Thucydidis De bello peloponnesiaco, libri octo. Ad optimorum librorum fidem editos explanavit Ernestus Fridericus Poppo. Vol. I. sect. I-II: Editio tertia, quam auxit et emendavit Ioannes Matthias Stahl, 1885-1889; vol. II-IV: Editio altera, quam auxit et emendavit Ioannes Matthias Stahl, 1875-1883

Ernst Friedrich Poppo (1794-1866), classical philologist and schoolmaster, director of the Gymnasium in Frankfurt an der Oder, best known for his comprehensive critical edition of Thucydides. Poppo studied theology and philology at Leipzig under the influence of Gottfried Hermann and Daniel Beck. His early Observationes criticae in Thucydidem (1815) laid the groundwork for a new methodological approach to Thucydides, emphasizing systematic manuscript collation, grammatical precision, and editorial rigor. Appointed director of the Frankfurt Gymnasium in 1818, Poppo oversaw its transformation into a leading center for classical education, modeled on the Saxon Landesschulen. He encouraged an expansive curriculum that included, among other subjects, optional English instruction, which he taught himself. He collaborated with figures such as Leopold Ranke and promoted a philological pedagogy grounded in scholarly discipline. Between 1821 and 1840, he published a comprehensive edition of Thucydides in four parts (text, commentary, prolegomena, indices), followed by a revised school edition (1843-1851). His work, which continued until his death and included lexicographical supplements, had a lasting impact on the modern reception of Thucydides both in Germany and abroad. DB

Johann Matthias Stahl (1833-1916), classical philologist, secondary school teacher. Stahl studied classical philology at the University of Bonn, where he received his doctorate in 1856 with a dissertation on Euripides. After teaching at several Gymnasien in the Rhineland, he was appointed in 1874 as Professor of Greek Language and Literature at the Theological and Pedagogical Academy of Münster, a position he held until his retirement in 1906. Stahl's scholarly reputation rests primarily on his close engagement with the language of Thucydides, culminating in his edition of the History and a monograph on Thucydidean syntax (Quaestiones grammaticae ad Thucydidem pertinentes, 1886). DB