Janet Marion Martin (1938 – August 30, 2023) was an American college professor. Martin was a professor of classics 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 ...

from 1973 to 2010, and was recognized as an expert on

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

Early life and education

Martin was born in

Bogalusa, Louisiana Bogalusa ( ) is a city in Washington Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 12,232 at the 2010 census. In th2020 censusthe city reported a population of 10,659. It is the principal city of the Bogalusa Micropolitan Statistical Ar ...

, and raised in

Middletown, Ohio Middletown is a city in Butler County, Ohio, Butler and Warren County, Ohio, Warren counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 50,987 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area in sou ...

, the daughter of Bruce Whittington Martin and Edna Poyas Hall Martin. Her father was an engineer and executive in the paper industry. She graduated from

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

with a bachelor's degree in 1961, and earned a master's degree in classical studies at the

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 ...

in 1963. She completed doctoral studies in medieval Latin at

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 ...

in 1968, with a dissertation titled "

John of Salisbury John of Salisbury (late 1110s – 25 October 1180), who described himself as Johannes Parvus ("John the Little"), was an English author, philosopher, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres. The historian Hans Liebeschuetz described him ...

and the Classics."

Career

Martin taught at Harvard and 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 ...

as a young woman, but spent most of her career at Princeton University. She joined the Princeton faculty in 1973, and became the first woman to gain tenure in the classics department there. She was chair of Princeton's women's studies committee, but resigned when she was disappointed in Princeton's minimal commitment to the program. She retired with emerita status in 2010. Martin frequently taught on women's texts in classical and medieval literature, and was an early and longtime member of the

Women's Classical Caucus The Women's Classical Caucus, Inc. (WCC) is an affiliate of the American Philological Association, the organization for North American scholars and teachers of Greek and Latin language, literature, and culture (known as "classicists"), Greek and Ro ...

. In 1996, she co-organized a conference on "Feminism and Classics: Framing the Research Agenda". She was president of the Classical Association of the Atlantic States in 2013–2014, and an active member of the

Society for Classical Studies 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 ...

Publications

* "John of Salisbury's Manuscripts of

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube frontier ...

and of

Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, or ...

" (1977) * "Uses of Tradition: Gellius,

Petronius Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Britannica.com. (; ; ; s ...

, and John of Salisbury" (1979) * "Clare College MS. 26 and the Circulation of Aulus Gellius 1-7 in Medieval England and France" (1980, with P. K. Marshall and Richard H. Rouse) * "John of Salisbury as classical scholar" (1984) * "

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

's Jokes at the Court of

Henry II of England Henry II () was King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with the ...

: Roman Humor and the Princely Ideal" (1990)

Personal life

Martin died in 2023, at the age of 84, at her home in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Janet Marion 1938 births 2023 deaths People from Bogalusa, Louisiana People from Princeton, New Jersey People from Middletown, Ohio American Latinists American medievalists Radcliffe College alumni University of Michigan alumni Harvard University alumni Princeton University faculty