A.N. Sherwin-White
Encyclopedia
Adrian Nicholas Sherwin-White (10 August 1911 – 1 November 1993) was a British
historian
of Ancient Rome
. He was a fellow of St John's College
, Oxford
, president of the Society for Promotion of Roman Studies, and a fellow of the British Academy
. His most important works include a study of Roman citizenship
based on his doctoral thesis, a treatment of the New Testament
from the point of view of Roman law and society, and a commentary on the letters of Pliny the Younger
.
employed by the London County Council
. From 1923 to 1930 he was educated at Merchant Taylors' School
, apart from one year in which ill health forced him to study independently at home. He won a scholarship to the School's "sister foundation" St John's College
, Oxford
, where he began the Literae Humaniores
course in 1930. His tutor in ancient history was the well-known Hugh Last, whose interest in Roman administrative history influenced the direction of his student's later scholarship. Sherwin-White achieved first-class honours in both sets of Oxford examinations, the preliminary Honour Moderations
and the more important Finals
which he sat in 1934.
Sherwin-White started work the same year on his doctoral thesis, on Roman citizenship
. In 1935, he was awarded the Derby Scholarship and Arnold Historical Essay Prize. In 1936, he married Marie Downe. He was also selected ahead of older competitors to succeed to Last's fellowship at St John's College, despite not yet having a doctorate – this may have been at Last's recommendation. His thesis was submitted in 1937, and the examiners M. Cary and R. Syme
commended its "maturity of judgement such as one hardly dares to expect from a young scholar". Sherwin-White declined to accept the actual doctorate, preferring to remain known as "Mr", but he revised the thesis for publication as The Roman Citizenship (1939). It came to be regarded as "a classic of modern historical writing on Rome".
Sherwin-White's poor eyesight kept him from active service during World War II
, but the President of St John's wrote to the Director of Naval Intelligence to recommend him for a post, and he was commissioned on 4 December 1941 as a Temporary Sub-Lieutenant
. He helped to edit some of the Admiralty
's series of geographical handbooks
, acquiring detailed geographical knowledge that he displayed in subsequent scholarship including a 1944 article about the historical geography of Algeria
.
Sherwin-White returned after the War to teaching at St John's, where he also served as "Keeper of the Groves" responsible for the college garden. Outside recognition came in 1956 with his election as a fellow of the British Academy
. He produced a school textbook, Ancient Rome (1959), as well as more advanced works including Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament (1963), identified restrospectively by the Roman historian Fergus Millar
as "[t]he most stimulating and original" of his postwar works. Arising from his studies of Roman law and administration, this indicated "his conviction of the essential historicity of the narratives in the New Testament", especially in the critique he mounted in his closing pages against "form-criticism
of the extremer sort".
Sherwin-White's Oxford career was not interrupted by his family's move in 1963 to a cottage near Fyfield
, Oxfordshire
. 1966 saw the publication of a work "at least eighteen years" in the making: his historical and social commentary on the letters of Pliny the Younger
, the first such work ever compiled and one not yet replaced. In Millar's assessment, it "combined immense erudition, percipience and sharpness of vision with a curious slapdashness about small details"; these errors were keenly hunted down by contemporary reviewers. In the same year Sherwin-White became Reader in Ancient History; although he was a potential choice to succeed Ronald Syme
as Camden Professor of Ancient History
in 1970, this role went to Peter Brunt
. Sherwin-White did serve as President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies between 1974 and 1977, and his Roman Foreign Policy in the East (1983) appeared four years into his retirement. He died on 1 November 1993 at Fyfield, survived by his wife and two children.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. He was a fellow of St John's College
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, president of the Society for Promotion of Roman Studies, and a fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
. His most important works include a study of Roman citizenship
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
based on his doctoral thesis, a treatment of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
from the point of view of Roman law and society, and a commentary on the letters of Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
.
Biography
Adrian Nicholas Sherwin-White was born on 10 August 1911. His father, H. N. Sherwin-White, was a solicitorSolicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
employed by the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
. From 1923 to 1930 he was educated at Merchant Taylors' School
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
, apart from one year in which ill health forced him to study independently at home. He won a scholarship to the School's "sister foundation" St John's College
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he began the Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...
course in 1930. His tutor in ancient history was the well-known Hugh Last, whose interest in Roman administrative history influenced the direction of his student's later scholarship. Sherwin-White achieved first-class honours in both sets of Oxford examinations, the preliminary Honour Moderations
Honour Moderations
Honour Moderations are a first set of examinations at Oxford University in England during the first part of the degree course for some courses ....
and the more important Finals
Final examination
A final examination is a test given to students at the end of a course of study or training. Although the term can be used in the context of physical training, it most often occurs in the academic world...
which he sat in 1934.
Sherwin-White started work the same year on his doctoral thesis, on Roman citizenship
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome was a privileged political and legal status afforded to certain free-born individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance....
. In 1935, he was awarded the Derby Scholarship and Arnold Historical Essay Prize. In 1936, he married Marie Downe. He was also selected ahead of older competitors to succeed to Last's fellowship at St John's College, despite not yet having a doctorate – this may have been at Last's recommendation. His thesis was submitted in 1937, and the examiners M. Cary and R. Syme
Ronald Syme
Sir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he is widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome...
commended its "maturity of judgement such as one hardly dares to expect from a young scholar". Sherwin-White declined to accept the actual doctorate, preferring to remain known as "Mr", but he revised the thesis for publication as The Roman Citizenship (1939). It came to be regarded as "a classic of modern historical writing on Rome".
Sherwin-White's poor eyesight kept him from active service during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but the President of St John's wrote to the Director of Naval Intelligence to recommend him for a post, and he was commissioned on 4 December 1941 as a Temporary Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant is a military rank. It is normally a junior officer rank.In many navies, a sub-lieutenant is a naval commissioned or subordinate officer, ranking below a lieutenant. In the Royal Navy the rank of sub-lieutenant is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the British Army and of...
. He helped to edit some of the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
's series of geographical handbooks
Naval Intelligence Handbooks
The British Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series was produced between 1941 and 1946. At 31 titles, encompassing 58 volumes, this is the largest single body of geographical writing ever published. The books were written to provide information for the Allied war effort. They...
, acquiring detailed geographical knowledge that he displayed in subsequent scholarship including a 1944 article about the historical geography of Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
Sherwin-White returned after the War to teaching at St John's, where he also served as "Keeper of the Groves" responsible for the college garden. Outside recognition came in 1956 with his election as a fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
. He produced a school textbook, Ancient Rome (1959), as well as more advanced works including Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament (1963), identified restrospectively by the Roman historian Fergus Millar
Fergus Millar
-External links:* staff page at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford* announcement of "History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ."...
as "[t]he most stimulating and original" of his postwar works. Arising from his studies of Roman law and administration, this indicated "his conviction of the essential historicity of the narratives in the New Testament", especially in the critique he mounted in his closing pages against "form-criticism
Form criticism
Form criticism is a method of biblical criticism that classifies units of scripture by literary pattern and that attempts to trace each type to its period of oral transmission. Form criticism seeks to determine a unit's original form and the historical context of the literary tradition. Hermann...
of the extremer sort".
Sherwin-White's Oxford career was not interrupted by his family's move in 1963 to a cottage near Fyfield
Fifield, Oxfordshire
Fifield is a village and civil parish about north of Burford in Oxfordshire.-History:The toponymy is probably a transliteration of its Old English name of Fifhides....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. 1966 saw the publication of a work "at least eighteen years" in the making: his historical and social commentary on the letters of Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him...
, the first such work ever compiled and one not yet replaced. In Millar's assessment, it "combined immense erudition, percipience and sharpness of vision with a curious slapdashness about small details"; these errors were keenly hunted down by contemporary reviewers. In the same year Sherwin-White became Reader in Ancient History; although he was a potential choice to succeed Ronald Syme
Ronald Syme
Sir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he is widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome...
as Camden Professor of Ancient History
Camden Professor of Ancient History
The Camden Professorship of Ancient History at the University of Oxford was established in 1622 by William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms, and endowed with the income of the manor of Bexley. The Chair has been attached to Brasenose College since 1877...
in 1970, this role went to Peter Brunt
Peter Brunt
Peter Astbury Brunt FBA was an ancient historian at Oxford University....
. Sherwin-White did serve as President of the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies between 1974 and 1977, and his Roman Foreign Policy in the East (1983) appeared four years into his retirement. He died on 1 November 1993 at Fyfield, survived by his wife and two children.
Books
- The Roman Citizenship (Oxford, 1939, revised 1973).
- Ancient Rome (London, 1959, revised 1978).
- Roman Society and Roman Law in the New Testament (Oxford, 1963, based on the Sarum Lectures for 1960–1961).
- The Letters of Pliny: A Historical and Social Commentary (Oxford, 1966).
- Racial Prejudice in Imperial Rome (Cambridge, 1967, based on the J. H. Gray lectures for 1966).
- Fifty Letters of Pliny (London, 1967, revised 1969).
- Roman Foreign Policy in the East (Norman, 1984).
Selected articles
- "Geographical Factors in Roman Algeria". The Journal of Roman Studies 34 (1944): 1–10.
- "Violence in Roman Politics". The Journal of Roman Studies 46 (1956): 1–9.
- Review of R. SymeRonald SymeSir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he is widely regarded as the 20th century's greatest historian of ancient Rome...
, Tacitus. The Journal of Roman Studies 49 (1959): 140–146. - "The Roman Citizenship: A Survey of Its Development into a World Franchise". Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt 1.2 (1972): 23–58.