beginnings Professor Gurney gradually worked out for his students a course, two hours a week, on later Roman and early Mediæval History, from Augustus to Charlemagne, with especial reference to Institutions. Alternating with this course, every other year, was one on Roman History to the fall of the Republic, with special reference to the development of Political Institutions in Greece and Rome. He also developed a special course in Roman Law (Inheritance), based on the Institutes of Gaius and Justinian, and on selections from the Digest. In this latter field of Roman Law, Professor Gurney enjoyed the cooperation of Assistant Professor Ernest Young, who lectured on Obligations and Procedure and the Law of Property. EXAMINATION IN ROMAN HISTORY. [For Sophomores, first half year; required course of two hours a week.] Professor Gurney-1873. The first question and seven others, to be selected at pleasure, were to be answered. The dates of events were always to be given. 1. Draw a map of Italy showing its chief physical features and ancient political divisions. Mark upon it the sites of Tarentum, Capua, Sentinum, Luceria, Heraclea, Præneste, Beneventum, and the courses of the rivers Liris, Metaurus, Volturnus. 2. Give an outline of the history of the Samnites before and after their first encounter with the Romans; likewise of the connection of other peoples of Italy with the Samnites in their resistance to the Romans.. 3. Give, in chronological order, an outline of the wars or other circumstances which led to the reduction to the condition of Roman provinces of Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, Africa, Macedonia, Asia, Gaul, Syria. 4. Give, in chronological order, an outline of the chief wars in which the Romans were engaged during the century preceding the battle of Actium. 5. Give a list of the emperors from Augustus to Commodus (with the dates of their accession), and mention, in chronological order, the most important wars of this period. 6. Give an account of the Roman Constitution under the kings. 7. The series of laws (between the years 500 and 300 B. C.) by which the Plebeians were put upon a political equality with the Patricians. 8. The origin and constitution of the Comitia Curiata; of the Comitia Centuriata (in its original and in its remodeled form); of the Comita Tributa; and of their respective functions under the Republic. 9. When and under what circumstances were the offices of Consul, Prætor, Edile, Quæstor, and Tribunus Plebis respectively created, and what were their several functions? 10. How was the Senate constituted? What part did it take in the administration of the State, and how did its power become predominant? 11. What were the purposes of the Roman system of colonization, and at what periods was it most fully carried out? What were Colonia Civium Romanorum and Colonia Latina? What were Foderate Civitates in Italy; how were they governed; and what were their relations to Rome before the year 90 B. C.? 12. What was the position of the Provinces in relation to the management of their own affairs and to Rome? How were taxes in them collected? From what forms of 1 Lectures on Roman Law were given to the students of Harvard College in 1870–71 by Professor James Hadley, of Yale College. injustice did they especially suffer, and what remedies had they? What effect on the Provinces had the establishment of the Empire? 13. What was the Ager Publicus? What were the principal laws passed concerning it, and what important part did it play in the history of the Republic ? 14. State as clearly and fully as you can the causes which led to the downfall of the Republic and the establishment of the Empire. 15. Give as complete an account as you are able of the theory and practice of the Roman Constitution under Augustus. EXAMINATION IN ROMAN AND EARLY MEDIEVAL HISTORY. Professor Gurney-June, 1873. 1. "It might be maintained that the whole history of a state is the record of a series of differentiations of special organs to meet special needs." Point out in detail how the development of the Roman republican magistrates illustrates this statement. 2. "The Senate, a body of life peers, freely chosen by the people, had always been the vital institution of republican Rome. The popular assemblies had always been insignificant by the side of the Senate; but, by the constitution, the rabble of Rome could at any time take into their own hands legislation and government." Comment in detail upon each statement in this passage. 3. "The first Gracchus, with perfectly pure intentions, showed them the way to do this. The second Gracchus formed this city rabble into a standing army of revolution." Show as clearly as you can the relations of the Gracchi to the Revolution. 4. "It was the necessity of defending the state against its foreign enemies that caused the fall of republican institutions. It was not aristocratic privilege, but aristocratic feebleness, that the people rebelled against. The two parties at last were the Senate and the army." Illustrate fully these statements from the history of the last century of the Republic. 5. "In the place of anarchy the Empire brought centralization and responsibility. To the Roman world it gave internal tranquillity; to the government a more equitable spirit." Give an account of the Imperial institutions which will show how these ends were accomplished. 6. "It would be a convenient thing if we could accustom ourselves to the notion of a second Roman Revolution, beginning with the death of Marcus Aurelius and ending with the accession of Diocletian. In the convulsions of this revolutionary period we are able to discern the difficulties with which the Imperial system had to cope." Illustrate this passage fully from the history of the period. 7. "Rome was saved by Diocletian from partition among viceroys; but it was a temporary arrangement, and gave place to the permanent institutions of Constantine. The Empire was no longer Roman by nationality, nor in the sense of possessing the political institutions which had originally belonged to Rome. The Senate as an organ of aristocratic opinion had practically disappeared, and the life-president had become a Sultan. A principal feature of this age is the enormous multiplication of offices and officials, a bureaucracy formed after the military model." Explain each of these statements in detail. 8. "In the age of the degenerate sons of Theodosius, the barbaric world decisively encroaches on the Roman. The Empire is plundered under cover of a commission from the Emperor himself. Rome is sacked. Most of Gaul, Spain, and Africa are torn from the Empire. Barbaric chieftains make and unmake the Emperors of the West." Give a succinct account of the series of events here alluded to. PROFESSOR HENRY ADAMS. In 1870, the year after President Eliot came into office, Henry Adams, son of Charles Francis Adams, was appointed Assistant Professor of History. That same year, also, Mr. Gurney was advanced from the position of Assistant Professor to that of University Professor of History. The significance of Mr. Gurney's appointment we have already noted. Mr. Adams' appointment marks the beginning of a new epoch in the historical department of Harvard College. It may be characterized as an epoch of institutional studies, chiefly in the Frankish, German, and early English fields. It was pioneer work at Harvard, and it led to the first really original researches in History by Harvard students. The Essays in Anglo-Saxon Law, which were published in 1876, and which were dedicated to President Eliot as the first-fruits of his administration, comprised absolutely original investigations by Mr. Adams, on "Anglo-Saxon Courts of Law," and by his most advanced students, Ernest Young, on "Anglo-Saxon Family Law," Henry Cabot Lodge, on "Anglo-Saxon Land Law," and J. Laurence Laughlin, on "AngloSaxon Legal Procedure." These Harvard studies were republished in England, and have been received with great favor by specialists in the early history of institutions. It is not without profit to inquire into the foundations of this original work represented by Professor Adams at Harvard. It was based upon an elective course in Mediæval History, three hours a week, comprising lectures and the use of such standard authorities as Hallam's Middle Ages; Bryce's Holy Roman Empire; Kohlrausch's or Menzel's History of Germany; Stephen's, Sismondi's, Michelet's, or the Student's History of France; and Milman's Latin Christianity. It was a general course, covering, when fully developed, the history of Europe from the eighth to the sixteenth century. It connected, on the one hand, with Professor Gurney's work in Classical and later Roman History, and, on the other, with Professor Torrey's courses in Modern European History. The character of the knowledge required in the early part of this course, before it was fully expanded, is indicated by the following examination paper, which was set in June, 1872: EXAMINATION IN MEDIEVAL HISTORY. Professor Adams-June, 1872. Map of France and Germany. Mark the provinces: (1) Picardy. (2) Navarre. (3) Champagne. (4) Poitou. (5) Gascony. (6) Anjou. (7) Provence. (8) Maine. (9) Armagnac. (10) Guienne. (11) Arelat, or the Kingdom of Burgundy. (12) Duchy of Burgundy. (13) Franche-Comté. (14) Franconia. (15) Carinthia. (16) Alsace. (17) Limousin. (18) Westphalia. (19) Hainault. (20) Lausitz. (21) Thuringia. CITIES AND PLACES.-(a) Treves. (b) Mainz. (c) Angers. (d) Regensburg or Ratisbon. (e) Strasburg. (ƒ) Meissen. (g) Ghent. (h) Brunswick. (i) Speier. (k) Bamberg. (1) Bâle. (m) Rochelle. (n) Avignon. (0) Laon. (p) Albi. (q) Peronne. (r) Beziers. (8) Toul. (t) Bordeaux. (u) Hohenstaufen. (v) Hohenzollern. (x) Hapsburg. EMPIRE.-1. Name the emperors between 900 and 962. 2. Give a table of Henry the Fowler's children and grandchildren. 3. Giselbert of Lorraine. 4. Godfrey of Lorraine. 5. When were Bavaria and Saxony first given to the Welfs? 6. Circum stances of the Imperial election of 1125. 7. When and for what occasion was Austria made a duchy? 8. Peter della Vinea. CHURCH.-9. What title did the Church claim to territorial sovereignty? 10. Pope Formosa. 11. Hilderbrandine Popes, 1050-1100. 12. The Crusades and the principal persons concerned in each. 13. The famous bulls of Boniface VIII. 14. Constitution of the Cardinals' College. 15. The great monastic and medicant orders. 16. Pope John XXIII. FRANCE.-17. Capetian kings from 888-987. 18. When and how did the Duchy of Burgundy first come to the Capetian family? 19. The Duchy of Normandy; when created, and when annexed to the domain? 20. When was Poitou taken from England? 21. Toulouse; when obtained by the Crown. 22. Table showing Edward III's claim to the crown. 23. The Angevin dynasties of Naples. 24. The Constable d'Armagnac. This course in the general history of medieval Europe represents the first formal introduction of that field of study into the Harvard curriculum. Hitherto the Middle Ages had been treated very cursorily, after the manner of Robertson's Introduction to his Life of Charles V. The work of Mr. Adams first brought the so-called Dark Ages into light and prominence in the Harvard historical curriculum. Since his time, Medieval History has held its own with great energy. The work has devolved upon different individuals at different times; but the direct successor of Mr. Adams and the man who to-day conducts this general course is Dr. Ernest Young, one of Mr. Adams's best pupils. Mr. Young became an instructor in History and Roman Law in 1874, and is now Assistant Professor of History, holding the same place and doing even more work than did his original master. Dr. Emerton also entered the Mediæval field and early won distinction, particularly in Church History. According to the original plan of Mr. Adams, the general course in Mediæval History was introductory to a more special course in Mediæval Institutions, a course of two hours a week, open only to candidates for honors. In 1871-72 seven members of the Junior class undertook this advanced work, which comprised lectures on Feudalism and the Salic Law, the class using the original text of the latter. Such authorities as the Germania of Tacitus, Maine's Ancient Law and Village Communities, Hallam's Middle Ages, etc., were also employed. The influence of the writings of Sir Henry Sumner Maine was just beginning to be felt by students of Law and History in America, and Mr. Adams communicated, through these writings and his own individual studies, a powerful impetus to historical work at Harvard. The writer has been told by former students of Mr. Adams that his custom was to distribute among members of his advanced class the principal subjects treated by Sir Henry Maine, and to require individual reports on assigned chapters. A discussion always arose upon matters thus reported, and the professor endeavored to draw out the opinions of his class without stating his own until the discussion ended, when he would sum up the whole matter. There was much less formality in this conversational method of conducting a class than in ordinary recitations. If the student failed to do justice to the subject assigned him, the professor filled out the gap by profitable comment. Some idea of the kind of knowledge required from the advanced class in Institutions may be derived from the following examination papers: EXAMINATION IN INSTITUTIONS. Professor Adams-1874. ROMAN INSTITUTIONS.-1. History of testamentary succession in Roman Law; forms of will. 2. Roman origin of contracts, Nexum and mancipatio; the historical alliance between contracts and conveyances. 3. Emphyteusis, agri limitanei, patron and client. 4. Status and contract; show how "the movement of progressive societies has been from status to contract." SALIC INSTITUTIONS.-5. The family in the Lex Salica. Probable mode of reckoning relationship; evidences for and against probable distinction of agnates and cognates. 6. Nature of paternal authority in the Lex Salica. Its probable limits. 7. Salic land; tenure of land; Lex Salica, 59, De Alodis. Meaning of the word Alod, Illustrate the Salic idea of property as applied to land, by Lex Salica, 58, De Chronecruda. 8. The Salic contract; its private and judicial application. Illustrate by Lex Salica, 50, De fides factas. 9. Homo in truste dominica, Lex Salica, 53, and elsewhere. Vassus in Lex Salica, 35, 5. MEROVINGIAN AND CARLOVINGIAN INSTITUTIONS.-10. Outline of all the reforms of Charlemagne. 11. Immunities; to what extent did they alter the relations of citizens or lands to the state? 12. Origin of the feudal courts of haute et basse justice; to what earlier courts do they correspond? Give some instances of the law of primogeniture from the French coutumes. EXAMINATION IN INSTITUTIONS. Professor Adams-1876. 1. To what extent may the family be considered as the source of the state? 2. Define the patriarchal theory, and state arguments for and against it. 3. Nature of the royal power in the Lex Salica. Causes and nature of its subsequent development. 4. What portions of private law may be traced with certainty to the family? 6. How does German law compare with Roman law in regard to the history of contract and conveyance? 7. To what extent was land treated as property in the Lex Salica? 8. What is meant by executive and what by judicial procedure in German law? 9. Define, as briefly as possible, the nature of the early Germanic Constitution. 10. Explain with the utmost conciseness the influences which overthrew that constitution, and the nature of the subsequent changes. EXAMINATION IN INSTITUTIONS. Professor Adams-June, 1872. GERMAN LAW.-(1) Mannitio and Bannitio; (2) Inquisitio per testes; (3) Reipus; (4) Scabini; (5) The Alod, Salic law de Alodis; (6) Salic law de adfathamire; (7) Judicial reforms of Charlemagne; (8) The Capitulary of Kiersy. ROMAN LAW.-(9) Nexum ; (10) Res mancipi and Res nec mancipi; (11) Manus; (12) Universitas juris; (13) Roman forms of marriage; (14) Early forms of testament; (15) Agnates and cognates; (16) Origin of primogeniture. |