L. Michael Whitby is 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 ...

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English h ...

. He specialises in late Roman history, early Byzantine history and

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...

. He is currently pro-vice-chancellor and head of the College of Arts and Law at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

Early life

Whitby read '' Literae Humaniores'' at Corpus Christi College,

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He then spent three years working as a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leader ...

in the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

. He returned to Oxford to conduct postgraduate study in Byzantine history.

Academic career

Whitby held a

junior research fellowship The JRF or JRF Junior Research Fellow is a letter awarded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to the candidates who qualify in the National Eligibility Test UGC NET or NTA-UGC-NET, is the examination for determining the eligibility ...

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

. In 1987, he joined the Ancient History department at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. He became head of department in 1993 and received a

personal chair Academic ranks in the United Kingdom are the titles, relative seniority and responsibility of employees in universities. In general the country has three academic career pathways: one focused on research, one on teaching, and one that combines th ...

in 1995 as Professor of Ancient History. He was Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020 ...

, having joined the Department of Classics and Ancient History in 1996. He also served as pro-vice-chancellor 'Teaching, Learning and Quality' from 2003, and then 'Academic Planning and Resources'. On 1 September 2010, he became pro-vice-chancellor and head of College of Arts and Law at the

Honours

In 2007, Whitby was awarded a

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doct ...

(DLitt)

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

by the University of Warwick. He received one of the 2009 Distinguished Book Awards from the

Society for Military History The Society for Military History is a United States–based international organization of scholars who research, write, and teach military history of all time periods and places. It includes naval history, air power history, and studies of technolo ...

for ''The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare''.

Works

*''The Emperor Maurice and his Historian: Theophylact Simocatta on Persian and Balkan Warfare'' (1988). *''Chronicon Paschale 284–628 AD'' (1989), with Mary Whitby. *''The Cambridge Ancient History XIV; AD 425–600'' (2000), co-editor. *''Rome at War AD 293–696'' (2002). *''The Cambridge History of Ancient Warfare'' (2005), co-editor. *''Christian Persecution, Martyrdom and Orthodoxy'' (2006). *''Sparta''. New York: Routledge (2002).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitby, Michael Living people British historians Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Academics of the University of Warwick Academics of the University of St Andrews Year of birth missing (living people)