Barry S. Strauss (born November 27, 1953) is an American historian. He is Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies at Cornell University as well as a Professor of History and

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and former chair of Cornell's history department. He is also a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, where he is the Corliss Page Dean Fellow.

Life and work

Strauss is an expert on

ancient military history Ancient warfare is war that was conducted from the beginning of recorded history to the end of the ancient period. The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is more organization oriented than technology oriented. The development of f ...

and has written or edited numerous books, including ''The Battle of Salamis'' (2004), ''The Trojan War'' (2006), ''The Spartacus War'' (2009), ''Masters of Command'' (2013), ''The Death of Caesar'' (2015), ''Ten Caesars'' (2019), and ''The War That Made The Roman Empire'' (March 2022). His books have been translated into nineteen languages. Strauss holds a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

from

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

(advised by

Donald Kagan Donald Kagan (; May 1, 1932August 6, 2021) was a Lithuanian-born American historian and classicist at Yale University specializing in ancient Greece, notable for his four-volume history of the Peloponnesian War. He formerly taught in the Depart ...

) and has been awarded fellowships by the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, the

American School of Classical Studies at Athens , native_name_lang = Greek , image = American School of Classical Studies at Athens.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption = The ASCSA main building as seen from Mount Lykavittos , latin_name = , other_name = , former_name = , mo ...

, the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects, ...

, the MacDowell Colony for the Arts, the

Korea Foundation The Korea Foundation (Korean: 한국국제교류재단, Hanja: 韓國國際交流財團) is a non-profit public diplomacy organization established in 1991 to promote a better understanding of Korea and strengthen friendships in the international ...

, and the Killam Foundation of Canada. He is an honorary citizen of Salamis, Greece. He is Director of Cornell's Program on Freedom and Free Societies and past Director of its Peace Studies Program.Cody, Paul (July 9, 1998)
"Classicist and historian studies that elusive thing called peace"
''Cornell Chronicle''. Strauss is editor of ''Turning Points in Ancient History'', a series of books from

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial su ...

. He sits on the editorial boards of '' MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History'', '' Historically Speaking: The Bulletin of the Historical Society'', ''The International Journal of the Classical Tradition'', and ''Strategika''. At Cornell, he teaches courses on the history of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

, war and peace in the ancient world, history of battle, introduction to military history, and specialized topics in ancient history. Strauss is an avid rower. In 1999, he published ''Rowing Against the Current: On Learning to Scull at Forty'' (Scribner). He has appeared in more than a dozen television documentaries. He has published op-ed pieces in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', and ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'', been interviewed on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, and has been quoted on the front page of ''

'' and in other major newspapers. He lives in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

Books

; Author or co-author * ''Athens After the Peloponnesian War: Class, Faction, and Policy, 403–386 B.C.'' (1987);

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in th ...

. * ''The Anatomy of Error: Ancient Military Disasters and Their Lessons for Modern Strategists'' (1990); Co-author:

Josiah Ober Josiah Ober is an American historian of ancient Greece and classical political theorist. He is Tsakopoulos- Kounalakis Professor in honor of Constantine Mitsotakis, and professor of classics and political science, at Stanford University. His te ...

. * ''Fathers and Sons in Athens: Ideology and Society in the Era of the Peloponnesian War'' (1993);

. * ''Rowing Against the Current: On Learning to Scull at Forty'' (1999); Scribner * ''The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece—and Western Civilization'' (2004);

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

* ''The Trojan War: A New History'' (2006);

. * ''The Spartacus War'' (2009);

. * ''Western Civilization, Beyond Boundaries, Volume 2: Since 1560'' (6th edition, 2009); with Thomas F. X. Noble, Duane Osheim, Kristen Neuschel, Elinor Accampo, David D. Roberts, and William B. Cohen. * ''Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of Leadership'' (2012);

. * ''The Death of Caesar: The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination'' (2015);

* ''Ten Caesars : Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine'' (2019);

* ''The War that Made the Roman Empire: Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavian at Actium'' (2022);

; Editor or co-editor * ''Hegemonic Rivalry: From Thucydides to the Nuclear Age'' (1991; Series: New Approaches to Peace and Security); Co-edited with

Richard Ned Lebow Richard Ned Lebow is an American political scientist best known for his work in international relations, political psychology, classics and philosophy of science. He is Professor of International Political Theory at the Department of War Studies, ...

. * ''War and Democracy: A Comparative Study of the Korean War and the Peloponnesian War'' (2001), East Gate Books. Co-edited with David R. McCann.

References

External links

Barry S. Strauss website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strauss, Barry S. 1953 births 20th-century American historians 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American classical scholars American male non-fiction writers American military historians Classical scholars of Cornell University Cornell University alumni Living people Scholars of ancient Greek history Scholars of Roman history Yale University alumni