Peter Sidney Derow (11 April 1944 – 9 December 2006) was Hody

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

and Tutor in

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

and University Lecturer in

from 1977 to 2006. As a scholar he was most noted for his work on

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

and

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

an history and

epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

, particularly on the histories of

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

Biography

Born in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, Derow obtained his secondary education at

The Roxbury Latin School The Roxbury Latin School (informally known as RL) is a private, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory, all-boys day school located in West Roxbury, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1645 by Puritans, Puritan missionary John Eli ...

in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. After an A.B. degree at Amherst (with Peter K. Marshall), he read for Greats as a second B.A. degree at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in 1965–1967, achieving a First. At Oxford he was taught by, among others, W. G. (George) Forrest, who was a lasting influence. He completed a Ph.D. at

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

on 'Rome and the Greek world from the earliest contacts to the end of the first Illyrian war', for which Professor J. V. A. Fine was his Advisor; in the preface to that work, he acknowledges the additional inspiration he had drawn from T. J. Luce and the historian and epigrapher C. Bradford Welles. After a spell of teaching at

the University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, t ...

, he returned to succeed Forrest at Wadham in 1977 when the latter was elected to the

Wykeham Professor The University of Oxford has three statutory professorships named after William of Wykeham, who founded New College. Logic The Wykeham Professorship in Logic was established in 1859, although it was not known as the Wykeham chair until later. ...

ship of Ancient History at New College. In 2002–2005 Derow was also Director of

Graduate Studies Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

in ancient history for the Oxford Faculty of Classics. He was 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 ...

'' in matters relating to the

world and the Roman republic, and wrote the chapter on ‘

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, the fall of

Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...

and the sack of

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

’ for the 2nd edition of the ''Cambridge Ancient History'' (volume 8; 1989). In this chapter, he expounded his view of Roman imperialism in the

Greek East Greek East and Latin West are terms used to distinguish between the two parts of the Greco-Roman world and of medieval Christendom, specifically the eastern regions where Greek was the ''lingua franca'' (Greece, Anatolia, the southern Balkans, t ...

as harsh, a view he had earlier proposed in an article on Polybius and Roman imperialism; a more accessible version of these views can be found in his chapter in the Blackwell Companion to the Hellenistic world. These (and other papers) represent a sustained argument about the impact of Rome on the Hellenistic world, contesting the previously accepted views of

Maurice Holleaux Maurice Holleaux (15 April 1861 – 21 September 1932) was a 19th–20th-century French historian, archaeologist and epigrapher, a specialist of Ancient Greece. Biography Années de formation Admitted in the École normale supérieure in ...

on the nature of Roman expansion and of Polybius' narrative of it. Later he co-edited (with Robert Parker) a memorial volume for George Forrest, ''

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

and his World'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2003). Many of his papers were published posthumously as ''Rome, Polybius, and the East'', edited by Andrew Erskine and Josephine Crawley Quinn. Probably his most accessible work is a volume of translated sources for Hellenistic history, co-edited with Roger S. Bagnall. First issued in 1981 as ''Greek Historical Documents: The Hellenistic Period'' (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press), it was somewhat overshadowed by M. M. Austin’s comparable (and excellent) collection of sources, ''The Hellenistic World from

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

to the Roman Conquest'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1980). But ‘Bagnall & Derow’ had a distinctive tone, with its greater emphasis on inscriptions and

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can a ...

texts, and it found favour with many students and teachers who used the two volumes together. Long unavailable, it was reissued (and updated) in a second edition in 2004, as ''The Hellenistic Period: Historical Sources in Translation'' (Oxford: Blackwell). It was typical of Derow to combine scholarly research with a passion for communicating his learning to the widest audience. Derow was a strong supporter of the campaign to return the Parthenon (Elgin) marbles to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and was one of the original members of the

Marbles Reunited {{Infobox organization , name = Marbles Reunited , image = Marbles_Reunited_logo.svg , alt = Marbles Reunited Logo , caption = Marbles Reunited Logo , abbreviation = MR , formation = Founded in 2001 by R ...

campaign. Derow died unexpectedly on 9 December 2006 in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, after collapsing in Wadham College. His funeral, attended by a great many colleagues and former students, was held in Wadham College Chapel on 16 December 2006, followed by a memorial service in the Sheldonian Theatre on 28 April 2007. A conference devoted to his memory, entitled 'Rome and the Mediterranean', was held at Wadham College from 2 to 4 April 2009.

Selected works

* ''Rome, Polybius and the East'', edited by A. Erskine and J. Crawley Quinn (Oxford: OUP, 2015) * "The Arrival of Rome: From the Illyrian Wars to the Fall of Macedon", in A. Erskine (ed.), ''A Companion to the Hellenistic World'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003), pp. 51–70. * (with R.S. Bagnall) ''Greek Historical Documents. The Hellenistic Period'' (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1981). * (with R.S. Bagnall) ''The Hellenistic Period. Historical Sources in Translation'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004). * (ed. with R. C. T. Parker) ''Herodotus and His World: Essays from a Conference in Memory of George Forrest'' (Oxford: OUP, 2003). * "Herodotus Readings", ''Classics Ireland'', Vol. 2 (1995), pp. 29–51. * "Historical Explanation: Polybius and His Predecessors", in S. Hornblower (ed.), ''Greek Historiography'' (New York: OUP, 1994), pp. 73–90. * (with W.G. Forrest) "An inscription from Chios", ''Annual of the British School at Athens'', Vol. 77 (1982), pp. 79–92. * "Kleemporos", '' Phoenix'', Vol. 27 (1973), pp. 118–134. * "A New Inscription from Chios", in G. E. Malouchou and A. P. Matthaiou (eds.), Χιακον Συμποσιον. Εις μνημην W. G. Forrest (Athens, 2006), pp. 95–102. * "Perseus", in S. Hornblower and A. J. Spawforth (eds.), ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1996), pp. 1143–1144. * "Pharos and Rome", ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', Vol. 88 (1991), pp. 261–270. * "Philip V", in S. Hornblower and A. J. Spawforth (eds.), ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1996), p. 1162. * "Polybios and the Embassy of Callicrates", ''Essays Presented to C. M. Bowra'' (Oxford: Alden Press, for Wadham College Junior and Middle Common Rooms, 1970), pp. 12–23. * "Polybius", in T. J. Luce (ed.), ''Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome'', Vol. 1 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982), pp. 525–539. * "Polybius", in S. Hornblower and A. J. Spawforth (eds.), ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1996), pp. 1209–1211. * "Polybius, Rome, and the East", ''Journal of Roman Studies'', Vol. 69 (1979), pp. 1–15. * "Pyrrhus", in S. Hornblower and A. J. Spawforth (eds.), ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1996), p. 1283. * (with J.T. Ma and A. Meadows) "RC 38 (Amyzon) reconsidered", ''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'', Vol. 109 (1995), pp. 71–80.http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1995/109pdf/109071.pdf * "The Roman Calendar, 190–168 B.C.", ''Phoenix'', Vol. 27 (1973), pp. 345–356. * "The Roman Calendar, 218–191 B.C.", ''Phoenix'', Vol. 30 (1976), pp. 265–281. * "Rome, the Fall of Macedon, and the Sack of Corinth", ''Cambridge Ancient History'', 2nd edition, vol. 8 (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 290–323.

References

External links

A memorial page at Wadham College website; includes Funeral Address, by Stephen Heyworth

An obituary in The Independent, 21 December. 2006 (by Thomas Harrison)

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070212001108/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1356249.ece An obituary in The Times, 9 February. 2007
Obituary notice at the Elginism website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derow, Peter Amherst College alumni Princeton University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Fellows of New College, Oxford Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford 1944 births 2006 deaths Roxbury Latin School alumni