Editing Barthold Georg Niebuhr (section)

==Academic and diplomatic career==
He commenced his lectures with a course on the history of Rome, which formed the basis of his great work ''Römische Geschichte''. The first edition in two volumes, based upon his lectures, was published in 1811–1812, but attracted little attention at the time owing to the absorbing interest of political events. In 1813 Niebuhr's own attention was diverted from history by the uprising of the German people against Napoleon; he entered the [[Landwehr]] and ineffectually sought admission into the regular army. He edited for a short time a patriotic journal, the ''[[Prussian Correspondent]]'', joined the headquarters of the allied sovereigns, and witnessed the [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|battle of Bautzen]], and was subsequently employed in some minor negotiations. In 1815 he lost both his father and his wife.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=668}}

He next accepted (1816) the post of ambassador at Rome. Before his departure for Rome, he married his wife's niece.<ref name=eb9/> On his way to Rome, he discovered in the [[Chapter Library of Verona|cathedral library of Verona]] the long-lost [[Institutes of Gaius|''Institutes'' of Gaius]], afterwards edited by [[Friedrich Carl von Savigny|Savigny]], to whom he communicated the discovery under the impression that he had found a portion of [[Ulpian]]. The reason that Niebuhr visited Verona is a matter of controversy among scholars, with some alleging that he was on a "secret mission" to obtain the Gaius manuscript which others had previously found. The evidence points towards a fortunate coincidence.<ref>Varvaro, Mario. ''Der ‚Glücksstern‘ Niebuhrs und die Institutionen des Gaius. Deutsch-italienische Wissenschaftspolitik im frühen 19. Jahrhundert.'' Jedermann-Verlag GmbH, 2014.</ref>

During his residence in Rome Niebuhr discovered and published fragments of [[Cicero]] and [[Livy]], aided [[Angelo Mai|Cardinal Mai]] in his edition of Cicero's ''[[De re publica]]'', and shared in framing the plan of the great work ''Beschreibung Roms'' ("The Description of the City of Rome") on the [[topography of ancient Rome]] by [[Christian Charles Josias Bunsen]] and [[Ernst Zacharias Platner]] (1773–1855), to which he contributed several chapters. He also, on a journey home from [[Italy]], deciphered in a [[palimpsest]] at the [[Abbey of St. Gall]] the fragments of [[Merobaudes (poet)|Flavius Merobaudes]], a Roman poet of the 5th century.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=668}} As minister, he brought about the understanding between Prussia and the Pope signalized by the bull ''De salute animarum'' in 1821.<ref name=ea/> Niebuhr was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1822.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter N|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterN.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=8 September 2016}}</ref>

In 1823 he resigned the position in Rome and established himself at [[university of Bonn|Bonn]], where the remainder of his life was spent, with the exception of some visits to Berlin as councillor of state. He here rewrote and republished (1827–1828) the first two volumes of his ''Roman History'', and composed a third volume, bringing the narrative down to the end of the [[First Punic War]], which, with the help of a fragment written in 1831, was edited after his death (1832) by [[Johannes Classen]]. He also assisted in [[August Immanuel Bekker|August Bekker]]'s edition of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] historians (the ''[[Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae]]''), and delivered courses of lectures on ancient history, [[ethnography]], [[geography]], and on the [[French Revolution]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=668}}

[[File:Medaille Barthold Georg Niebuhr 1842.png|thumb|Medaille Barthold Georg Niebuhr 1842]]
In February 1830, his house was burned down, but the greater part of his books and manuscripts were saved. France's [[July Revolution|revolution of July]] in the same year was a terrible blow to him, and filled him with the most dismal anticipations of the future of Europe.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=668}} Niebuhr died, aged 54, in [[Bonn]].<ref name=ndb /> After his death, in 1842, a medal was commissioned to honour his work.<ref>S. Krmnicek and M. Gaidys, 'Gelehrtenbilder. Altertumswissenschaftler auf Medaillen des 19. Jahrhunderts', in S. Krmnicek (ed.), ''Von Krösus bis zu König Wilhelm'', New Series Vol. 3 (Tübingen 2020), at pp. 47–49. [https://hdl.handle.net/10900/100742]. Companion-volume to the [http://online-Ausstellung%20im%20Digitalen%20Münzkabinett%20des%20Instituts%20für%20Klassische%20Archäologie%20der%20Universität%20Tübingen online-publication of the Digital Cabinet of Medals of the Institute for Classical Archaeology at the University of Tübingen].{{Dead link|date=January 2024}}</ref>