Frank J. Frost (born 1929) is an American scholar of Ancient Greek history, archaeologist, politician, and novelist.
Early life and education
Born in Washington, DC, in 1929 to businessman Frank J. Frost Sr., and Eugenia Frost, Frank Frost grew up in
Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was estab ...
. After high school and some college, he served in the
US Army during the
Korean War. He returned to the USA from Korea and earned his B.A. at the
University of California, Santa Barbara in 1955. He then went to the
University of California, Los Angeles where he earned a Ph.D. in History in 1961 (his doctoral dissertation, entitled "The Scholarship of Plutarch: the Biographer's Contribution to the Study of Athenian History, 480-429 B.C.," was directed by
Truesdell Sparhawk Brown
Truesdell Sparhawk Brown (21 March 1906, Philadelphia – 13 January 1992, Houston) was a classical scholar, ancient historian, and co-founder of the journal ''California Studies in Classical Antiquity'', which became the journal ''Classical Ant ...
).
Academic career
After teaching at the
University of California, Riverside, and
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
, Frost was called to the growing History Department of the
University of California, Santa Barbara in 1965 where he joined
C. Warren Hollister Charles Warren Hollister (November 2, 1930 – September 14, 1997) was an American author and historian. He was one of the founding members of the University of California Santa Barbara history department. He specialized in English medieval histor ...
in building its European history program.
Frost's first book was an English edition, with additional commentary and supplementary material, of Adolf Bauer's German-language ''Themistokles: Studien und Beiträge zur griechischen Historiographie und Quellenkunde'' (Merseburg: P. Steffenhagen, 1881) published as ''Themistokles: literary, epigraphical and archaeological testimonia'' (Chicago, Argonaut, 1967). He edited ''Democracy and the Athenians: Aspects of Ancient Politics'' (New York: Wiley, 1969), which provides a mix of excerpts from primary and secondary sources. He published his revised doctoral dissertation as ''Plutarch's Themistocles: A Historical Commentary'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980). His textbook ''Greek Society'' (originally published with D.C. Heath in 1971) was widely used and went through five editions. He published a collection of his essays in ''Politics and the Athenians: Essays on Athenian History and Historiography'' (Toronto: Edgar Kent, 2005).
Frost also is an active archaeologist with special interest in underwater archaeology. He mapped submerged remains of the ancient city of Halieis, near the modern community of
Porto Cheli (in the
Argolid Peninsula,
Greece) in 1965. He also did survey work at Phourkari (also in the Argolid). He excavated in Greece in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Combining his interest in archaeology with the history of sea-faring, he also published on early sea-faring off the coast of California. Later, he co-directed the Greek-American excavations at
Phalasarna (in Western
Crete) with Dr. Elpida Hadjidaki of the
Greek Archaeological Service
The Greek Archaeological Service ( el, Αρχαιολογική Υπηρεσία) is a state service, under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture, responsible for the oversight of all archaeological excavations, museums and the country's ar ...
.
In 2000, two of his former students co-edited ''The Dance of Hippocleides: A Festschrift for Frank J. Frost'' in his honor.
Political career and other activities
Frost is also active in politics. He was elected County Supervisor of
Santa Barbara County in 1972 on a no-growth platform (and was involved in a sting operation to stop bribes by real estate developers). He was the democratic nominee for Congress for the 19th congressional district in 1982, losing to Republican
Robert J. Lagomarsino
Robert John "Bob" Lagomarsino (September 4, 1926 – February 7, 2021) was an American politician and lawyer from California who served in the United States House of Representatives. A Republican, he began his service in the United States House o ...
.
Since his retirement from teaching in 1990 (and receiving emeritus status), Frost has also been an active writer of fiction. These works include collections of short stories such as ''Subversives'' (Daniel & Daniel Publishers, 2001) and ''Gershwin's Last Waltz and Other Stories'' (Outskirts Press, 2016) as well as novels such as ''Dead Philadelphians'' (Capra Press, 1999), which received excellent reviews, and ''Bay to Breakers'' (Daniel & Daniel Publishers, 2002).
Frost has also played jazz piano professionally for decades.
[http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2008/012359/ucsb-history-associates-marks-20th-anniversary-afternoon-jazz-and-blues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcYK8Cg1-vs]
Selected publications
*Frank J. Frost, ed. and tr., ''Themistokles: Literary, Epigraphical and Archaeological Testimonia'' (Chicago, Argonaut, 1967)
*Frank J. Frost, ''Democracy and the Athenians: Aspects of Ancient Politics'' (New York: Wiley, 1969)
*Frank J. Frost, ''Greek Society'', 1st edition (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1971). This book would go on through 5 editions
*Frank J. Frost, ''Plutarch's Themistocles: A Historical Commentary'' (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980)
*Frank J. Frost, et al., ''The Archaeology of Athens and Attica under the Democracy'' (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 1994)
*Frank J. Frost, ''Politics and the Athenians: Essays on Athenian History and Historiography'' (Toronto: Edgar Kent, 2005).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frost, Frank J.
Living people
1929 births
Korean War
Hunter College faculty