Sir Fergus Graham Burtholme Millar, (; 5 July 1935 – 15 July 2019) was a British

ancient historian Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cov ...

and academic. He was

Camden Professor of Ancient History The Camden Professorship of Ancient History at the University of Oxford was established in 1622 by English antiquary and historian William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms, and endowed with the income of the manor of Bexley, becoming the first an ...

at the University of Oxford between 1984 and 2002. He numbers among the most influential ancient historians of the 20th century.

Early life

Millar was educated at Trinity College, Oxford (BA) and fulfilled his National service in the aftermath of World War II. At Oxford he studied Philosophy and

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

, and received his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree there in 1962. In 1958, he was awarded a Prize Fellowship to

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, which he held until 1964. In 1959 he married Susanna Friedmann, with whom he had three children.

Academic career

Millar began his academic career as a fellow of Queen's College, Oxford, from 1964 to 1976. He then moved to

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

where he was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Ancient History between 1976 and 1984. From 1984 until his retirement in 2002, he was

at the University of Oxford. While Camden Professor, he was a fellow of

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

. Millar served as editor of the '' Journal of Roman Studies'' from 1975 to 1979, and as president of the

Classical Association The Classical Association is a British learned society in the field of classics, aimed at developing classical study and promoting its importance in education. Constitution The association was founded on 19 December 1903, and its objects are def ...

for 1992/1993. He held various offices in the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

, to which he was elected a fellow in 1976. He was chairman of the

Council for Academic Autonomy A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nat ...

(see also

Anthony D. Smith Anthony David Stephen Smith (23 September 1939 – 19 July 2016) was a British historical sociologist who, at the time of his death, was Professor Emeritus of Nationalism and Ethnicity at the London School of Economics. He is considered one o ...

), a group of academic activists who sought to promote

academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teach ...

and the separation of universities and research institutions from state control. He was an authority in the field of ancient Roman and Greek history. His accolades included honorary doctorates from the University of Helsinki, and

the Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public university, public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein ...

and elected memberships in foreign academies. His first book, ''A Study of

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

'' (1964), set the tone for his prolific scholarly production. He continued to produce important works, including ''The Roman Near East (31 BC – 337 AD)'' (1993), a path-breaking, non-Romano-centric treatment of this area. His further work included ''The Crowd in the Late Republic'' (1998) and ''The Roman Republic in Political Thought'' (2002).

Honours

Millar received the

Kenyon Medal The Kenyon Medal is awarded every two years by the British Academy 'in recognition of work in the field of classical studies and archaeology'. The medal was endowed by Sir Frederic Kenyon and was first awarded in 1957. List of recipients SourceB ...

for Classics from the

in 2005. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours. In 1976, Millar was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) in 1978.

Publications

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Notes

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