The Ancient History location in the Philosophicum departmental library offers a collection of approximately 20,000 volumes on the history and culture of the Greco-Roman antiquity. These include collections of sources, current academic journals, and the most important reference works on ancient history, as well as literature on related disciplines such as epigraphy, papyrology, numismatics, and Religious Education. At 23 workstations, you can use the collection to prepare for presentations and lectures and write your term papers or final thesis. You will find our library location on the 3rd floor of the Philosophicum in room 03-632. The latest journal issues are displayed separately in room 03-596. Some newer literature titles on ancient history can be found in the RVK arrangement on the ground floor of the Philosophicum. In addition, the central library holds collections on ancient history, as do the libraries of Classical Philology, Classical Archaeology, and Theology. You can find out the call number under which you can find the titles you are looking for in the university library’s research portal. If you have any questions, you can contact Jan-Erik Pruschke (j.pruschke@ub.uni-mainz.de), who is responsible for the ancient history collections in the Philosophicum departmental library, or Konstanze Schiemann (k.schiemann@uni-mainz.de), the library officer for Ancient History & Cultural History of Antiquity.
| Address: | Welderweg 18 (Philosophicum), R 03-632 |
| Telephone: | (06131) 39-22752 |
| Contact person in the research unit | Dr. Konstanze Schiemann Mail: k.schiemann@uni-mainz.de |
| Contact person in the departmental library | Jan-Erik Pruschke Mail: j.pruschke@ub.uni-mainz.de |
| Opening hours: | see opening hours of the Philosophicum departmental library |
| Sigel: | 77/086 |
| Location information in the online catalog: | University Mainz, Philosophicum departmental library, Ancient History location |
| Collection: | approx. 20,000 volumes, 31 current journals |
| Catalog and equipment: | Online catalog and internet access |
| Collection priorities: | History and culture of the Greco-Roman antiquity, including epigraphy, papyrology, numismatics, and Religious Education |
The coin collection of Ancient History comprises over 1,200 coins, which are recorded and described in the Numismatic Database.
Digitization of the coin collection as part of the Numid network. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) since 2017.
The contact person for the coin collection is Mr. David Eibeck, M.A.. Luka Zäuner supports the coin collection team as a student assistant.
The numismatic collection of Ancient History is based on the coin collection of the former chair holder Hans-Ulrich Instinsky (1907-1973). In 1974 and 1984, the Seminar for Ancient History was able to purchase 368 specimens from his private collection. Since the private collection included all ancient epochs, an extensive overview for teaching activities could be offered in this way. The “Instinsky Collection” thus forms the basis of the coin collection, which now comprises almost 1,000 coins and spans a period from the 6th century BC to the 6th century AD.
The focus is primarily on the coins of the Principate, but the coins of the Greek poleis and Hellenism are also strongly represented, as are coins of the Roman Republic and Late Antiquity. The collection also includes a few coins from the Persian Empire or Jewish specimens, as well as some forgeries from the Italian Renaissance, which were minted by Giovanni Cavino in Padova.
The specimens in the collection are regularly integrated into the teaching of Ancient History, into the regular seminars as well as into specific numismatic practice classes.
In the winter semester 2023/2024, the collection showcase was opened – a room in which all university collections of the JGU are represented by selected exhibits. As part of the series ‘Food for Thought! Guided tours through the scientific collections of the JGU at noon’, David Eibeck presented the five exhibited coins from the numismatic collection to an audience of collection managers and students on 07.12.
A matter of opinion! – this is the name of the exhibition series of the university collections, in which objects that otherwise slumber in lockers and safes of the institutes are exhibited at regular intervals. The current exhibit comes from the coin collection of Ancient History: the so-called bull coin of the last pagan Roman Emperor Julian. The bull, which can be seen on the reverse (the back) of the coin, is much discussed in ancient historical research literature. Because: It is controversial what Julian wanted to express with this representation. But it is precisely this mystery and the many different possible interpretations of the bull image that make up the fascination of the bull coin.
Together with Lea Milnazik and Leah Schröder, both students at the JGU, Dr. Konstanze Schiemann from Ancient History has developed the exhibition and the accompanying text. The project originated from a seminar on Emperor Julian in the winter semester 2021/22. If you want to get your own impression of the bull coin, you can visit it in the coming months at the Ansichtssache! display case at the entrance to the university library.
Do you remember playing with your parents’ coins? The stories they told? Now you have the opportunity to revive these memories — but this time with a much larger collection of coins, namely with coins from the collections of German universities. Some of these coins may have already been held by Alexander the Great or Caesar or spent for their world-changing wars. Here you have the opportunity to sort and explore these coins with various filters. Help us bring order to the pile of coins…
In our seminars, including accompanying tutorials, you will receive a detailed introduction to the most important subject-specific databases. In addition to general instructions, you will also find topic-specific links to the respective seminars there. The corresponding subject information page “Ancient History” of the university library also offers a useful collection.
You will also find a list of useful links here:
- Bryn Mawr Classical Review: Review organ
Current reviews of ancient studies literature, also available as a free newsletter - Epigraphische Datenbank Clauss – Slaby: Database/research tool
The inscription database of Prof. Dr. Manfred Clauss, University of Frankfurt – a true classic among epigraphic databases - EAGLE: The “Electronic Archive of Greek and Latin Epigraphy” is an association of European databases, including the Epigraphische Datenbank Heidelberg – in the database launched by G. Alföldy, it is possible to extensively research the digitized Latin inscriptions – and the Epigraphic Database Roma – with a focus on the Italic and urban Roman inscriptions
- Gnomon-Online: Literature database/research tool
Current and older literature (monographs, articles, reviews) can be researched online here - KIRKE-Projekt: Catalog
A German-language catalog of Internet resources for classical antiquity. - The Latin Library: Database/research tool
A large number of Latin authors are available here in the original text for research - Perseus-Projekt: Database/research tool
The Perseus project includes Latin and Greek original texts with English translation and commentary, as well as a papyri database - Propylaeum: Subject Information Service for Ancient Studies : Propylaeum is operated by the UB Heidelberg and the BSB Müncen and is a targeted information and service portal. Here you will find various search technologies, and digital copies and e-publications are also offered in the open access procedure
- OCRE (Online Coins of the Roman Empire): Research tool/database. With this database, operated by the American Numismatic Society and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (New York University), you can research, identify and catalog Roman coins of the imperial period. All central coinages from the period from 31 BC to 491 AD are recorded. In addition, there are coin images, mappings and other useful functions.
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