Anthony Richard Birley (8 October 1937 – 19 December 2020) was a British ancient historian,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

and academic. He was the son of Margaret Isabel (Goodlet) and historian and archaeologist Eric Birley.

Early life and education

Anthony Birley was the son of the archaeologist Eric Birley. Eric bought the house next to the archeological site Vindolanda where Anthony and his brother,

Robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') ** Bush-robin **Forest r ...

, began to excavate the site. The brothers took part in many of the excavations there. From 1950 to 1955, Anthony studied at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , hea ...

, an independent school in

Bristol, England Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He studied

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the ...

, graduating with a first-class

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

(BA) degree in 1960. He remained at the University of Oxford, and completed his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree in 1966: his doctoral thesis was titled "The Roman high command from the death of Hadrian to the death of Caracalla, with particular attention to the Danubian wars of M. Aurelius and Commodus".

Career

Birley remained at the University of Oxford with a Craven Fellowship from 1960 to 1962, and was then a research fellow at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. He moved to the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

as a lecturer, and was later promoted to

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

. He was the Professor of Ancient History at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

(1974–1990) and additionally at the University of Düsseldorf (1990–2002). He was an Honorary Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the

University of Durham , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_cha ...

. He was elected as Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) in 1969, and was a corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute (1981) and a member of Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften from 1994 to 2002. Birley was a founder trustee of the

Vindolanda Trust Vindolanda was a Roman auxiliary fort (''castrum'') just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England, which it originally pre-dated.British windo- 'fair, white, blessed', landa 'enclosure/meadow/prairie/grassy plain' (the modern Welsh word wou ...

since 1970 and remained in this role until 2016, having also served as the Chair of Trustees from 1996 to 2016.

Personal life

Birley was married to Heide. Together they had children. Birley died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

on 19 December 2020.

Selected publications

*
Hadrian's Wall: an illustrated guide
'. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) (1963). *''Imperial Rome'' with drawings by the artist.

Alan Sorrell Alan Ernest Sorrell (11 February 1904 – 21 December 1974) was an English artist and writer best remembered for his archaeological illustrations, particularly his detailed reconstructions of Roman Britain. He was a Senior Assistant Instructo ...

London: Lutterworth Press (1970) *''Life in

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

'' (1972) *''Lives of the Later Caesars'' (1976) *''The Fasti of Roman Britain'', Clarendon Press (1981) *''Septimius Severus: The African Emperor'' (1972, revised edition 1988) *''Roman Papers'', vol. 6, by Ronald Syme, edited by A. R. Birley (

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

1991) *''The People of Roman Britain'' (1992) *''

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...

: a Biography'', London: Routledge, (1993) *''Anatolica - Studies in Strabo'', by Ronald Syme, edited by A. R. Birley (Oxford: OUP 1995) *''Vindolanda Research Reports'' (new series) 6 vols. (1996) *''

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

: the Restless Emperor'', London: Routledge, (1997) *''Eques Romanus - Reiter und Ritter'' (in German) by Michel Stemmler, edited by A. R. Birley (Peter Lang GmbH, 1997) *'' Onomasticon to the Younger Pliny'', Clarendon Press (2000) *''Garrison Life at Vindolanda: a Band of Brothers'', Stroud: Tempus, (2002) *''The Roman Government of Britain'' (2005) *''Agricola and Germany'' (2009)

References

External links

Entry on Birley family genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birley, Anthony 1937 births 2020 deaths British people of English descent People educated at Clifton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester British archaeologists Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf faculty Anthony Birley Scholars of Hadrian's Wall Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London British classical scholars Deaths from lung cancer in the United Kingdom