Valerio Massimo Manfredi (born 8 March 1943) is an Italian historian, writer, essayist,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and journalist.

Biography

He was born in Piumazzo di Castelfranco Emilia

province of Modena The province of Modena () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena. It has an area of and a total population of about 701,000 (2015). There are 48 ''comuni'' (: ''comune'') in th ...

and, after getting a degree in Classical Arts at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

, he became an

at the Catholic University of Milan, specialising in the

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

of the Ancient World. At the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore itself, he taught from 1980 to 1986, then moved on to an academic career at the University of Venice (1987) and then at the Loyola University of Chicago, the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

in Paris and the

Bocconi University Bocconi University or Università Bocconi (formally known in Italian language, Italian as ''Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi'' – Luigi Bocconi Commercial University) is a private university in Milan, Italy. The university is consistently ...

in Milan. However, due to his numerous commitments, both national and international, he can no longer lecture full-time, but he holds a visiting professor role. Between the 1970s and the 1980s, he has undertaken the "Anabasis" expeditions for the reconstruction of the itinerary of the

Ten Thousand The Ten Thousand (, ''hoi Myrioi'') were a force of mercenary units, mainly Greeks, employed by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Battle of Cunaxa and bac ...

's retreat. This expedition covered a total of 18,000 km, with 2,000 photographs being taken. He undertook and led numerous other expeditions, such as:

Lavinium Lavinium was a port city of Latium, to the south of Rome, midway between the Tiber river at Ostia Antica, Ostia and Antium. The coastline then, as now, was a long strip of beach. Lavinium was on a hill at the southernmost edge of the ''Silva La ...

, Forum Gallorum and Forte Urbano in Italy, Túcume (Peru), Har Karkom and other overseas locations. He has also held a series of conferences and seminars at the

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 ...

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, National

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public university, public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is from Belconnen Town Centre, and from Canberra's Civic, Australian ...

, Universidad de Antiochia, Universidad de Bilbao, Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo in Tenerife and many others. He has published many academic essays and articles and he has written several best-selling novels (amounting to a total of about 8 million copies sold worldwide). He also writes on many newspapers and magazines as a scientific journalist both in Italy (e.g., "Il Messaggero", "Panorama", "Archeo", "Focus") and in Spain (Spanish edition of "Focus" and "El Mundo"). His novel ''The Last Legion'' was the basis for the movie of the same title, released in 2007 and starring

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Colin Firth, several accolades, including an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Aw ...

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning fi ...

and others; his ''Alexander Trilogy'' has been bought by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

for yet another cinematic rendition of the story of

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 ...

. He has also written the screenplays for ''Marco d'Aviano'' and ''Gilgamesh'' and he has adapted ''Le Memorie di Adriano'' for cinema screening. Furthermore, he has hosted the television series ''Stargate – linea di confine'' for three seasons already on the Italian TV channel LA7 and he will also host ''Impero'' (''Empire'') on the very same channel. On 11 February 2021, Manfredi and fellow writer Antonella Prenner were found unconscious at his home in Rome, after suffering a domestic incident caused by an accidental gas leak. They were hospitalized in

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

; their conditions were described as critical.Lo scrittore Valerio Massimo Manfredi trovato esanime in casa a Roma: è grave
/ref> They were later released.

Bibliography

Novels

*''Palladion'' (1985) *'' Spartan'' (''Lo scudo di Talos'', 1988) *''The Oracle'' (''L'oracolo'', 1990) *''Heroes'', earlier titled ''Talisman of Troy'' (''Le paludi di Hesperia'', 1994) *''The Tower'' (''La torre della solitudine'', 1996) *The Alexander Trilogy (''Trilogia di Aléxandros'', 1998) **'' Child of a Dream'' (''Il figlio del sogno'') **'' The Sands of Ammon'' (''Le sabbie di Amon'') **'' The Ends of the Earth'' (''Il confine del mondo'') *''Pharaoh'' (''Il faraone delle sabbie'', 1998 *''Chimaira'' ("Chimera", 2001) *''I cento cavalieri'' (Short story collection, 2002) *''The Last Legion'' (''L'ultima legione'', 2002) *''Tyrant'' (''Il Tiranno'', 2003) *''The Island of the Dead'' (''L'isola dei morti'', 2003) *''Empire of Dragons'' (''L'impero dei draghi'', 2005) *''The Lost Army'' (''L'armata perduta'', 2007) *'' The Ides of March'' (''Idi di marzo'', 2008) *''The Ancient Curse'' (''L'antica maledizione'', 2010) *''A Winter's Night'' (''Otel Bruni'', 2011) *''Odysseus: The Oath'' (''Il mio nome è Nessuno. Il giuramento'', 2013) *''Odysseus: The Return'' (''Il mio nome è Nessuno. Il ritorno'', 2014) *''Wolves of Rome'' (''Teutoburgo'', 2016) *''Quinto comandamento'' (2018) *''Antica madre'' (2019) *''Quaranta giorni'' (2020)

Essays

*''Greek Sea'' (''Mare Greco. Eroi ed esploratori del mondo antico'', 1994) *''The Celts in Italy'' (''I Celti in Italia'', 1999) *''Akropolis'' (2000) *''The Western Greeks'' (''I Greci d'occidente'', 2000) *''The Etruscans in the Pó Valley'' (''Gli Etruschi in Val Padana'', 2003) *2009 – ''La Tomba di Alessandro'' (2009)

Collaborations

* ''Vignola 1575 – Un oscuro delitto'' (with Omar Calabrese, 1999)

Filmography

Movies based on his books

*1998 – '' Tower of the Firstborn'' (''I Guardiani del Cielo'') *2007 – '' The Last Legion''

Screenplays

*2006 – '' The Inquiry'' (''L'Inchiesta'') *2009 – ''

Memoirs of Hadrian ''Memoirs of Hadrian'' () is a French-language novel by the Belgian-born French writer Marguerite Yourcenar about the life and death of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. First published in France in 1951, the book was a critical and commercial suc ...

Actor

*2001 – '' Vajont – La Diga del Disonore''

References

External links

*
Valerio Massimo Manfredi
on ''Fantastic Fiction'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Manfredi, Valerio Massimo 1943 births Living people People from Castelfranco Emilia Academic staff of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Academic staff of Bocconi University Italian historical novelists 21st-century Italian archaeologists 20th-century Italian novelists 20th-century Italian male writers 21st-century Italian novelists Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Bancarella Prize winners Italian male novelists 20th-century Italian archaeologists 21st-century Italian male writers