The sun., 1903-11-17
WHAT THEODOR MOMMSEN DID.
Tho Work Accomplished in Sixty Tireless
Years ny q Great Scholar.
From the Athendu,n.

Our age hos lost its greatest scholar. full
OF years. Born in 1917. thirteen years a'ter
Madvg. four years after Goblet. Theodor
Mommsen spanned the nineteenth century
with his gigantic contributions to learning.
His l!fe was simple but significant. Ger
man Of SchleswiC- Holstein. educated till his
twenty seventh year within the duchy, the
struggle Of Dane and German gave reality
to his German national feeling Throughout
his career. student of law at kiel Uni
yersty, a friend Of Otto Jahn-then con-
cerned with the rising study Of inscriptions
he touched thus early the two subjects IN
which later his learnin . was most triumphant.
Three years of student travel In Italy us44-O
emphasized for him the value OF inscriptions
and brought him face to face with Borghesi,
protector himself OF a Corpus lnscriptionum
and greatest of living epigraphists. He
be gan to write abundantly. and was already
known as a scholar OF extraordinary powers
and activity.
In ls4s he became professor Of Roman law
at Lcipsic, but the February revolution gave
him other work He helped the Holsteiners
against the Danes; he took the Liberal side
in internal German struggles. and in 1850
he lost his profcssorship. He learned-what
no English scholar knows-the real character
of a revolutionary epoch. Wandering about.
first at Zurich University. than at Breslau.
he nevertheless continued his work. In lso2
came his first great geographic book, the
folio containing the inscriptions OF the
Kin nedom Of Naples" In ls54-e the Roman
History" followed. colored, perhaps. by
recent experiences. The want OF master
hand at that unhappy time perhaps sugseeteeu
volumes close, and It may well be that he
then met some prototype of the unstable
orator Cicero me success @ o1 'e SSd been @ea
translated into most European languages.
In 1855 he settled at Berlln. TO- to marry i ana
Politics still had his attention. He sat N
the Landtag at intervals ~ 1852. fi'rTAy
opposing Bismarck S dsrstir pentty oee m
sionaly he stepped into foreign allalrs
critcsng the French IN is1O me SHGnS sSrns 10
III ii' viii by vehement language, But he waii
politician only because he ielt deeply. M
real life was that of the scholar on the greatest
He wrote organized, made Others write
He created the great Corpus lnscriptio,hiu.n
that oos n2y nenrs hS Re
piled himself: the rest-;no less hard tax
he made others. compile he re,edtea ,stsd y"
is7i he began to set the Roman Constiturou
on a new basis by the first volume OF H."
"Staatsrech." In lSs5 he described ~ me ,or kooa"
lareely based on geographic evidence nni
possible only to the editor q the ,oorpEESs
inner life of the Imperial courts disgus'si
him, and believe he came TO THINK. as u.
grew older, that his time could best be snGn
tions. and the rest-for historical judglnen,
rather than in character sketches OF what
eHsi But IS SO % late as 1890 he issued monument
work on Roman criminal law. and up TO th'
last he continued rapid SUCCESSION h 0i bIe no""
graphs hnrsanlna smli sN@ other rcsSarch The
group OF great collections which the Berlin
Academy and other German hHI.1HsC Hisnrg GER s
mania. and many more-owe. much. SON,
OF them everything, to his initiating enerfda
and orF1nnizns a91' to touch him. and H.
illness OF his wife made, his days anXoni
but his eye was not yet an M whrh tns a"Tl oo,
suddenly to himself u ,.lo
His was a unique inteliect. remarknh'"
before all thinfs for Us hnnanfy Hi v
accurate, methodical. unwearymg preclsioi,
other men may have felt as fiercely ana GaVg
sssn nsrrns rs 'ea edntSo Sop' dSsa and rcloss
ceptan"c c'1ptin Of drndRery, But in him alone,
sjants sans m'nGn y the met vT Tfs resn s VAS W hs
first place an astonishing INTELLECTUAL yisor
and an unparalelc ed output OF work. linFsn in"n,
things iera we're, folios that take % ssE'ons
s He TSrt"d "avs at tse ps9 ornnfy ana ws snhoa ar
gnspinr; he bcaueathes an lnvaluable traauion
Of devoted, persistent energy dncsipe but nor,
great Cooperative scheme combining many
SS% SSS5 ipla tSsIS t%sEs snd oGatcSI H.
stHii sHcn practical power and ipSrntiye forSSr
Work i " when Is dtcpjt to realize for ita y'ry
size: No one remembers what the Gond,tion
nf Roman hstery wns brinro hatn1s MTm,,,ssII, sIrn
rs there will be others after him. BUT we
logical and legal insqltion thc grasp ana com psn