John Frederick Drinkwater (born 1947) is a British historian,

classicist 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 author. He is Emeritus Professor of Roman Imperial History in the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

and Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. Drinkwater specializes in the study of the Roman West and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He is a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

and a former joint editor of the ''Derbyshire Archaeological Journal.''

Biography

Drinkwater speaks of a lifelong interest in the Romans, beginning with a picture book he received as a young child, and then citing the BBC television series, Dr Who, as another major influence - specifically the four episode serial titled "The Romans" in 1965.'''' He was educated at Sale County Grammar School for Boys, and graduated BA and MA at Cambridge (Jesus College) and DPhil at Oxford (Magdalen College). He was first appointed Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Sheffield and later Reader and Professor at the University of Nottingham. His general area of research is the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

, in particular the Roman West, although he also has a strong interest in the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He is known for his numerous works on Roman Gaul, and on the

Third Century Crisis The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis (AD 235–284), was a period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed. The crisis ended due to the military victories of Aurelian and with the ascensi ...

of Rome. In 2007 a study of the office of Roman emperor led him to focus on Nero and, in 2019, to publish ''Nero: Emperor and Court.'' This work was referenced in the BBC Radio series, In Our Time. He has been joint editor of the ''Derbyshire Archaeological Journal'', and is now Professor Emeritus of Roman Imperial History at the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the

. and honorary lecturer in Archaeology at the

. In 1984-5 Drinkwater was a Research Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung at the University of Trier. In May 1990 he was elected a Fellow of the

Bibliography

* ''Roman Gaul ; The Three Provinces, 58 B.C.-A.D. 260'', 1983 * ''The Gallic Empire ; Separatism and Continuity in the North-Western Provinces of the Roman Empire A.D. 260-274'', 1987 * ''Fifth-century Gaul : A Crisis of Identity'' - with Hugh Elton, 1992 * ''The Alamanni and Rome 213-496 (Caracalla to Clovis)'', 2007 * ''Nero: Emperor and Court'', 2019

References

1947 births 21st-century British historians Academics of the University of Nottingham British classical scholars Germanic studies scholars Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Living people {{academic-bio-stub