Robin James Lane Fox, (born 5 October 1946) is an English

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, ancient historian, and gardening writer known for his works on

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. Lane Fox is an Emeritus Fellow of

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

and Reader in Ancient History,

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, 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 List of oldest un ...

. Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at New College from 1977 to 2014, he serves as Garden Master and as Extraordinary Lecturer in Ancient History for both New College and

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

College. He has also taught Greek and

Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literatur ...

and early Islamic history. His major publications, for which he has won literary prizes including the James Tait Black Award, the Duff Cooper Prize, the Heinemann Award and the Runciman Award, include studies of

and Ancient Macedon,

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 ...

, Christianity and Paganism, the Bible and history, and the Greek Dark Ages. In addition, he is the gardening correspondent of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''.

Early life

Lane Fox was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, an all-boys public school near Windsor, Berkshire. He studied '' Literae Humaniores'' (Classics) at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

. Like his fellow ancient historians Paul Cartledge and Alan Cameron, and philosophers Terence Irwin and

John McDowell John Henry McDowell (born 7 March 1942) is a South African philosopher, formerly a fellow of University College, Oxford, and now university professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Although he has written on metaphysics, epistemology, anci ...

, he was an undergraduate student of G. E. M. de Ste. Croix.

Academic career

Lane Fox was a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, between 1970–73. Between 1974–76, he was a lecturer at Worcester College, Oxford. From 1976–77, he was a research fellow in classical and Islamic history at Worcester. In 1977, he was elected a fellow of New College, Oxford, in succession to G. E. M. de Ste. Croix. In 1990, he was appointed Reader in Ancient History within the Faculty of Classics. In 2012, he retired and was appointed an Emeritus Fellow of New College. Important influences on his contributions to the study of ancient history include Louis Robert, Peter Brown,''Pagans and Christians'', p. 8 E. R. Dodds, Timothy Barnes, E. J. Bickerman, Martin Litchfield West,''Travelling Heroes'', xiii

Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of student ...

, and his long-standing New College colleague W. G. (George) Forrest. His 1973 book ''Alexander the Great'' was awarded the Duff Cooper Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Due to the success of the book, Lane Fox was historical advisor to the film director

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

for the epic ''

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

''. His appearance as an extra in cavalry manoeuvres, in addition to his work as a historical consultant, was publicised at the time of the film's release. He wrote and presented ''Greek Myths: Tales of Travelling Heroes'', which was first broadcast on BBC Four in November 2010. While primarily focused on ancient Greece, Fox has written three books dealing with the history of Christianity, ''Pagans and Christians'', ''The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible'', and a biography of Saint Augustine, ''Augustine: Conversions and Confessions'', which was awarded the Wolfson History Prize. In the second book, Fox professes himself to be a non-believer, although in the last book he expresses much admiration for St. Augustine

Personal life

Lane Fox, an atheist, is the father of Martha Lane Fox and Henry Lane Fox. Martha is an entrepreneur and

crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

who co-founded Lastminute.com. Henry is CEO of a website, ''The Browser''. As gardening correspondent of the ''

'', Lane Fox is an outspoken opponent of garden gnomes.

List of publications

*''Alexander the Great'', Allen Lane, 1974. ; US title: ''The Search for Alexander'', Little, Brown & Co., 1980. (reprinted by the

Folio Society The Folio Society is an independent London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it became an employee ownership trust in 2021. It produces illustrated hardback fine press edit ...

with revisions & corrections, 1997) *''Variations on a Garden'', Macmillan, 1974. (reprinted by R. & L., 1986) *''Better Gardening'', R. & L., 1982. *''V. Sackville-West. The Illustrated Garden Book: A New Anthology'', Michael Joseph, 1986. *''Pagans and Christians'', Viking, 1986. (reprinted by the Folio Society in 3 vols., 2010) *''The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible'', Viking, 1991. *''The Long March: Xenophon and the Ten Thousand'', Yale University Press, 2004. (editor) *''The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian'', Allen Lane, 2005. (reprinted by the Folio Society) *''Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer'', Allen Lane, 2008. *''Thoughtful Gardening: Great Plants, Great Gardens, Great Gardeners'', Particular Books, 2010. *''Brill's Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC-300 AD'', Brill, 2011. (editor) *''Augustine: Conversions and Confessions'', Allen Lane, 2015. *''The Invention of Medicine: From Homer to Hippocrates'', Basic Books, 2020. *''Homer and his Iliad'', Allen Lane, 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane Fox, Robin 1946 births 20th-century English historians 21st-century English historians 21st-century English writers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford BBC television presenters English atheists English classical scholars English garden writers Fellows of New College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Robin Living people People educated at Eton College Scholars of ancient Greek history Wolfson History Prize winners Financial Times people