Jill Diana Harries is

Professor Emerita ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

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, ...

at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. She is known for her work on

late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

, particularly aspects of Roman legal culture and society.

Career

Jill Harries studied Literae Humaniores at

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. It began admitting men in 1994. The colle ...

(1969–73) and completed her PhD in 1981. Harries was appointed Lecturer in Ancient History at St Andrews in 1976, and Professor in 1997. She served as the head of the School of Classics 2000-2003. Harries retired in 2013 and her retirement was marked by a conference in her honour. Harries was a

Kennedy Scholar Kennedy Scholarships provide full funding for up to ten British post-graduate students to study at either Harvard University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Susan Hockfield, the sixteenth president of MIT, described the scho ...

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 1973-74, a

Visiting Fellow In academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of ...

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

in 1996-97, and Bird Fellow at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

in 2003. Known for her work on

, Harries has been invited to deliver a number of key lectures at international conferences, including the 2003 lecture ''Violence, Victims, and the Roman Legal Tradition'' at the ''Violence, Victims, and Vindication in Late Antiquity'' conference at

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

, and the 2014 public lecture ''East versus West: Sidonius, Anthemius, and the Empire of the Dawn'' at the

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

conference, ''Sidonius, his words, and his world: an international conference''. Harries also serves on the board of editors of the journal ''Roman Legal Tradition''. Harries' book on

Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Born into the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, he was son-in-law to Emperor Avitus and was appointed Urb ...

was the first in English since the 1930s and sought to embed his biography firmly in the history of 5th century Gaul. Her work on late antiquity in general has been widely read and reviewed, and forms a seminal part of the study of late Roman society particularly in regard to law and political structures. Harries was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1986 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2010. Harries contributed to the 2001 episode on

Attila the Hun Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central and East ...

for the documentary series ''The Most Evil Men and Women in History.''

Select publications

* with C Humfress, J Duindam, & N Hurvitz (eds) ''Law and Empire: Ideas, Practices, Actors'' (Brill 2013) * ''Imperial Rome AD 284 to 363: The New Empire'' (Edinburgh University Press 2012) * ''Law and Crime in the Roman World'' (Cambridge University Press 2007) * ''Cicero and the Jurists: from Citizens' Law to the Lawful State'' (Duckworth 2006) * ''Law and Empire in Late Antiquity'' (Cambridge University Press 1998) * ''Sidonius Apollinaris'' ''and the Fall of Rome'' (Oxford University Press 1994)

External links

St Andrews researcher portal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harries, Jill Living people Historians of antiquity British classical scholars Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Academics of the University of St Andrews Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Year of birth missing (living people)