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 M ...

Biography

On the death of his father, Léon Renier, a friend of the family, supported his education. Under the influence of Ernest Desjardins, 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 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 ...

. 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 a ...

'', 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 ce ...

, he studied, first with Johannes Schmidt then with Hermann Dessau, 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 Merlin (13 March 1876, in Orléans – 16 March 1965, in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a 20th-century French historian, archaeologist, pioneer and founder of underwater archaeology, a numismatist and epigrapher. Biography After his studies ...

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 (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

, 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 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 literatur ...

, he was elected a corresponding member of the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () 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 Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...

. 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 ( , sometimes referred to as ' ) is the independent learned society of science and arts of the French Community of Belgium. One of Belgium's numerous academies, it is the French-speak ...

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 and Albert Ballu, 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, , in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent Research institute, research institution of East Germany (German Democratic Repub ...

), 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 Academic staff of the Collège de France 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