Thomas Samuel Burns (born June 7, 1945) is an American historian who is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor Emeritus of Late Ancient and Medieval History 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 ...

. He specializes on relations between "

barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

" and Romans in

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

Biography

Thomas S. Burns was born in

Michigan City, Indiana Michigan City is a city in LaPorte County, Indiana, United States. It had a population of 32,075 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along Lake Michigan in the Michiana region, the city is about east of Chicago and is west o ...

, on June 7, 1945. He received his A.B. (1967) from

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college located in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832, by a group of Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, the institution was originally named "The Wabash Teachers Seminary an ...

and his M.A. (1968) and Ph.D. (1974) from 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 ...

. His thesis was supervised by Sylvia L. Trupp and John W. Eadie. After gaining his Ph.D., Burns served as Assistant Professor (1974–1980) and then Associate Professor (1980–1985) of History at

. Since 1985, Burns was Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Late Ancient and Medieval History at Emory University (1985–2010). He was Chair of the Department of History at Emory University in 1989–1992 and 2006–2007. Burns retired as S. C. Dobbs Professor Emeritus in 2010. Burns specializes in late ancient and early medieval history and archaeology. He is particularly interested in relationships between "

barbarian A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

s" and Romans. Burns is well known as an authority on the

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

Selected works

* ''The Ostrogoths: Kingship and Society'', 1980 * ''A History of the Ostrogoths'', 1984 * ''Barbarians within the Gates of Rome: Roman Military Policy and the Barbarians, ca. 375-425 A.D.'', 1994 * ''Rome and the Barbarians, 100 BC - AD 400'', 2003

Sources

* * 1945 births Living people 21st-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Emory University faculty Historians of antiquity People from Michigan City, Indiana Wabash College alumni University of Michigan alumni {{US-historian-stub

Biography

Selected works

See also

Sources