John Gillies
Encyclopedia
John Gillies was a Scottish
historian
and classical scholar.
, in Forfarshire and was educated at the University of Glasgow
, where, at the age of twenty, he acted for a short time as substitute for the professor of Greek. He lived for a while in Germany and returned in 1784. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in January 1789.
On the death of William Robertson
(1721-1793), Gillies was appointed Historiographer Royal
for Scotland. In his old age he retired to Clapham
, where he died on 15 February 1836.
bias, and is now entirely superseded.
Other works included:
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
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...
and classical scholar.
Life
He was born at BrechinBrechin
Brechin is a former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin is often described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese , but that status has not been officially recognised in the modern era...
, in Forfarshire and was educated at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, where, at the age of twenty, he acted for a short time as substitute for the professor of Greek. He lived for a while in Germany and returned in 1784. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in January 1789.
On the death of William Robertson
William Robertson (historian)
William Robertson FRSE FSA was a Scottish historian, minister of religion, and Principal of the University of Edinburgh...
(1721-1793), Gillies was appointed Historiographer Royal
Historiographer Royal
The Historiographer Royal is a member of the Royal household in Scotland. The office was created in 1681, and was in abeyance from 1709 until 1763 when it was revived for Principal William Robertson of Edinburgh University. The post, which now has no formal responsibilities or salary, is held by...
for Scotland. In his old age he retired to Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
, where he died on 15 February 1836.
Works
His History of Ancient Greece, its Colonies and Conquests was published in 1786; it was translated into French and German. This work was written with a strong WhigBritish Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
bias, and is now entirely superseded.
Other works included:
- View of the Reign of Frederic II of Prussia, with a Parallel between that Prince and Philip II of Macedon (1789), rather a panegyric than a critical history;
- translations of AristotleAristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
's Rhetoric (1823) and Ethics and Politics (1786-1797); - translations of the Orations of LysiasLysiasLysias was a logographer in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third century BC.-Life:According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the author of the life ascribed to...
and IsocratesIsocratesIsocrates , an ancient Greek rhetorician, was one of the ten Attic orators. In his time, he was probably the most influential rhetorician in Greece and made many contributions to rhetoric and education through his teaching and written works....
(1778); and ' - History of the World from Alexander to Augustus (1807).