Otto Karl Seeck (2 February 1850 – 29 June 1921) was a German classical historian who is perhaps best known for his work on the decline of the ancient world. He was born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Life and career

He first began studying chemistry at the University of Dorpat but transferred to the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

to study classical history under

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 ce ...

. Seeck earned his doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1872 after writing his thesis on the ''

Notitia Dignitatum The (Latin for 'List of all dignities and administrations both civil and military') is a document of the Late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very ...

'', a document enumerating the roles and responsibilities of administrative officials of the later

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

c. 400 AD. He habilitated under Mommsen in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1877 and, with the help of Mommsen, secured a post at the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; ), formerly known as Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Founded in 1456, it is one of th ...

in 1881, where he taught Roman History and

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

. There he met Karl Julius Beloch. In 1907 he went to the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

where he continued teaching and writing. Seeck wrote many influential works on

late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

and

social Darwinism Charles Darwin, after whom social Darwinism is named Social Darwinism is a body of pseudoscientific theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economi ...

. He was widely published in such academic journals as the ''Deutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft'' (''German Journal of History''), ''

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

'', ''Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte'' (''Journal of Church History''), and the ''Zeitschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte'' (''Journal of Social and Economic History''). Some of his monographs, including his influential 6-volume ''Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt'' (''History of the Decline of the Ancient World'')—which set forth his beliefs concerning social Darwinism, later influencing

Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German polymath whose areas of interest included history, philosophy, mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best know ...

—are still in print today.

Selected works

*''Quaestiones de notitia dignitatum''. Dissertation, Berlin 1872 (''Questions concerning the Notitia Dignitatum'') *''Notitia dignitatum. Accedunt notitia urbis Constantinopolitanae et laterculi provinciarum''. Berlin 1876 *''Die Kalendertafel der Pontifices''. Berlin 1885 (''The Calendar Tables of the Pontifices'') *''Die Quellen der Odyssee''. Berlin 1887 (''The Sources of the Odyssey'') *''Die Briefe des Libanius zeitlich geordnet''. Leipzig 1906 (''The letters of Libanius arranged chronologically'') *''Regesten der Kaiser und Päpste für die Jahre 311 bis 476 n. Chr.: Vorarbeit zu einer Prosopographie der christlichen Kaiserzeit''. Stuttgart 1919. (''Synopses of the emperors and popes for the years 311-476 AD: preliminary work for a prosopography the Christian Empire'') *''Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt''. 6 Bände. Metzler, Stuttgart 1895–1920 (''History of the Decline of the Ancient World'') *''Kaiser August''. 1902 (''Caesar Augustus'')

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seeck, Otto German classical scholars 20th-century German historians Academic staff of the University of Greifswald 1850 births 1921 deaths Academic staff of the University of Münster Writers from Riga People of Baltic German descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the German Empire 19th-century German historians