Hermann Peter

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Hermann Wilhelm Gottlob Peter (born September 7, 1837 in Meiningen ; † February 16, 1914 in Meißen ) was a German classical philologist and high school teacher. He is particularly known for his studies of Roman historiography and his editions of the Historicorum Romanorum reliquiae (HRR, 1870 / ²1914 and 1906) and the Historicorum Romanorum fragmenta (HRF, 1883).

life and work

Hermann Peter was the eldest son of the historian and grammar school teacher Karl Ludwig Peter (1808-1893), who had been rector of the Bernhardinum grammar school in Meiningen since 1835 . In the course of the promotion and transfer of the father, the family moved several times: 1843 to Hildburghausen , 1848 back to Meiningen, 1853 to Anklam and 1854 to Stettin . Hermann Peter attended high schools in these cities, passed his school leaving examination in Stettin in 1856 and then studied Classical Philology at the University of Bonn (with Friedrich Ritschl and Otto Jahn ). During his studies in 1855 he became a member of the Frankonia fraternity in Bonn . In the summer semester of 1857 he moved to Breslau for a year , where he heard lectures from Friedrich Haase . After his return to Bonn he was promoted to Dr. phil. doctorate and passed the teaching examination.

After graduating, Peter went to the Prussian school service. From 1860 he taught at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Gymnasium in Posen , which was then headed by Julius Sommerbrodt . After the probationary year, Peter was employed as a regular assistant teacher, later as a regular teacher. In 1863 he received leave for a research trip to Italy lasting several months. In 1866 Peter switched to the Friedrichs-Gymnasium in Frankfurt (Oder) as a senior teacher .

In 1871 Peter received a professorship at the Princely and State School St. Afra in Meißen and then left the Prussian school service. He also turned down a call to the University of Kiel (1874). From 1874 until his retirement (1905) he was rector of the Princely School, and later also provost of St. Petri Cathedral in Bautzen . For his work in the service of schools, churches and science, he received several awards: On June 14, 1897 he was elected a full member of the Royal Saxon Society of Sciences . On the occasion of his 25th anniversary as rector (1899), the Saxon king appointed him Commander of the Order of Albrecht, 2nd class. In 1907 Peter was appointed Privy Councilor and Canon of the Meissen Monastery . In this capacity he carried out the renovation of the Meissen Cathedral . Upon graduation (1909), the Saxon king appointed him Knight of the Order of Merit, 1st Class.

As a representative of the Meissen Monastery, Peter was a member of the First Chamber of the Saxon State Parliament in 1909/10 .

Peter's scientific work concerned above all the ancient Roman historiography , with which he dealt since his studies. His research focus was the lore and source studies of the imperial era , especially the Historia Augusta . His text edition of this Vitensammlung (Leipzig: Teubner 1865; 2nd edition 1884) remained in use for a long time until it was replaced in 1927 by the Teubner edition by Ernst Hohl .

Also of great importance were Peters Historicorum Romanorum reliquiae (HRR), a collection of fragments by Roman historians that reached from the beginnings of Roman historiography to the time of Constantine the Great . Peter published a hand edition in 1883 under the title Historicorum Romanorum fragmenta (HRF). Both collections have only been replaced by newer editions in the last few years: For the republican era there are the collections by Martine Chassignet, L'Annalistique romaine (1996-2004) and by Hans Beck and Uwe Walter , The early roman historians (FRH, 2001– 2004). The latest edition, The Fragments of the Roman Historians (FRHist, completed 2013, published 2014) extends to the Imperial Crisis of the 3rd century ( Asinius Quadratus ) and thus replaces Peters HRR .

Fonts (selection)

  • Historia critica scriptorum historiae Augustae . Leipzig 1860 (Bonn dissertation)
  • Plutarch's sources in the biographies of the Romans. Re-examined . Halle 1865. Reprinted Amsterdam 1965
  • Scriptores historiae Augustae . 2 volumes, Leipzig 1865. Reprint Leipzig 1913
  • Q. Claudi Quadrigari Annalium reliquiae . Frankfurt (Oder) 1868 (school program)
  • Historicorum Romanorum reliquiae . Volume 1, Leipzig 1870. 2nd revised edition, Leipzig 1914. Volume 2, Leipzig 1906. Reprint, revised by Jürgen Kroymann , Stuttgart 1967, Stuttgart 1993
  • Ovidii Fastorum libri sex. Explained for school . Leipzig 1874. 2nd revised edition, Leipzig 1879. 3rd revised edition, Leipzig 1889. 4th revised edition, Leipzig 1907 (only volume 1)
  • Historicorum Romanorum fragmenta . Leipzig 1883
  • The Scriptores historiae Augustae. Six literary-historical investigations . Leipzig 1892
  • The historical literature on the Roman Empire up to Theodosius I and its sources . 2 volumes, Leipzig 1897. Reprint Hildesheim 1967
  • The letter in Roman literature. Studies of literary history and summaries . Leipzig 1901. Reprint Hildesheim 1965
  • Truth and art. Historiography and plagiarism in classical antiquity . Leipzig / Berlin 1911. Reprint Hildesheim 1965
  • The Origo gentis Romanae font . Leipzig 1912

literature

  • Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Sub-Volume 4: M-Q. Winter, Heidelberg 2000, ISBN 3-8253-1118-X , p. 293.
  • Konrad Seeliger : Hermann Peter . In: The humanistic high school . Volume 25 (1914), pp. 133-137
  • Alfred Weinhold: Hermann Peter . In: Biographical Yearbook for Classical Studies 37th Volume (1915), pp. 40–61
  • Richard Heinze : In memory of Hermann Peter . In: Reports on the negotiations of the Royal Saxon Society of Sciences in Leipzig. Philosophical-historical class . Volume 66.3 (1914), pp. 111-118
  • Franz Kössler: Personal dictionary of teachers of the 19th century: Paalhorn - Pyrkosch . Preliminary publication, Giessen 2008 ( PDF 4.1 MB )

Web links

Wikisource: Hermann Peter  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Josef Matzerath , Aspects of Saxon State Parliament History. The members and electoral districts of the Saxon state parliaments (1833–1952). Part: 1833–1918, Dresden 2011, pp. 86–87.
personal data
SURNAME Peter, Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peter, Hermann Wilhelm Gottlob (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German classical philologist and high school teacher
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1837
PLACE OF BIRTH Meiningen
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1914
Place of death Meissen