Frank William Walbank (; 10 December 1909 – 23 October 2008) was a scholar of ancient history, particularly the history of

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

. He was born in

Bingley Bingley is a market town and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which had a population of 18,294 at the 2011 Census. Bingley ra ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Walbank attended

Bradford Grammar School Bradford Grammar School (BGS) is a co-educational independent day school located in Frizinghall, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Entrance is by examination, except for the sixth form, where admission is based on GCSE results. The school gi ...

and went on to study Classics at

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite o ...

. From 1951 to 1977, Walbank was Rathbone Professor of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

. After retirement he was a professor emeritus at Liverpool and an Honorary Fellow of Peterhouse. Walbank held visiting positions at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

, and the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

. Walbank's published works include '' Aratos of Sicyon'' (1933), ''Philip V of Macedon'' (1940), ''The Awful Revolution'' (1946; 1969), ''Polybius'' (1972; 1990), ''A Historical Commentary on Polybius'', 3 vols. (1957, 1967, 1979), ''The Hellenistic World'' (1981) and, with N.G.L. Hammond, ''A History of Macedonia, Vol. III: 336–167 BC''. He also served as the joint editor of volumes 7 and 8 of the ''Cambridge Ancient History''. In 1933, Walbank's essay " Aratos of Sicyon" won the

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Thirlwall Prize Since 1884, the Thirlwall Prize was instituted at Cambridge University in the memory of Bishop Connop Thirlwall, and has been awarded during odd-numbered years, for the best essay about British history or literature for a subject with original rese ...

. He was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 1981.

References

Additional sources

* Momigliano, Arnaldo. "F.W. Walbank", ''The Journal of Roman Studies'', Vol. 74. (1984).

External links

Obituary
by Peter Garnsey at the independent.co.uk (23 October 2008).
Obituary
by Robin Seager at the guardian.co.uk (19 November 2008).
Polybius Man
by Mary Beard at The Times Literary Supplement (29 May 2013). {{DEFAULTSORT:Walbank, F.W. 1909 births 2008 deaths English classical scholars Historians of antiquity Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge Academics of the University of Liverpool Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Bingley Scholars of ancient Greek history 20th-century English historians 21st-century English historians Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Presidents of The Roman Society Presidents of the Classical Association