Alan Douglas Edward Cameron, (13 March 1938 – 31 July 2017) was a British classicist and academic. He was Charles Anthon Professor Emeritus of the Latin Language and Literature at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, New York. He was one of the leading scholars of the literature and history of the later Roman world and at the same time a wide-ranging classical philologist whose work encompassed above all the Greek and Latin poetic tradition from Hellenistic to Byzantine times but also aspects of late antique art.

Life

He was educated at St. Paul's School, London (1951–56). He went on to

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, earning a first class in Honour Moderations (1959) and '' Literae Humaniores'' (1961). He was married, from 1962 to 1980, to Dame

Averil Cameron Dame Averil Millicent Cameron ( Sutton; born 8 February 1940), often cited as A. M. Cameron, is a British historian. She writes on Late Antiquity, Classics, and Byzantine Studies. She was Professor of Late Antiquity, Late Antique and Byzantine ...

, with whom he has a son and a daughter. In 1998 he married Carla Asher, who survives him. Cameron began his academic career as a lecturer at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

(1961). He then became a Lecturer and then a Reader in Latin at Bedford College, London (1964-1972). From 1972 to 1977 he held the Chair of Latin at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He went to

as Charles Anthon Professor in 1977. Cameron was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA) in 1975. He became a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1978 and a Fellow of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1992. In March 1997 he was awarded the

American Philological Association The Society for Classical Studies (SCS), formerly known as the American Philological Association (APA), is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization founded in 1869. It is the pree ...

's Goodwin Award. In 2005, he received Columbia University's Lionel Trilling Award. In 2013, he was awarded 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 Classical Studies and Archaeology of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies 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 sa ...

. The award dedication read as follows: Cameron also published about 200 scholarly articles on a wide range of subjects related to the ancient world. He died on 31 July 2017 in New York.

Selected works

Cameron's books include: * ''Claudian: Poetry and Propaganda at the Court of Honorius'' (1970) * ''Porphyrius the Charioteer'' (1973) * ''Circus Factions: Blues and Greens at Rome and Byzantium'' (1976) * ''Barbarians and Politics at the Court of Arcadius'' (May 1992) (with Jacqueline Long and Lee Sherry) * ''The Greek Anthology: From Meleager to Planudes'' (1993) * ''Callimachus and his Critics'' (1995) * ''Greek Mythography in the Roman World'' (2004) (reviewed by T P Wiseman in the '' Times Literary Supplement'', 13 May 2005 page 29) * ''The Last Pagans of Rome'' (2011) (reviewed by Peter Brown in the ''

New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

'', 7 April 2011) * ''Wandering Poets and Other Essays in Late Antique Poetry and Philosophy'' (2015).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Alan British classical scholars Columbia University faculty 1938 births 2017 deaths Fellows of the British Academy British Byzantinists Classical scholars of Columbia University Classical philologists Scholars of Byzantine history Scholars of Byzantine literature British literary scholars Members of the American Philosophical Society