Background
Becker was born in 1796 at Dresden, Germany, the son of German art historian, numismatist and author Wilhelm Gottlieb Becker.
Becker was born in 1796 at Dresden, Germany, the son of German art historian, numismatist and author Wilhelm Gottlieb Becker.
In 1816 Wilhelm Adolf Becker entered the University of Leipzig, where he studied under Beck and Hermann.
After holding subordinate posts at Zerbst and Meissen, Wilhelm Adolf Becker was in 1842 appointed professor of archaeology at Leipzig. He died at Meissen on the 30th of September 1846. The works by which Becker is most widely known are the Gallus or Romische Scenen aus der Zeit Augusts (1838, new ed. by Goll, 1880-1882), and the Charicles or Bilder altgriechischer Sitte (1840, new ed. by Goll, 1877-1878). These two books, which have been translated into English by Frederick Metcalfe, contain a very interesting description of the everyday life of the ancient Greeks and Romans, in the form of a romance. The notes and appendixes are valuable. More important is the great Handbuch der römischen Alterthümer (1843 - 1868), completed after Becker's death by Marquardt and Mommsen. Becker's treatises De Comicis Romanorum Fabulis (1837), De Romae Veteris Muris atque Portis (1842), Die romische Topographie in Rom (1844), and Zur romischen Topographie (1845) also be mentioned.
Wilhelm Adolf Becker was a member of the Saxonian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Sciences.