Glen Warren Bowersock (born January 12, 1936) is a historian of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

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, ...

and the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

, and former chairman of Harvard’s classics department.

Early life

Bowersock was born in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

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 ...

, and attended The Rivers School in

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts Chestnut Hill is a wealthy New England village located west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is best known for being home to Boston College and a section of the Boston Marathon route. Like all Massachusetts villages, Ch ...

. He earned his A.B. ''summa cum laude'' from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(1957), another B.A. with First Class Honors in ''Literae humaniores'' from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

(1959); and his M.A., D.Phil. (1962, for thesis titled ''Augustus and the Greek world'') also at Oxford. His mentor was the renowned Roman historian

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roma ...

Career

Bowersock has served as lecturer in ancient history at Balliol, Magdalen, and New College, Oxford (1960–62), Professor of Classics and History, Harvard University (1962–80) (full Professor from 1969). Bowersock was Professor of Ancient History at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

from 1980 until his retirement in 2006. He is the author of over a dozen books and has published over 400 articles on Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern history and culture as well as the classical tradition. Bowersock formerly served as Professor of Classics and History at Harvard University. During his career at Harvard (1962 to 1980), he served as Professor of Classics and History; Chairman of the Classics Department; and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1989, he was elected to membership in 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 ...

Honors

Bowersock has received numerous honorary degrees, including:

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

(Sciences Humaines), ''Docteur honoris causa'' (1990), Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris), ''Docteur honoris causa'' (1999),

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, ''Doctor honoris causa'' (2005). He is also an Honorary Fellow of

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

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 ...

(2004) at which he was once a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

. Bowersock was awarded the

James Henry Breasted James Henry Breasted (; August 27, 1865 – December 2, 1935) was an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894 – the first American to obtain a doctorate in Egyptology – ...

Prize of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

for his book ''Hellenism in Late Antiquity''. A symposium in his honor was held at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

on April 7, 2006, under the title ''East and West: A Conference in Honor of Glen W. Bowersock'', the proceedings of which were published by the Harvard University Press in 2008. He is a Foreign Member of the

Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...

in Italy, Associé étranger de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and Foreign Member of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

Selected works

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

, ''Constitution of the Athenians'', edited and translated,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 1968 * ''Augustus and the Greek World'' (Oxford, 1965) * ''Greek Sophists in the Roman Empire'' (Oxford, 1969) * ''Julian the Apostate'', Harvard University Press, 1978 * ''Gibbon's Historical Imagination'' (Stanford, 1988). * ''Hellenism in Late Antiquity'' erome Lectures(Michigan and Cambridge U.P., 1990) * ''Fiction as History, from Nero to Julian'' ather Classical Lectures(University of California Press, 1994). Available online fro
eScholarship editions
at the University of California. * ''Martyrdom and Rome''

iles Lectures Iles is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Albert Iles (1914–1979), English footballer *Alex Iles, American musician *Bob Iles (born 1955), English footballer *Bradley Iles (born 1983), New Zealand golfer *Brian Iles, American a ...

(Cambridge University Press, 1995) * ''Roman Arabia'', Harvard University Press, 1983, 1994 (first paperback ed.) * ''Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Postclassical World'' edited with Peter Brown and

Oleg Grabar Oleg Grabar (November 3, 1929 – January 8, 2011) was a French-born art historian and archeologist, who spent most of his career in the United States, as a leading figure in the field of Islamic art and architecture in the Western academ ...

, Harvard University Press, 1999 * ''Interpreting Late Antiquity'',

, 2001 * ''Mosaics as History: The Near East from Late Antiquity to Islam'', Harvard University Press, 2006 *

Lorenzo Valla Lorenzo Valla (; also latinized as Laurentius; 1 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, rhetorician, educator and scholar. He is best known for his historical-critical textual analysis that proved that the Donation of Constantine w ...

, ''On the Donation of Constantine'', edition and translation, Harvard University Press, 2007 * ''From Gibbon to Auden: Essays on the Classical Tradition'', Oxford University Press, 2009 * ''The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam'', Oxford University Press, 2013 * ''The Crucible of Islam'', Harvard University Press, 2017

References and sources

;References ;Sources
IAS homepage

Bowersock's bibliography
1961–present

External links

Bowersock author page and archive
from ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowersock, Glen American classical scholars 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 1936 births Living people Institute for Advanced Study faculty Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Classical scholars of Harvard University Harvard University alumni Writers from Providence, Rhode Island American Rhodes Scholars Classical scholars of the Institute for Advanced Study Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Historians of ancient Rome Scholars of ancient Greek history Historians of the Middle East American essayists American male non-fiction writers Rivers School alumni Members of the American Philosophical Society