Thomas Runge Martin (born 1947) is an American classicist and philologist who specializes in the history of the

Greco-Roman world The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

. He is the Jeremiah W. O'Connor Jr. Chair in the Department of Classics at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...

, where he teaches courses on the

Athenian democracy Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Ancient Greece, Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Classical Athens, Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, and focusing on supporting lib ...

, hellenism, and the

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 ...

Education

Martin earned his B.A. with a major in

classics 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 ...

, ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'', from

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 ...

in 1970. He later received his M.A. in 1972 followed by a Ph.D. in 1978 with a specialization in

classical philology 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 and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

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 ...

, all while conducting graduate work at the

American School of Classical Studies at Athens The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA; ) is one of 19 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). CAORC is a private not-for-profit federat ...

between 1973 and 1975.

Work

His research field covers the history of ancient

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

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

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

. He is author and co-author of several publications and articles, among which include ''Sovereignty and Coinage in Classical Greece'' (Princeton University Press, 1985), ''Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times'' (Yale University Press, 1992), ''The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures'' (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2 vol., 2001) and ''Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China'' (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009), all reissued. “Ancient Rome: From Romulus to Justinian” (Yale University Press) was published in 2012. He has contributed to the documentaries produced by

The History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the General Entertainment Content division of The Wa ...

about Roman history, especially to the series ''Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire''.

References

College of the Holy Cross: Thomas R. Martin

External links

''Democracy in the Politics of Aristotle''''The Making of the West''Introduction to the Historical Overview in Perseus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Thomas R. 1947 births Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers American classical philologists College of the Holy Cross faculty Harvard University alumni Historians of ancient Greece Historians of ancient Rome Princeton University alumni