Barthold Georg Niebuhr

Barthold Georg Niebuhr (1776-1831), German historian and statesman, born in Copenhagen, and educated at the University of Kiel in Germany. He entered the Danish civil service in 1799, resigning in 1806 to accept a similar post from the Prussian government. He was made professor of history at the University of Berlin in 1810. From 1816 to 1823, Niebuhr was Prussian ambassador to the Vatican. He uncovered the Institutes of Gaius, the first important work to be discovered concerning Roman private law, in the Cathedral of Verona in 1816. In 1820 he found and edited fragments of the works of the Roman historian Livy and the Roman orator and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. After 1823 he taught in Bonn. Niebuhr is the author of History of Rome (3 volumes, 1811-32; trans. 1828-42) and of many historical treatises. His works had a profound influence on the modern critical approach to the study of history.