He studied classical philology at the University of Leipzig under Otto Ribbeck (1827–1898), later relocating to the University of Bonn (1887), where he had as instructors, Hermann Usener (1834–1905) and Franz Bücheler (1837–1908). Afterwards, he studied in Berlin with Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903), earning his habilitation in 1893 at the University of Strasbourg with a treatise on the philosopher Xenocrates.
