Thomas Rice Edward Holmes, FBA (24 May 1855 – 4 August 1933), who usually published his works under the names T. Rice Holmes or T.R.E. Holmes, was a scholar best known for his extensive and "fundamental" work on

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

and his Gallic War commentaries. Holmes was born at Moycashel (today

Castletown-Geoghegan Castletown Geoghegan () is a village in County Westmeath, Ireland, and lies south west of Lough Ennell near the county town of Mullingar. It is around 13 km south-west of Mullingar and 19 km north of Tullamore. Castletown was the se ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He was the fifth son of Robert Holmes, a

landed proprietor In real estate, a landed property or landed estate is a property that generates income for the owner (typically a member of the gentry) without the owner having to do the actual work of the estate. In medieval Western Europe, there were two compe ...

and a descendant of John Arbuthnot, a friend of

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...

and

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

. Holmes was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. He was assistant master at Lincoln Grammar School (1878–80),

Blackheath Proprietary School The Blackheath Proprietary School was an educational establishment founded in 1830. In the 19th century, it had a profound influence on the game of football, in both Association and Rugby codes. In 1863, the school became one of the founders of T ...

(1880–85), and St. Paul's School (beginning in 1886). In 1888, he married Isabel Isaacs, the daughter of Lionel Isaacs of

Mandeville, Jamaica Mandeville () is the capital and largest town in the Manchester Parish, parish of Manchester in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. In 2005, the town had an estimated population of 50,000, and including the immediate suburbs within a radius of t ...

. They lived at 11 Douro Place,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

. In addition to his books, Holmes published a number of articles in the ''

English Historical Review ''The English Historical Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that was established in 1886 and published by Oxford University Press (formerly by Longman). It publishes articles on all aspects of history – British, European, a ...

'', '' Classical Quarterly'', and other journals. He died at age 78 in

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, sharing its SW15 postcode with neighbouring Putney and Kingston Vale, and takes up a far western strip, running north to south, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large counc ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Books

* ''A History of the Indian Mutiny'' (1888)
Internet Archive
an
Google Books.
* ''Four Famous Soldiers'' (1889) * ''Caesar's Conquest of Gaul: An Historical Narrative'' (1903)
Internet Archive
(part I only) an
Internet Archive
(part I only); review of revised second edition of 1911 by H. Stuart Jones, ''English Historical Review'' 27 (1912) a

* ''Ancient Britain and the Invasions of Julius Caesar'' (1907)
Internet Archive
an
Internet Archive
review by H. Stuart Jones, ''English Historical Review'' 24 (1909) a

* as translator:
''Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War''
(1908) * ''The Roman Republic and the Founder of the Empire'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1928)
Google Books

Articles

Holmes wrote several articles, and Bill Thayer has documented "a flurry of argument and counter-argument" among Holmes and other scholars on the identity of the Portus Itius named by Caesar.Bill Thayer
notes
to the entry "Portus Itius" in the 1911 Britannica at

LacusCurtius LacusCurtius is the ancient Graeco-Roman part of a large history website, hosted as of March 2025 on a server at the University of Chicago. Starting in 1995, as of January 2004 it gave "access to more than 594 photos, 559 drawings and engravings, ...

. These appear at

hypertext Hypertext is E-text, text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typic ...

editions: *F.J. Haverfield, review of Holmes' ''Caesar's Conquest of Gaul'' (1899) and Camille Jullian's '' Vercingétorix'' (1901), ''English Historical Review'' 18 (1903) 332–33

*T. Rice Holmes, "Last Words on Portus Itius," ''Classical Review'' 23 (May 1909) 77–8

* H. Stuart Jones takes Holmes to task while reviewing ''Ancient Britain and the Invasions of Julius Caesar'' in ''English Historical Review'' 24 (1909) 115–116 and 60

* T. Rice Holmes, "An Explanation," ''Classical Review'' 26 (March 1912) 7

* F.J. Haverfield, "Portius Itius," ''Classical Review'' 27 (December 1913) 258–26

*T. Rice Holmes, "F.H. on Portius Itius," ''Classical Review'' 28 (March 1914) 45–4

* F.J. Haverfield, "Portus Itius," ''Classical Review'' 28 (May 1914) 82–8

*T. Rice Holmes, "Portus Itius," ''Classical Review'' 28 (September 1914) 193–19

* E.E. Genner, "Portus Itius," ''Classical Review'' 32 (May 1918) 7

Holmes' "The Battle-field of Old Pharsalus," ''Classical Quarterly'' 2 (1908) 271–292 is also republished at LacusCurtiu

Biographical sources

* ''Nature'' 132 (2 September 1933) 342, obituary
partial text
*''Who's Who 1900'' (London: Adam & Charles Black, 1900), vol. 52, p. 53
online.

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, T. Rice 1855 births 1933 deaths British classical scholars Historians of ancient Rome Julius Caesar People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People from Castletown Geoghegan