Simon James, PhD is an archeologist of the Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 and Roman

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....

 period and an author. He is Reader in Archaeology at the University of Leicester

University of Leicester

The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. His research interests are in the Roman world and its interactions with the Celts and Middle Eastern peoples.

Education and academic career

He obtained his PhD from University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

 prior to entering Durham University

Durham University

The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...

 where he was seconded to the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

. There he was first an archaeological illustrator before becoming a museum educator. He joined the School of Archaeology and Ancient History in Leicester in 2000. He has uncovered evidence of an early use of chemical warfare at an archaeological dig in the Syrian desert, Dura-Europos

Dura-Europos

Dura-Europos , also spelled Dura-Europus, was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 m above the right bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in today's Syria....

, hypothesizing that soldiers of the Persian empire gassed Roman troops in about 256AD by asphyxiating them with smoke from burning bitumen and sulphur.

Books and monographs

• "Two Shield-bosses from Roman London" (1980), Britannia XI, 320-3.
• Archaeology in Britain (1986), British Museum Publications.
• Exploring the World of the Celts (1993), Thames and Hudson.
• Britain and the Celtic Iron Age (1997), British Museum Press (with Valery Rigby)
• The Atlantic Celts: Ancient People or Modern Invention?, British Museum Press, 1999 (Published in the USA by The University of Wisconsin Press
  University of Wisconsin Press
  The University of Wisconsin Press is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It primarily publishes work by scholars from the global academic community but also serves the citizens of Wisconsin by publishing important books about Wisconsin, the Upper Midwest, and...
  
  , 1999).
• "Britons and Romans" (2001), CBA Research Report 125, (with M Millett)
• "Writing the Legions: The Past, Present and Future of Roman Military Studies in Britain" (2002), Archaeological Journal 159; 1-58.
• Excavations at Dura-Europos Final Report VII, the Arms and Armour and Other Military Equipment (2004), British Museum Press.
• "A Bloodless Past: The Pacification of Early Iron Age Britain" (2007); In Haselgrove and Pope, The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent, Oxbow Press.