Erich S. Gruen
Encyclopedia
Erich Stephen Gruen is an American
classicist
and ancient historian
. He was the Gladys Rehard Wood Professor
of History
and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley
, where he taught full-time from 1966 until 2008. He served as president of the American Philological Association
in 1992.
, he received BAs from Columbia University
and Oxford University, and the PhD from Harvard University
, in 1964. He also received the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
His earlier work focussed on the later Roman Republic
, and culminated in The Last Generation of the Roman Republic
, a work often cited as a response to Ronald Syme
's The Roman Revolution
. Gruen's argument is that the Republic was not in decay, and so not necessarily in need of "rescue" by Caesar Augustus and the institutions of the Empire. He later worked on the Hellenistic period and on Judaism
in the classical world.
Gruen taught what was purportedly his final undergraduate lecture course, The Hellenistic World, in the Fall of 2006. Despite his retirement from full-time teaching, he continues to oversee doctoral dissertations and is widely sought for visiting professorships. He taught a course at the San Quentin State Prison
in the Fall of 2009.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
classicist
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
and ancient historian
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
. He was the Gladys Rehard Wood Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and Classics at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where he taught full-time from 1966 until 2008. He served as president of the American Philological Association
American Philological Association
The American Philological Association , founded in 1869, is a non-profit North American scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization...
in 1992.
Biography
Born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, he received BAs from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and Oxford University, and the PhD from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, in 1964. He also received the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
His earlier work focussed on the later Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, and culminated in The Last Generation of the Roman Republic
The Last Generation of the Roman Republic
The Last Generation of the Roman Republic is a scholarly work by Erich S. Gruen on the end of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC....
, a work often cited as a response to 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...
's The Roman Revolution
The Roman Revolution
The Roman Revolution is an enormously influential scholarly study of the final years of the ancient Roman Republic and the creation of the Roman Empire by Caesar Augustus. The book was the work of Sir Ronald Syme , a noted Tacitean scholar, and was published by the Oxford University Press. It was...
. Gruen's argument is that the Republic was not in decay, and so not necessarily in need of "rescue" by Caesar Augustus and the institutions of the Empire. He later worked on the Hellenistic period and on Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
in the classical world.
Gruen taught what was purportedly his final undergraduate lecture course, The Hellenistic World, in the Fall of 2006. Despite his retirement from full-time teaching, he continues to oversee doctoral dissertations and is widely sought for visiting professorships. He taught a course at the San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men in unincorporated San Quentin, Marin County, California, United States. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in the state. California's only death row for male inmates, the largest...
in the Fall of 2009.
Books
- Roman Politics and the Criminal Courts, 149-78 BC (Cambridge MA, 1968)
- The Image of Rome (ed.) (Englewood Cliffs NJ, 1969)
- Imperialism in the Roman Republic (ed.) (NY, 1970)
- The Roman Republic (Washington DC, 1972)
- The Last Generation of the Roman RepublicThe Last Generation of the Roman RepublicThe Last Generation of the Roman Republic is a scholarly work by Erich S. Gruen on the end of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC....
(Berkeley, 1974; pb edition 1995) - The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome, 2 vols. (Berkeley, 1984; pb 1986)
- Studies in Greek Culture and Roman Policy (Leiden, 1990; pb 1996))
- Culture and National Identity in Republican Rome (Ithaca, 1992; pb 1994)
- Images and Ideologies: Self-Definition in the Hellenistic World (co-ed.) (Berkeley, 1993)
- Hellenistic Constructs: Essays in Culture, History, and Historiography (co-ed.) (Berkeley, 1997)
- Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition (Berkeley, 1998)
- Diaspora: Jews amidst Greeks and Romans (Cambridge MA, 2002)
- Rethinking the Other in Antiquity (Princeton, 2010)
External links
- Gruen's Home page at the UCB History Department web site
- Short biography at UCB's Faculty Research Lectures web site
- Gruen CV