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 railwa ...
,
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 g ...
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 ...
,
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 ...
.
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 universit ...
, 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 u ...
, 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 scholar ...
in
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 nine ...
.
Walbank's published works include ''
Aratos of Sicyon
Aratus of Sicyon (Ancient Greek: Ἄρατος ὁ Σικυώνιος; 271–213 BC) was a politician and military commander of Hellenistic Greece. He was elected strategos of the Achaean League 17 times, leading the League through numerous mil ...
'' (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
Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, (15 November 1907 – 24 March 2001) was a British historian, geographer, classicist and an operative for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) in occupied Greece during the Second World War.
Hammo ...
, ''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
Aratus of Sicyon (Ancient Greek: Ἄρατος ὁ Σικυώνιος; 271–213 BC) was a politician and military commander of Hellenistic Greece. He was elected strategos of the Achaean League 17 times, leading the League through numerous mil ...
" 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
Obituaryby Peter Garnsey at the independent.co.uk (23 October 2008).
Obituaryby Robin Seager at the guardian.co.uk (19 November 2008).
Polybius Manby 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