Amanda Jacqueline Claridge FSA (1 September 1949 – 5 May 2022) was a British professor of Roman archaeology at Royal Holloway,

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. Her research interests included "Roman archaeology, especially art, marble sculpture and the marble trade; Roman architecture and urbanism; topography and monuments of the city of Rome and Latium; Antiquarian studies in 16th and 17th century Rome."Professor Amanda Claridge.
Royal Holloway, University of London. Retrieved 29 May 2015.

Personal life

Claridge was born at RAF Hospital Halton; her father, John Claridge, a New Zealander from Wellington, was awarded the DFC as a flight lieutenant bomber pilot, and subsequently rose to wing commander in the RAF. Her Scottish mother, Marie (''née'' Cooper), was a flight officer working in intelligence at RAF Bottesford, Leicestershire.Mike Pitts
Obituary for Amanda Claridge
''

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'', 16 June 2022 Claridge's parents separated, her father returning to his native New Zealand while her mother relocated to Italy. As a student Claridge's mother had volunteered on excavations under the direction of

Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales an ...

, and this no doubt influenced Claridge to take an undergraduate degree at the Institute of Archaeology in London (now part of UCL), where she was taught by Donald Strong, an authority in Roman art and architectural studies. After graduating she went to the

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as a scholar in classical studies (1973–75). A resident of London, she died there from cancer on 5 May 2022, aged 72.

Career

In 1976 she assisted John Bryan Ward-Perkins, who had recently retired as Director of the

British School in Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

, with the curation and catalogue of the

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's 'Pompeii AD79' exhibition. She moved to

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in the late 1970s as assistant professor of classical archaeology. Claridge was the Assistant Director of the British School at Rome from 1980 to 1994. Claridge left Rome for the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

where she was a research associate at the Institute of Archaeology and a lecturer at St John’s College, Oxford. In 2000 she moved to

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

as reader in Roman archaeology. She undertook fieldwork in Rome, elsewhere in Italy, Turkey, and North Africa. Claridge was a research fellow at the

, 2018-19.

Awards and honours

Claridge was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1986. She was a member of the Member Accademia Pontiicia Romana di Arch. Claridge was awarded the Commendatore Italian Order of Merit. Claridge was on the Advisory Committee of the '' Journal of Roman Archaeology''. In 2010 she was elected as a Corresponding Member of the

Archaeological Institute of America The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) is North America's oldest society and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. AIA professionals have carried out archaeological fieldwork around the world and AIA has established re ...

. Her archaeological guide to ancient Rome has been described as "a staple reference on the ancient city for English speaking students and tourists".

Selected publications

*Hadrian's Column of Trajan. Journal of Roman Archaeology 6: 5-22. 1993. *Hadrian's lost temple of Trajan. ''Journal of Roman Archaeology'' 20: 54-94. *"Hadrian's Succession and the Monuments of Trajan" in ''Hadrian: Arts, Politics and Economy''. Opper, T. (ed.). British Museum Press, 2013, p. 5-18. (British Museum Research Publication; no. 175) *''Classical Manuscript Illustrations''. London: The Royal Collection in association with Harvey Miller Publishers, 2012. (The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Series A, Antiquities and Architecture; vol. 6) (With I. Herklotz) *
Rome. An Oxford Archaeological Guide
', Oxford:

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. 2nd, enlarged and revised ed. 2010. (Oxford Archaeological Guides) *Holleran, C. & Claridge, A. (ed.), 2018. ''Companion to the City of Rome''. Wiley-Blackwell.

References

External links

Amanda Claridge talking on "The Villas of Tiberius".
*https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/classics/laurentineshore/ 1949 births 2022 deaths Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of the UCL Institute of Archaeology British women archaeologists British archaeologists British women historians Deaths from cancer in England Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London {{UK-archaeologist-stub