An Outline of the Origins of Modern Research on Imperial Court Offices in the Principate

Abstract

The article presents the results of research concerning the origins of the historiographic discourse of the imperial court offices in the Principate. Drawing on the works of Th. Mommsen, J. Marquardt, O. Hirschfeld, G. Kretschmar, J. N. Madvig, L. Friedländer, E. Herzog, É. Cuq and many others, the author investigates the origin of scholarly views on the subject and uncovers the mechanisms that formed the image of imperial administration in the European historiography in the second half of the 19th century.