Emilio Gabba (31 March 1927 – 12 August 2013) was an Italian historian who specialised in

Roman history The history of Rome includes the history of the Rome, city of Rome as well as the Ancient Rome, civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman la ...

Biography

Gabba was born in

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

on 31 March 1927, to an upper-middle-class family. A pupil of Plinio Fraccaro at

from 1949 to 1950, he started there a close working relationship with fellow Romanist

Arnaldo Momigliano Arnaldo Dante Momigliano (5 September 1908 – 1 September 1987) was an Italian historian of classical antiquity, known for his work in historiography, and characterised by Donald Kagan as "the world's leading student of the writing of history ...

. He was a fellow at the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo in Rome, Italy. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History 19th century In 1893, a group of American architect ...

in 1955 and later was a visiting professor at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

and

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. His first work was a highly influential essay on the

Marian reforms The Marian reforms were putative changes to the composition and operation of the Roman army during the late Roman Republic usually attributed to Gaius Marius (a general who was consul in 107, 104–100, and 86 BC). The most important of ...

. Some of his important later works were a commentary on

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; ; ; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who prospered during the reigns of the Roman Emperors Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius. He was born c. 95 in Alexandria. After holding the senior offices in the pr ...

's ''Civil Wars'', a book on the Greek historians who lived during the Principate, and a book on the army and society of the late

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 ...

. He was a professor of Roman history at the universities of Pisa and Pavia from 1958–1974 and 1974–1996, respectively. His work largely related to Roman history from the late Republic through to the late

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

with special focus on the process of

Romanisation In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...

and municipalisation in Italy. He became director of the ancient history journal ''Athenaeum'', published by the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...

, in 1990 and later became head of the ''Italian Historical Review'' in 1995. He died on 12 August 2013 at the age of 86. He had more than 800 published works and received honorary degrees from many prestigious institutions.

Selected works

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References

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabba, Emilio 1927 births 2013 deaths Historians of antiquity Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the University of Pavia University of Pavia alumni Italian newspaper editors Members of the Lincean Academy