Stefan Weinstock

Stefan Weinstock (born November 7, 1901 in Nagyvárad ; † June 5, 1971 in Oxford ) was a British ancient historian , classical philologist and religious scholar of Austro-Hungarian origin.

Life

Weinstock was born in 1901 in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a Jewish family; his father was the general practitioner Armin Weinstock. By the time he graduated from school in 1919, his hometown had already been transferred to Romania , which is why he also obtained Romanian citizenship.

In 1920 he recorded his university studies, which it first at the philosophical faculty of the University of Prague and the University of Innsbruck led where he ancient history among student Heinrich Swoboda and the Classical Philology at Ernst Kalinka (1865-1946) and Alois Rzach was . During this time he converted to the Roman Catholic faith . After graduating, he moved to the University of Breslau , where he worked under Ernst Kornemann , Konrat Ziegler , Ludolf Malten and Wilhelm Kroll on his dissertation on Plato , which he completed in 1926.

At this time Weinstock was planning a career as a high school teacher , for which he took up a position as a study assistant in Wroclaw in 1930 . With his entry into the Prussian civil service he lost his Romanian citizenship and became a German . After the Civil Service Act of April 7, 1933 , he was dismissed from civil service as a native Jew. However, he stayed in Breslau and continued his research. During this time he worked under Kroll for the editorial team of the Glotta magazine and taught ancient Greek at the theological seminary under Adolf Bertram . During this time, he also began to work on articles for publication in Pauly-Wissowa . After Weinstock was publicly denounced in 1937 that he was working as a Jew under Wilhelm Kroll, he emigrated to Rome , where he worked at the Bibliotheca Vaticana on behalf of Franz Cumont for his project Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum ( CCAG ).

He emigrated to London in 1939 and to Oxford in 1940 . In 1946 he received the officer degree of major in the United States Army in order to acquire National Socialist publications on behalf of the Bodleian Library in occupied Germany . In 1947 Weinstock became a British citizen . After a financially difficult time, in which he continued to work for the Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum and was supported by the ancient historian Hugh Last (1894-1957), he obtained a position as a lecturer at Oxford University in 1952 and later a chair as senior lecturer . In 1960 he worked in Rome at the German Archaeological Institute and the British School . He also became a member and in 1965 a fellow at Exeter College . Weinstock retired in 1969 and died in 1971. His monograph on Divus Iulius was published shortly after his death.

research

In addition to his fifteen years of work on ancient astrology , Stefan Weinstock concentrated most of his research on the Roman religion . He admired Theodor Mommsen and Georg Wissowa , whose work he saw as being characterized by “a tireless search” and sober “respect for evidence [as well as for Rome's] laws and history”. Weinstock preferred the cultural to the individual observation of ancient phenomena. He rejected naturalistic approaches and, for example, vehemently criticized the anthropological interpretation of numen . Weinstock distinguished between the "insular" and the "continental" method in historical research and commentary. He favored the continental method because it extends in all directions and, with a variety of sources, is also relevant for those researchers who only deal indirectly with the topic. This came to the fore in his works through enormous collections of sources, through strict but subtle and varied analyzes and syntheses, as well as meaningful, clear structures that did not generate any sensations, but were intended to distinguish their author as a “worthy servant of a great tradition”. Some of Weinstock's hypotheses were contradicted, including his reinterpretation of the goddess Pax in the Ara Pacis Augustae , as well as his interpretation of the geographical catalog in the Acts of the Apostles of Luke .

Divus Julius

Based on his research on ancient astrology, of which Augustus, among others, was a great fan, Weinstock originally planned a monograph on religious studies about the first Roman emperor. This book was never started because Weinstock came to the conclusion that all elements of the imperial "Augustan religion" had their origin in the religious characteristics and religious reforms of Julius Caesar . The introductory chapter on Caesar developed into an independent monograph, which was later described as a “great and important achievement”. One of the reasons for writing Divus Julius was Weinstock's reluctance to accept the view that Caesar must be seen as a rationalist and that he and Roman religion can be evaluated in the light of Puritan ideals. One of the key points of the book is that Caesar tried to initiate his deification during his lifetime. This was described as controversial because it clearly sets Caesar's apotheosis apart from the later imperial cult , a view that is now advocated by many historians. An extensive and valuable review, which corrected many errors, but was basically positive for Weinstock's book, was published by Andreas Alföldi .

Fonts (selection)

• The Platonic Homerkritik and its aftermath . Dissertation, Leipzig 1927.
  • simultaneously published in: Philologus . Volume 82, 1926, pp. 121-153.
• Mundus Patet . In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department . Volume 45, 1930, p. 111.
• Ludi Tarentini and Ludi Saeculares . In: Glotta . Volume 21, 1932, p. 40.
• Templum . In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department. Volume 47, 1932, p. 95.
• Clodius and the Lex Aelia Fufia . In: Journal of Roman Studies . Volume 27, 1937, p. 215.
• Parca Maurtia and Neuna Fata . In: Festschrift Andreas Rumpf. For the 60th birthday offered by friends and students. Scherpe, Krefeld 1952, p. 151.
• A Lex Sacra from Lavinium . In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 42, 1952, p. 34.
• Dedicatory inscriptions from Veii . In: Glotta. Volume 33, 1954, p. 306.
• The Image and Chair of Germanicus . In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 47, 1957, p. 144.
• Victor and Invictus . In: The Harvard Theological Review. Volume 50, 1957, pp. 211-247.
• Two Archaic Inscriptions from Latium . In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 50, 1960, p. 112.
• Saturnalia and New Year in the acts of martyrs . In: Alfred Hermann, Alfred Stuiber (ed.): Mullus, Festschrift for Theodor Klauser (= Yearbook for Antiquity and Christianity . Supplementary Volume 1). Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 1964, p. 391.
• Pax and the Ara Pacis . In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 50, 1960, p. 44.
• Divus Julius . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1971, ISBN 0-19-814287-0 .

literature

• Peter J. Parsons : Stefan Weinstock † . In: Gnomon 46, 1974, pp. 217-220.

Web links

• Literature by and about Stefan Weinstock in the catalog of the German National Library
• Personnel form from Stefan Weinstock in the personnel file of the BIL expert body in the archive database of the Library for Research on Educational History (BBF)

Single receipts

1. ^ Stefan Weinstock: Review by Kurt Latte , Römische Religionsgeschichte . In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 51, 1961, p. 206.
2. ↑ Stefan Weinstock: Review by HJ Rose, Ancient Roman Religion . In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 39, 1949, p. 166.
3. ↑ Martin Litchfield West : Speech  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in front of the International Balzan Prize Foundation (Balzan Prize for Classical Antiquity). 2000.  
4. ^ Stefan Weinstock in: Peter John Parsons: Stefan Weinstock † . In: Gnomon. Volume 46, 1974, p. 220.
5. ↑ See Jocelyn MC Toynbee : The 'Ara Pacis Augustae'. In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 51, 1961, pp. 153-156.
6. ↑ Acts 2: 9-11 ; see. Bruce M. Metzger : Ancient Astrological Geography and Acts 2: 9-11 (PDF file; 198 kB) . In: W. Ward Gasque, Ralph P. Martin (Eds.): Apostolic History and the Gospel. Biblical and Historical Essays Presented to FF Bruce . The Paternoster Press, Exeter 1970, ISBN 0-85364-098-X , pp. 123-133.
7. ^ JA North: Praesens Divus . In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 65, 1975, p. 171.
8. ^ Stefan Weinstock: Divus Julius . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1971, pp. Vii.
9. ^ JA North: Praesens Divus . In: Journal of Roman Studies. Volume 65, 1975, p. 176.
10. ^ Among other things, Ittai Gradel: Emperor Worship and Roman Religion . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002.
11. ↑ Andreas Alföldi: Review of St. Weinstock, Divus Julius . In: Gnomon. Volume 47, 1975, pp. 154-179.