Johann Gottfried Seume and his stroll to Syracuse
The why, what, when and how of this Substack
Introducing Johann
Johann Gottfried Seume (1763–1810) was born in the Kingdom of Saxony (Germany), the son of a cooper and smallholder. Orphaned young, he was educated through the patronage of local nobility and later studied theology in Leipzig, though he increasingly turned to Enlightenment (Aufklärung1) authors and classical texts. In 1781, he was forcibly conscripted by Hessian recruiters and sent to North America to fight for the British in the Revolutionary War. On returning, he was again pressed into military service by the Prussians.
Later employed in Russia as a secretary and officer, he witnessed the partition of Poland. He returned to Leipzig, where he supported himself by tutoring and writing. In his final years, Seume wrote poetry, essays, and travel narratives, often censored for their anti-aristocratic tone. He died in 1810 in Teplitz2, after a prolonged illness.
The stroll to Syracuse
In December 1801, Seume departed Leipzig on foot with the intention of reaching Sicily. This 3,600-mile journey across Germany, Austria, Italy, and France was undertaken for observation, not pilgrimage. He sought to “stretch his legs” and avoid the constraints of coach travel, which he believed distanced the traveller from humanity and the truth of conditions on the ground.
His account, A Stroll to Syracuse in the year 18023, blends classical allusion, social critique, and personal narrative. Unlike contemporary travellers such as Goethe, Seume’s reflections are grounded less in aesthetic admiration than in moral and political response. He was appalled by the poverty he encountered, particularly in Rome and Sicily, and critical of clerical power and aristocratic privilege. The work was widely read and admired for its honesty, clarity, and plain style, though its anticlerical tone later brought difficulties with censors. Seume returned to Leipzig via Paris in summer 1802.
My project and this Substack
I like Johann Gottfried Seume - his style and approach to life.
I think we’d get along (he spoke good English, learned while captive of the Hessians). We enjoy travelling, walking, and observing. We read and study history, though his classical knowledge is stronger than mine. We like food and drink. We are sons of the Enlightenment and stand for reason, liberty, and justice. We can mix with all types and backgrounds and we’re both intensely curious.
Johann began his walk at 38 and could do 30-40 miles a day. I’m 61 now and could manage 20 at a (big) push, but I’d be useless the next day. With this project, I will retrace Johann’s steps. I’ll walk some of it, but I’ll also use local transport between towns.
My stroll will take time, perhaps a decade, and I’ll do it in stages, depending on time and cash. Sometimes I’ll travel with my wife or friends, but I expect I’ll be mostly alone.
Here is where you can join me!
The Aufklärung is the clear, complete, and definite understanding of our nature, our faculties, and our circumstances—a lucid grasp of our rights and duties and of how these are bound together. Whoever seeks to hinder such enlightenment is most certainly either a scoundrel or a fool—often both; only now and then is the one more pronounced than the other.
Johann Gottfried Seume
Now the town of Teplice in Czechia.