake the task of compiling a See also:

COMPLETE

complete collection of all extant Roman inscriptions, asked for his co-operation. When they gave up the project it was taken up by the See also:

Berlin See also:

Academy, which had recently completed the collection of See also:

Greek inscriptions edited by Boeckh. They had already made a grant to Mommsen, and in 1844 See also:

SAVIGNY, FRIEDRICH KARL VON (1779–1861)

Savigny proposed that he should be appointed to carry out the See also:

GREAT

great work. Many years, however, passed before the See also:

plan was finally approved. Meanwhile Mommsen continued his work in Italy: he See also:

drew up a full memorandum explaining the principles on which a Corpus inscriptionum should be compiled, and on which alone he could undertake the editorship. As a specimen he collected the inscriptions of Samnium, and in 1852 published those of the See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom of See also:

Naples. These See also:

WORKS

works caused him to be recognized as the first authority in this See also:

field of learning. In 1847, however, he was obliged to return to See also:

Germany: he first went to Schleswig, where during the Revolution he edited a See also:

paper in which he supported the claims of the See also:

ELBE (the Albis of the Romans and the Labe of the Czechs)

Elbe Duchies; at the end of 1848 he was appointed See also:

PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

professor of See also:

CIVIL

civil law at See also:

LEIPZIG

Leipzig.

His work there was interrupted by his See also:

POLITICAL

political opinions. During 1848, when the extreme party was in the ascendant, Mommsen supported the See also:

MONARCHY (Fr. monarchic, from Lat. monarchia, Gr. uovapXia, rule of one, µbvos, alone, apXi7, rule)

monarchy against the Republicans. With characteristic courage and See also:

independence, next See also:

YEAR

year, when the Revolution had spent its force and Beust executed his coup d'etat, he protested, with many of his colleagues, against this See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act. In consequence he was summoned before a disciplinary See also:

court, and, together with See also:

HAUPT, MORITZ (1808—1874)

Haupt and See also:

Jahn, dismissed from his professorship. Mommsen found an See also:

asylum in See also:

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland, and became professor at See also:

Zurich: he repaid the hospitality of the See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

Republic by See also:

writing exhaustive monographs on Roman Switzerland, His spare time was occupied with the Roman See also:

HISTORY

History, the three volumes of which appeared between 1854 and 1856. His name at once became known throughout See also:

EUROPE

Europe. In this work, with a true insight into the relative importance of things, he passed over with a few strong broad touches the antiquarian discussions on the origins of the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city, on which previous historians had laboured so See also:

long; but in See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of this he painted with astonishing vigour the great political struggle that accompanied the fall of the republic. It was, above all, his new See also:

READING

reading of old characters which demanded See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention, if not always approval: See also:

CICERO

Cicero, the favourite of men of letters, was for him "a journalist in the worst sense of the word"; See also:

POMPEY

Pompey, the See also:

hero of See also:

Plutarch and the Moralists, was brushed aside as a See also:

mere See also:

DRILL

drill-sergeant; and the See also:

BOOK

book culminated in the picture of See also:

Caesar, who established See also:

ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free)

absolute See also:

RULE

rule in the name of See also:

DEMOCRACY (Gr. 3np.oKparia, from S)µos, the people, i.e. the commons, and Kparos, rule)

democracy, " the complete and perfect See also:

man." The three volumes ended with the dictatorship of Caesar. The book has never been continued, for the See also:

VOLUME

volume on the Roman Provinces under the See also:

EMPIRE

Empire, which appeared in 1884, is in reality a See also:

SEPARATE

separate work. Mommsen was henceforward fully occupied with work of a more technical nature. In 1854 the definite offer was made to him by the Academy that he should be See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief editor of a Corpus inscriptionum, with full See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control, and in See also:

order that he might carry on the work he was appointed in 1858 to a professorship at Berlin. The first volume appeared in 1861; five of the succeeding volumes he edited himself, and the whole was executed under his immediate supervision and with the co-operation of scholars whom he had himself trained.

Enormous as was the labour, this task occupied only a small See also:

PART

part of his extraordinary intellectual See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy. He found time to write two larger works, the History of the Roman Coinage and the Romisches Staatsrecht, a profound See also:

ANALYSIS (Gr. avci and Meta, to break up into parts)

analysis of Roman constitutional law, and Romisches Strafrecht, on Roman criminal See also:

jurisdiction. His Roman Provinces already mentioned gives a singularly interesting picture of certain aspects of social See also:

LIFE

life under the empire. His smaller papers amount to many hundreds in number, and there is no See also:

DEPARTMENT (Fr. departement, from departir, to separate into parts)

department of Roman life and learning, from the earliest records of the Roman law to the time of Jornandes, which he has not illuminated. As secretary to the Berlin Academy for over twenty years he took a leading part in their deliberations, and was their spokesman on great occasions. His See also:

INTEREST

interest in political problems of the See also:

PRESENT

present was as keen as in those of the past. He was one of the founders of the Preussische Jahrbucher, the most influential of German political See also:

PERIODICALS

periodicals. For many years he was a member of the Prussian See also:

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

Parliament. His political opinions were strong but See also:

ill-regulated. Intensely nationalist, he acquiesced in the See also:

ANNEXATION (Lat. ad, to, and nexus, joining)

annexation of his native See also:

LAND

land to See also:

Prussia, and in a public See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter to the Italian nation in 187o defended the German cause before the nation which had become to him a second fatherland; but he was of too See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent a See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character ever to be quite at ease under Prussian government. Loving See also:

LIBERTY (Lat. libertas, from liber, free)

liberty, he hated its consequences; a democrat, he had and always expressed a profound contempt for the See also:

mob. Like many idealists, he was a severe critic of the faults of his own and other countries, and he added something to the increasing See also:

CHAUVINISM

Chauvinism in Germany.

It was, however, above all, German scholarship which remained his first interest. There is probably no other instance in the history of scholarship in which one man has established so complete an ascendancy in a great department of learning. Equally great as See also:

ANTIQUARY

antiquary, jurist, political and social historian, he lived to see the time when among students of Roman history he had pupils, followers, critics, but no rivals. He combined the See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power of patient and See also:

minute investigation with a singular See also:

FACULTY (through the French, from the Lat. facultas, ability to do anything, from facilis, easy, facere, to do; another form of the word in Lat. facilitas, facility, ease, keeps the original meaning)

faculty for bold generalization and the capacity for tracing out the effects of thoughts and ideas on political and social life. Partly, perhaps, owing to a philosophical and legal training, he had not the See also:

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

gift of clear and See also:

SIMPLE

simple narrative, and he is more successful in discussing the connexion between events than in describing the events themselves. Though his History ends with the fall of the republic, his most enduring work has been that on the empire; and if he has not written the history of the empire, he has made it possible for others to do so. Mommsen died at See also:

CHARLOTTENBURG

Charlottenburg on the 1st of November 1903. His See also:

BROTHERS, RICHARD (1757-1824)

brothers, Carl Johann Tycho (1819-1900), a great authority on See also:

PINDAR (Gr. HivSapos, c. 522–443 B.c.)

Pindar and See also:

SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616)

Shakespeare, and See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August (b. 1821), who wrote chiefly on See also:

ancient See also:

CHRONOLOGY (Gr. xpovo?oyfa, computation of time, xp6vos)

chronology and Greek festivals, were also prominent among German scholars in their See also:

day. The History of See also:

Rome (including the volumes of the provinces) has been translated into See also:

ENGLISH

English by W. P. See also:

Dickson (the Provinces, revised by F.

Haverfield, 1909) ; there is a French edition of his work on Roman Coinage. Many of his See also:

PAMPHLETS

pamphlets and articles have been collected under the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title Romische Forschungen. Of his other works, the more important are the Roman Chronology to the Time of Caesar (1858), a work written in See also:

CONJUNCTION (from Lat. conjungere, to join together)

conjunction with his See also:

BROTHER

brother August; his See also:

EDITIONS

editions of the Monumentum Ancyranum and of the See also:

DIGEST

Digest in the Corpus See also:

JURIS

juris See also:

CIVILIS, CLAUDIUS

civilis, and of the Chronica of See also:

CASSIODORUS (not Cassiodorius)

Cassiodorus in Monumenta Germaniae historica, the Auctores antiquissimi See also:

section of which was under his supervision. A great part of his work is to be found in the German learned publications such as See also:

Hermes, Rheinisches Museum, &c. His Reden and Aufsdtze and Gesammelte Schriften, i. ii., were published after his See also:

DEATH

death. A full See also:

list of his works is given by Zangemeister, Mommsen als Schriftsteller (1887; continued by See also:

JACOBS, CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH WILHELM (1764-1847)

Jacobs, 1905). See also monographs by C. Bardt (1903) and Gradenwitz (1904, in the Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung See also:

FUR (connected with O. Fr. forre, a sheath or case; so " an outer covering ")

fur Rechtsgeschichte), and O. Hirschfeld, Geddchtnisrede auf Theodor Mommsen (1904).

End of Article: MOMMSEN, THEODOR (1817–1903)

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