Joseph Rubino

Joseph Rubino (born August 10 or 15, 1799 in Fritzlar ; † April 10, 1864 in Marburg ) was a German ancient historian . He worked from 1832 until his death at the Philipps University of Marburg , where he was appointed full professor of ancient history and philology in 1843 (after converting from Judaism to the Protestant denomination) .

life and work

Joseph Rubino came from a Jewish family, his parents were the merchant Ruben Mose and Gertrud Hirsch. His date of birth is uncertain: In the vita of his dissertation (1821) he stated August 10, 1799, later August 15. When he was about two years old, his father died and Joseph moved with his mother to Kassel , where his grandfather had worked at the synagogue . In 1804 his mother remarried and moved to Sontra , where Joseph received his first lessons. From 1810 to 1812 he attended the newly established Jewish school in Kassel and from 1812 to 1815 the pedagogy in Marburg .

From 1815 Joseph Rubino studied law at the University of Marburg for two years . After a break of several months, he moved to the University of Göttingen in 1818 , where he attended lectures and exercises with Gustav Hugo and Johann Gottfried Eichhorn . But he didn't stay long in Göttingen either: student unrest caused him to move to Heidelberg University (1819). There he also changed his subject: he studied philology and history with Friedrich Creuzer and Friedrich Christoph Schlosser . In 1821 Rubino returned to the University of Marburg, applied for a doctorate there and was admitted to the oral exam, although he had not yet submitted a dissertation. He passed the Rigorosum on August 22, 1821 with the grade "summa cum laude". He submitted a thesis on the office of the Ephors in Sparta , on the basis of which he became Dr. phil. received his doctorate.

After completing his studies, Rubino moved to Kassel. He associated with the Brothers Grimm , the editor Jakob Pinhas and other Kassel scholars. His goal was an academic career, but this was made difficult by his membership of Judaism . He tried to get a position at the University of Marburg. In 1825 he submitted a printed inaugural dissertation to the ministry with a request for an extraordinary professorship, but this was rejected after a negative vote by the faculty and the academic senate. Only later was he successful: on February 29, 1832, the University of Marburg appointed him lecturer in ancient history and philology, although this was revocable. He also received a salary of 400 thalers and the title of professor. On July 6, 1833, he was permanently employed. Rubino's lectures included interpretations on Pindar , Sophocles and Cicero as well as broad areas of ancient history (including the Orient ).

Rubino's position at the university was that of a private lecturer , so he had no right to vote in the faculty or in the senate. After the publication of his studies on the Constitution of the Roman Republic (1839), he applied to the Ministry in 1840 to be appointed full professor. However, the faculty and senate refused to appoint him. They referred to Rubino's Jewish faith. Rubino was rooted in the Kassel Jewish community throughout his life, but after the death of his mother decided to be baptized, which he received on April 24, 1842 in Hanau . The Faculty and Senate of Marburg have now agreed to his appointment as full professor, which took place on August 31, 1843. After more than twenty years of wrestling, Rubino worked for more than twenty years as a full professor of ancient history and philology in Marburg. He was elected Vice Rector of the University twice, in 1851 and 1858, and also represented the directors of the philological seminary during vacancies.

Rubino represented the entire history of antiquity in his lectures. In his research work, however, he concentrated entirely on the Roman constitutional law of the Ciceronian and Augustan times (approx. 70 BC to 14 AD). The source analysis that Barthold Georg Niebuhr had initiated and which was decisive for the ancient studies in the 19th century , Rubino left out. His work was therefore overtaken by research during his lifetime. His interpretation of the sources presented and his picture of the Roman state were nevertheless important groundwork, on which Theodor Mommsen in particular continued to build in his Roman research .

Fonts (selection)

• Commentatio inauguralis de tribunicia potestate qualis fuerit inde a Sullae dictatura usque ad primum consulatum Pompeii . Kassel 1825
• Research on the Roman Constitution and History. Part 1: About the course of development of the Roman constitution up to the climax of the republic. First volume . Kassel 1839 (no longer published)
• De mortis Herodoti tempore disputatio . Marburg 1848
• De Achaemenidarum genere . Marburg 1849
• De augurum et pontificum apud veteros Romanos numero . Marburg 1852
• De Serviani census summis disputatio. Pars prior . Marburg 1854 (no longer published)
• Contributions to the prehistory of Italy . Leipzig 1868

literature

• Benedikt Niese :  Rubino, Joseph . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 55, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1910, pp. 591-595.

Web links

Wikisource: Joseph Rubino  - Sources and full texts