He first began studying chemistry at the
Imperial University of Dorpat but transferred to the
University of Berlin to study classical history under
Theodor Mommsen. Seeck earned his doctorate from the University of Berlin in 1872 after writing his thesis on the
Notitia Dignitatum, a document enumerating the roles and responsibilities of administrative officials of the later
Roman Empire c. 400 AD. He habilitated under Mommsen in
Berlin in 1877 and, with the help of Mommsen, secured a post at the
University of Greifswald in 1881, where he taught Roman History and
Archaeology. There he met
Karl Julius Beloch. In 1907 he went to the
University of Münster where he continued teaching and writing. Seeck wrote many influential works on
late antiquity and
social Darwinism. He was widely published in such academic journals as the
Deutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft (
German Journal of History),
Hermes,
Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte (
Journal of Church History), and the
Zeitschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte (
Journal of Social and Economic History). Some of his monographs, including his influential 6-volume
Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt (
History of the Decline of the Ancient World)—which set forth his beliefs concerning social Darwinism, later influencing
Oswald Spengler—are still in print today. ==Selected works==