Antoon Gerard Roos

Antoon Gerard Roos (or AG Roos , born February 23, 1877 in Groningen , † September 2, 1953 ibid) was a Dutch classical philologist and ancient historian . He headed the University Library of Groningen (1908-1917) and was Professor of Ancient History at the University of Groningen (1917-1947). He published important editions of the historians Arrian and Appian as well as the Byzantine excerpt collection De virtutibus et vitiis .

Life

AG Roos lost both parents in early childhood and grew up with a childless aunt. He studied Classical Philology, Archeology and History at the University of Groningen (especially with Jacobus van Wageningen , Herman Josef Polak and Ursul Philip Boissevain ). He spent two semesters at the University of Halle (Saale) , where he heard lectures from the classical scholars Eduard Meyer , Carl Robert , Wilhelm Dittenberger and Friedrich Bechtel . Before graduating, he undertook an extensive research and educational trip to the Mediterranean countries, which took him to Rome , Pompeii , Athens , the Aegean Islands and the Troas . During his studies he dealt intensively with the handwritten tradition of Arrian's historical writings, which at the time was not well known.

On February 5, 1904 Roos was in Groningen with a text-critical work for Alexander historian Arrian Dr. phil. PhD , which marked the beginning of his lifelong study of Greek historiography. After completing his doctorate, Roos worked at the University Library of Groningen , initially as a conservator and from 1906 as director. His official obligations resulted in two publications, a catalog of the incunabula of the university library (1912) and a history of its holdings (1914). In addition, Roos continued his philological research. In 1917 he was appointed to the chair of Ancient History at the University of Groningen, which he held for three decades until he retired in 1947. He took on numerous duties, including overseeing the Groningen grammar school, chairing the public reading room and managing the university museum , as well as a member of the library commission and in 1931/32 as rector of the university. He was an elected member of the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (1929).

In his research, Roos combined philological and historical interests and methods. Starting from his dissertation, he dealt intensively with the Alexander historian Arrian , whose traditional writings he presented in new critical editions (1907, 1910, 1928). At the same time, he took part in Boissevain's edition project on the excerpts collection of the Byzantine emperor Konstantin Porphyrogennetos : Using the material of the philologist Theodor Büttner-Wobst , who died in 1905 , Roos published the Excerpta de virtutibus et vitiis in two volumes (1906, 1910). In 1926 he arranged for the purchase of 127 papyrus fragments from the Berlin university library , which he published in 1933. He also worked with Paul Viereck on the final volume on Appian's Roman History (1939), which contained books 1-12. All of these editions, of which Appian was revised by Gerhard Wirth in the 1960s , have remained significant to this day and form the basis of the study of these authors and the history they have handed down.

Roos also published other writings on various topics of antiquity, such as the Spartan legislature Lycurgus , Caesar and Augustus ' seizure of power and the persecution of the Jews in Alexandria . In his farewell speech (1947) he spoke about the nature and meaning of Hellenism .

Fonts (selection)

• Prolegomena ad Arriani Anabaseos et Indicae editionem criticam. Adiecto Anabaseos libri primi specimine . Dissertation, Groningen 1904.
• Studia Arrianea . Leipzig 1912.
• Catalog of the incunabelen van de library of the Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen . Groningen 1912.
• Geschiedenis van de bibliotheek of the Rijksuniversiteit te Groningen . Groningen 1914.
• Lycurgus, speech uitgesproken bij de overdracht van het rectoraat der rijksuniversiteit te groningen op maandag 19 September 1932 . Groningen 1932.
• Het Groningsch University Museum . Groningen 1934.
• Aard en betekenis van het Hellenisme . Groningen 1947.

Editions

• with Theodor Büttner-Wobst: Excerpta Historica iussu imperatoris Constantini Porphyrogeniti confecta . Vol. 2,1-2: Excerpta de virtutibus et vitiis . 2 volumes, Berlin 1906–1910. Reprint 2010.
• Flavii Arriani quae exstant omnia . 2 volumes, Leipzig 1907–1928 (editio maior).
• Flavii Arriani Anabasis Alexandri . Leipzig 1910 (editio minor).
• Papyri Groninganae. Greek papyri from the University Library in Groningen along with two papyri from the University Library in Amsterdam . Amsterdam 1933. Reprinted in Milan 1972.
• with Paul Viereck: Appiani Historia Romana ex recensione Ludovici Mendelssohnii . Editio altera correctior. Volume 2 (Book 1–12), Leipzig 1939.

literature

• David Cohen : Antoon Gerard Roos . In: Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde . Born 1952–1953, pp. 100–103 ( online )
• Bernard Abraham van Groningen : Herdenking van Antoon Gerard Roos . In: Jaarboek van de Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen . Born 1953–1954, pp. 306–313 (with portrait; PDF )

Web links

• Literature by Antoon Gerard Roos in the catalog of the German National Library