The Passing Of Historian Michael Grant

[Primus Pilus]

Professor Michael Grant, who died on Monday aged 89, was a don at Cambridge, Professor of Humanity (Latin) at Edinburgh, and vice-chancellor at the Universities of Khartoum and Queen's, Belfast, but was best known as a prolific populariser of ancient history who published nearly 50 books on the Greeks, Romans and early Christianity.

 

Grant was always a lucid and erudite writer, who took the view that a study of the classical world was both "infinitely worth studying in its own right, without any consideration of modern analogies" and also that "without Latin, people are handicapped because they do not understand their past, and cannot therefore effectively plan their futures".

 

This attitude did nothing to impede his range, nor his appeal to the ordinary reader as well as the academic professional. As well as scholarly publications on the coinage of Rome (he was a distinguished numismatist), he produced biographies of Julius Caesar, Nero, Herod, Cleopatra, Jesus, St Peter and St Paul; accounts of the literature, history, art, mythology and social life of Greece and Rome; and found time to examine the Middle Ages and ancient Israel....

 

Full article @ The Telegraph

[Primus Pilus]

While not really an 'archaeology' story, Michael Grant, and his lifetime of historical work, deserves its own mention. His work has been and will continue to be a great source of information for the continued development of UNRV.com, and his readable and engaging style has been an inspiration fueling the fire of my personal ancient history passion.

 

Thank you Michael Grant.