Ronald Edward Latham (1907–1992) was an English classicist best known for his translation of ''

On the Nature of the Universe ''De rerum natura'' (; ''On the Nature of Things'') is a first-century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius ( – c. 55 BC) with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7 ...

'' by

Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ; – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into E ...

. He also translated '' The Travels of Marco Polo'' and

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

's 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People''.''

Education

Latham was educated at Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, where he read Literae humaniores.Editors: R. E. Latham
/ref>

Career

In 1934, he was appointed Assistant Keeper at the Public Record Office.''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...

'', 7 September 1934
p.5961
/ref> His 1938 lectures at the Working Men's College were published in book form as ''In Quest of Civiliation'' (1946). In 1968, he was appointed the first editor of the '' Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources''. In 1977 he retired, and was succeeded by David Howlett.

Works

* ''In quest of civilization''. London: Jarrolds, 1946. * (tr.) ''Lucretius on the nature of the universe'' by

. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1951. * (tr.) ''The travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian'' by

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1958. * (ed.) ''Revised medieval Latin word-list from British and Irish sources''. London: Published for the British Academy by the Oxford University Press, 1965 * (tr.) ''Ecclesiastical history of the English people with Bede's letter to Egbert and Cuthbert's letter on the death of Bede''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latham, Ronald Edward 1907 births 1992 deaths English classical scholars English translators Latin–English translators British medievalists Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford 20th-century British translators