Linguistic and antiquarian studies in Rome had next to no connection
with the university (Sapienza), and depended almost exclusively either
on the favour of individual popes and prelates, or on the appointments
made in the Papal chancery. It was not till Leo X (1513) that the great
reorganization of the Sapienza took place, which now had eighty-eight
lecturers, among whom there were the most able men of Italy, reading
and interpreting the class;cs. But this new brilliancy was of short
duration. We have already spoken briefly of the Greek professorships in
Italy.
To form an accurate picture of the method of scientific instruction
then pursued, we must turn away our eyes as far as possible from our
present academic system. Personal intercourse between the teachers and
the taught, public disputations, the constant use of Latin and often of
Greek, the frequent changes of lecturers and the scarcity of books,
gave the studies of that time a color which we cannot represent to
ourselves without effort.
There were Latin schools in every town of the least importance, not by
any means merely as preparatory to higher education, but because, next
to reading, writing, and arithmetic, the knowledge of Latin was a
necessity; and after Latin came logic. It is to be noted particularly
that these schools did not depend on the Church, but on the
municipality; some of them, too, were merely private enterprises.
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