Robert Mantle Rattenbury (9 December 1901 – 29 July 1970) was an English classical scholar and

Registrary The Registrary is the senior administrative officer of the University of Cambridge. The term is unique to Cambridge, and uses an archaic spelling. Most universities in the United Kingdom and in North America have administrative offices entitled "reg ...

of the

University of Cambridge , 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 ...

. His most important publication was an edition of the ''

Aethiopica The ''Aethiopica'' (; grc, Αἰθιοπικά, , 'Ethiopian Stories') or ''Theagenes and Chariclea'' (; grc, Θεαγένης καὶ Χαρίκλεια, link=no, ) is an ancient Greek novel which has been dated to the 220s or 370s AD. It was ...

'' of

Heliodorus of Emesa Heliodorus Emesenus or Heliodorus of Emesa ( grc, Ἡλιόδωρος ὁ Ἐμεσηνός) is the author of the ancient Greek novel called the ''Aethiopica'' () or ''Theagenes and Chariclea'' (), which has been dated to the 220s or 370s AD. Ide ...

, in three volumes, with notes in French. He was editor of ''

The Classical Review ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' and a contributor to the ''

Oxford Classical Dictionary The ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'' (''OCD'') is generally considered "the best one-volume dictionary on antiquity," an encyclopædic work in English consisting of articles relating to classical antiquity and its civilizations. It was first pub ...

''.

Early life

Rattenbury was a son of John Ernest Rattenbury, a

doctor of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

, one of the leading Methodist evangelists and preachers of his day, who served as President of the National Free Church Council. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, where in 1919 he played at

outside right Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

in the school's First XI for

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. He went on to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, gaining

First Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in the

Classical Tripos The Classical Tripos is the taught course in classics at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge. It is equivalent to Literae Humaniores at Oxford. It is traditionally a three-year degree, but for those who have not previously studied L ...

Career

In 1926 Rattenbury was elected as a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Trinity College and in 1953 as

of the university,"RATTENBURY, Robert Mantle" in ''

Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...

'' (London, 1968), p. 2524 meaning as head of its administration. Between 1935 and 1938, Rattenbury and T. W. Lumb published in Paris an edition of the ''

'' of

, in three volumes, with critical notes in French. These were later translated into English and the work was republished in

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

in 1957. At Trinity, Rattenbury was the supervisor of

Geoffrey Kirk Geoffrey Stephen Kirk, () was a British classicist who served as the 35th Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge. He published widely on pre-Socratic philosophy and the work of the Greek poet Homer, culminating in a six-volu ...

, and an obituary of Kirk by

Hugh Lloyd-Jones Sir Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones FBA (21 September 1922 – 5 October 2009 Nevertheless, Kirk returned to Cambridge at the end of the war and went on to become Regius Professor of Greek there.

Hugh Lloyd-Jones Sir Peter Hugh Jefferd Lloyd-Jones FBA (21 September 1922 – 5 October 2009"Geoffrey Stephen Kirk 1921–2003"
(obituary), thebritishacademy.ac.uk, accessed 11 December 2022 By 1946, Rattenbury was editor of ''The Classical Review'', the journal 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 ...

. At the time of the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, two Cambridge colleges, Trinity and King's, agreed to take in twenty-five Hungarian student refugees. Wielding the authority of his office as Registrary, Rattenbury took charge of the exercise, giving the Anglo-Hungarian don

Robert Bolgar Caius Coriolanus Robert Ralph Bolgar (2 June 1913 – 23 June 1985), sometimes spelt Bolgár, was an English classical scholar of Hungarian origins, a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. Known as Robert, he published most of his work as R. R. Bolg ...

of King's the task of escorting the new recruits from London and helping them to settle in. Rattenbury was a contributor to ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary'', under the initials RMR. Rattenbury continued to serve as Registrary until 1969 but did not reach retirement as a fellow, dying suddenly in July 1970 at

Grantchester Grantchester is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Grantesete'' and ''Grauntset ...

, where he lived. He left an estate valued at £29,091. In 1934, he married Monica Mary Miller Jones, and they had three daughters. His widow continued to live in Cambridge and died there in 1998, aged 97."Monica Mary M Rattenbury"
in ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007'', accessed 17 December 2022

Selected publications

* Heliodoros, '' Aithiopika'', ed. Robert Mantle Rattenbury, Thomas Wallace Lumb (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, three volumes, 1935–1938) * "Chastity and Chastity Ordeals in the Ancient Greek Romances", ''Proceedings of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, Literary and Historical Section'' 1 (1926): 59–71 * "A New Interpretation of the Chione Fragments" in ''

Classical Quarterly 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 de ...

'' 20/3-4 (1926), 181-185 * "Traces of Lost Greek Novels" in J. U. Powell, ''New chapters in the History of Greek Literature'' (Oxford, 1933), 211–257 * "Tacitus, Hist. i. 79" in ''The Classical Review'' Vol. 57, No. 2 (September 1943)
67-69
* "An Ancient Armoured Force" in ''

'' 56/3 (1942): 113–116 * ''The Classical Review'', LX (1946), ed. C. J. Fordyce, R. M. Rattenbury * ''The Classical Review'', X (1960), Vol. LXXIV of the Continuous Series, ed. C. J. Fordyce, R. M. Rattenbury

Notes

External links

Robert Mantle Rattenbury (1901–1970), Lecturer in Classics, Cambridge

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rattenbury, Robert 1901 births 1970 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Westminster School, London Registraries of the University of Cambridge