Peter Bernhard Weiss (Weiß) (21 August 1943 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

– 25 March 2025 in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

) was a German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

classical scholar Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. Peter Weiss studied history, classical philology and classical archaeology in Munich and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

from 1966 to 1974, where he obtained his doctorate in ancient history in 1975 with a thesis, supervised by

Dieter Timpe Dieter Timpe (3 November 1931 – 19 April 2021) was a German historian best known for his theories on Arminius and the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Biography Dieter Timpe was born in Halle, Germany on 3 November 1931. Since 1950, Timpe stud ...

, on the late Roman imperial court. Weiß then worked as Timpe's research assistant and, after completing his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1984 with a study about southern Asia Minor, as senior assistant. In 1985/86, he was a substitute professor in Mannheim, and in 1986 he was accepted into the Heisenberg Programme of the

German Research Council The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bud ...

. In 1987, he accepted a position as a professor at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, where he succeeded

Frank Kolb Frank Kolb (born 27 February in Rheinbach, Rhine) is a German professor of ancient history at the University of Tübingen in Germany. He has been involved in a controversy over findings concerning the late Bronze Age in Troy, and in 2001 accused D ...

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of Ancient History. He declined offers from the Humboldt University Berlin and the Philipps University Marburg. He retired in October 2008. His research focused on Roman history during the

Principate The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate. The principate was ch ...

and early Late Antiquity (2nd to 4th century CE). He was particularly well known for his numerous essays on

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

and

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 was considered one of the leading experts on

Roman military diploma A Roman military diploma was a document inscribed in bronze certifying that the holder was honourably discharged from the Roman armed forces and/or had received the grant of Roman citizenship from the emperor as reward for service. The diploma ...

s. His idea that Emperor

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

had seen a real, scientifically explainable light phenomenon (

halo HALO, halo, halos or haloes may refer to: Most common meanings * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head * ''Halo'' (franchise), a sci-fi video game series (2001–2021) Arts and en ...

) in the sky before his

conversion to Christianity Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person that brings about changes in what sociologists refer to as the convert's "root reality" including their social behaviors, thinking and ethics. The sociol ...

received particular attention and was the subject of heated debate. Among other things, Weiss was a long-standing member of the advisory board of the Commission for Ancient History and Epigraphy of the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

and one of the expert advisors to the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Important publications

* ''Consistorium und Comites consistoriani. Untersuchungen zur Hofbeamtenschaft des 4. Jh. n. Chr. auf prosopographischer Grundlage''. Würzburg 1975 (Dissertation). * ''Auxe Perge. Beobachtungen zu einem bemerkenswerten städtischen Dokument des 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr.'' In: ''

Chiron In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs". Biography Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology for ...

'' 21, 1991, pp. 353–392. * ''The Vision of Constantine.'' In: ''Journal of Roman Archaeology'' 16, 2003, S. 237–259. * ''The future of Roman military diplomata.'' In: Margaret M. Roxan, J. J. Wilkes (eds.): ''Documenting the Roman army''. London 2003, pp. 189–195. * ''Die vorbildliche Kaiserehe. Zwei Senatsbeschlüsse beim Tod der älteren und der jüngeren Faustina, neue Paradigmen und die Herausbildung des ‘antoninischen’ Prinzipats''. In: ''Chiron'' 38, 2008, pp. 1–45.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Peter Bernhard 1943 births 2025 deaths 20th-century German historians German classical scholars Academic staff of the University of Kiel Academic staff of the University of Würzburg