René Cagnat (10 October 1852 – 27 March 1937) was a French historian, a specialist of Latin

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

and history of

North Africa during Antiquity The History of North Africa during the period of Classical Antiquity (c. 8th century BCE – 5th century CE) can be divided roughly into the history of Egypt in the east, the history of Ancient Libya in the middle and the history of Numidia and Ma ...

Biography

On the death of his father,

Léon Renier Charles Alphonse Leon Renier (2 May 1809, Charleville-Mézières, Charleville – 11 June 1885, Paris) was a 19th-century French historian specialist of Latin epigraphy. Arriving in Paris in 1838, he worked at the ''Dictionnaire encyclopédique d ...

, a friend of the family, supported his education. Under the influence of

Ernest Desjardins Antoine Émile Ernest Desjardins (30 September 1823 – 22 October 1886) was a French historian, geographer and archaeologist. He was a younger brother of historian Abel Desjardins (1814–1886). In 1856 he began teaching classes in Latin epi ...

, he became interested in epigraphy. Agrégé de grammaire in 1876, he led an archaeological campaign in Tunisia and became professor of epigraphy in 1883. From 1880, René Cagnat devoted his first scientific work in 1882 on municipal militias as well as indirect taxes in the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. In 1885 he published his famous ''Cours d'épigraphie latine'' which had several editions. His most lasting achievement was the creation in 1888 of the journal ''

L'Année épigraphique ''L'Année épigraphique'' (''The Epigraphic Year'', standard abbreviation ''AE'') is a French publication on epigraphy (i.e the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing). It was set up by René Cagnat, as holder of the chair of 'Epigraphy an ...

'', in which epigraphy reports, previously widely dispersed, were collected and published. In carrying out this task, he was assisted by Jean-Guillaume Feignon, his deputy epigrapher. By the 1880s, Cagnat focused especially on the inscriptions in North Africa. At the request of

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...

, he studied, first with Johannes Schmidt then with

Hermann Dessau Hermann Dessau (6 April 1856, Frankfurt am Main – 12 April 1931, Berlin) was a German ancient historian and epigrapher. He is noted for a key work of textual criticism published in 1889 on the ''Historia Augusta'', which uncovered reasons to ...

, these inscriptions for the ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

''. In the 1890s, the French government entrusted him with the monitoring of North African museums and local epigraphic research. Between 1906 and 1927, Cagnat contributed to the publication of ''Inscriptiones Graecae ad res Romanas pertinentes'' (collection of Greek inscriptions on topics related to the Roman Empire). He married Geneviève Hauvette (1857–1935), the daughter of Eugène-Louis Hauvette-Besnault. He was the stepfather of

Alfred Merlin Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...

who succeeded him at the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres.

Honours

In 1887, Cagnat was appointed a professor at the

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment (''grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris ne ...

, where he succeeded Desjardins at the chair of Roman epigraphy and antiquities. In 1895, he was elected a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, of which he was permanent secretary from 1916 to his death. In 1904, on the recommendation of

Otto Hirschfeld Otto Hirschfeld (March 16, 1843 – March 27, 1922) was a German epigraphist and professor of ancient history who was a native of Königsberg. In 1863 received a doctorate from the University of Königsberg, and in 1869 became a professor at the ...

and

Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (22 December 1848 – 25 September 1931) was a German classical philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literature ...

, he was elected a corresponding member of the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...

. Elected member of the

Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique, sometimes referred to as ') is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Comm ...

Publications (selection)

*1882: ''Etude historique sur les impots indirects chez les Romains jusqu'aux invasions des barberes'', Paris, Imprimerie nationale *1885: ''Cours d'épigraphie latine'', Paris, reprint 1890
read the 1890 edition online
*1892: ''L'armée romaine d'Afrique et l'occupation militaire de l'Afrique sous les empereurs'', Paris *1895–1905 ''Timgad, une cité africaine sous l'Empire romain'' with

Émile Boeswillwald Émile Boeswillwald (2 February 1815 – 20 March 1896) was a French architect. He succeeded Prosper Mérimée as Inspector General of Historic Monuments and collaborated with Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Life Emile Boeswillwald born in Strasbourg o ...

and

Albert Ballu Albert Ballu (1 June 1849 - 3 November 1939) was a French architect. He designed many buildings in French Algeria, including the Cathédrale du Sacré-Cœur d'Oran. Education and early career Albert Ballu was the son of an architect, Théodore ...

, éd. Ernest Leroux, Paris,
read online
*1909: ''Carthage, Timgad, Tébessa et les villes antiques de l'Afrique du Nord'', Paris, reprint 1927 *1916–1920: ''Manuel d'archéologie romaine'' with Victor Chapot, Paris *1923: ''Inscriptions latines d'Afrique'', Paris

Bibliography

* Christa Kirsten ous la dir. de ''Die Altertumswissenschaften an der Berliner Akademie. Wahlvorschläge zur Aufnahme von Mitgliedern von F.A. Wolf bis zu G. Rodenwaldt'', éd. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin, 1985 (vol. 5 des études sur l'histoire de l'

German Academy of Sciences at Berlin The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, german: Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (DAW), in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent research institution ...

), pp. 128–129

References

External links

René Cagnat
on data.bnf.fr
Conférences faites au musée Guimet
on Gallica {{DEFAULTSORT:Cagnat, Rene 19th-century French historians 20th-century French historians French epigraphers French scholars of Roman history Collège de France faculty Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Academy of Belgium École Normale Supérieure alumni 1852 births 1937 deaths