Peter Derow
Encyclopedia
Peter Sidney Derow MA
, PhD
was Hody Fellow
and Tutor in Ancient History
at Wadham College, Oxford
and University Lecturer in Ancient History
from 1977 to 2006. As a scholar he was most noted for his work on Hellenistic and Roman Republic
an history and epigraphy
, particularly on the histories of Polybius
.
Derow obtained his secondary education at The Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury Massachusetts. After an A.B.
degree at Amherst
(with Peter K. Marshall), he read for Greats as a second B.A. degree at Oxford in 1965–1967, achieving a First. At Oxford he was taught by, among others, W. G. (George) Forrest
, who was a lasting influence. He completed a Ph.D. at Princeton
on 'Rome and the Greek world from the earliest contacts to the end of the first Illyrian war', for which Professor J. V. A. Fine was his Advisor; in the preface to that work, he acknowledges the additional inspiration he had drawn from T. J. Luce and the historian and epigrapher C. Bradford Welles. After a spell of teaching at the University of Toronto, he returned to succeed Forrest at Wadham in 1977 when the latter was elected to the Wykeham Professor
ship of Ancient History at New College
. In 2002–2005 Derow was also Director of Graduate Studies in ancient history for the Oxford Faculty of Classics.
He was a contributor to the Oxford Classical Dictionary
in matters relating to the Hellenistic world and the Roman republic, and wrote the chapter on ‘Rome
, the fall of Macedon
and the sack of Corinth
’ for the 2nd edition of the Cambridge Ancient History (volume 8; 1989). In this chapter, he expounded his view of Roman imperialism in the Greek East
as harsh, a view he had earlier proposed in an article on Polybius and Roman imperialism; a more accessible version of these views can be found in his chapter in the Blackwell Companion to the Hellenistic world. These (and other papers) represent a sustained argument about the impact of Rome on the Hellenistic world, contesting the previously accepted views of Maurice Holleaux on the nature of Roman expansion and of Polybius' narrative of it. Later he co-edited (with Robert Parker) a memorial volume for George Forrest, Herodotus
and his World (Oxford University Press
, 2003).
Probably his most accessible work is a volume of translated sources for Hellenistic history, co-edited with Roger S. Bagnall
. First issued in 1981 as Greek Historical Documents: The Hellenistic Period (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press), it was somewhat overshadowed by M. M. Austin’s comparable (and excellent) collection of sources, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest (Cambridge University Press
, 1980). But ‘Bagnall & Derow’ had a distinctive tone, with its greater emphasis on inscriptions and papyrus
texts, and it found favour with many students and teachers who used the two volumes together. Long unavailable, it was reissued (and updated) in a second edition in 2004, as The Hellenistic Period: Historical Sources in Translation (Oxford: Blackwell). It was typical of Derow to combine scholarly research with a passion for communicating his learning to the widest audience.
Derow was a strong supporter of the campaign to return the Parthenon (Elgin) marbles
to Athens
, Greece
and was one of the original members of the Marbles Reunited
campaign.
Derow died unexpectedly on 9 December 2006 from a heart attack
, after collapsing in Wadham College. His funeral, attended by a great many colleagues and former students, was held in Wadham College Chapel on 16 December 2006, followed by a memorial service in the Sheldonian Theatre on 28 April 2007.
A conference devoted to his memory, entitled 'Rome and the Mediterranean', was held at Wadham College from 2 to 4 April 2009.
Master of Arts (Oxbridge)
In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts of these universities are admitted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university .There is no examination or study required for the degree...
, PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
was Hody Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
and Tutor in Ancient History
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...
at Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College, Oxford
Wadham College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, located at the southern end of Parks Road in central Oxford. It was founded by Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, wealthy Somerset landowners, during the reign of King James I...
and University Lecturer in Ancient History
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...
from 1977 to 2006. As a scholar he was most noted for his work on Hellenistic and 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...
an history and epigraphy
Epigraphy
Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...
, particularly on the histories of Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
.
Derow obtained his secondary education at The Roxbury Latin School in West Roxbury Massachusetts. After an A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree at Amherst
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
(with Peter K. Marshall), he read for Greats as a second B.A. degree at Oxford in 1965–1967, achieving a First. At Oxford he was taught by, among others, W. G. (George) Forrest
George Forrest (historian)
William George Grieve Forrest, MA , known as George Forrest, was Wykeham Professor of Ancient History in the University of Oxford.-Early life and education:...
, who was a lasting influence. He completed a Ph.D. at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
on 'Rome and the Greek world from the earliest contacts to the end of the first Illyrian war', for which Professor J. V. A. Fine was his Advisor; in the preface to that work, he acknowledges the additional inspiration he had drawn from T. J. Luce and the historian and epigrapher C. Bradford Welles. After a spell of teaching at the University of Toronto, he returned to succeed Forrest at Wadham in 1977 when the latter was elected to the Wykeham Professor
Wykeham Professor
The University of Oxford has three statutory professorships named after William of Wykeham.-Logic:The Wykeham Professorship in Logic was established in 1859, although it was not known as the Wykeham chair until later...
ship of Ancient History at New College
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
. In 2002–2005 Derow was also Director of Graduate Studies in ancient history for the Oxford Faculty of Classics.
He was a contributor to the Oxford Classical Dictionary
Oxford Classical Dictionary
-Overview:The Oxford Classical Dictionary is considered to be the standard one-volume encyclopaedia in English of topics relating to the Ancient World and its civilizations. It was first published in 1949, edited by Max Cary with the assistance of H. J. Rose, H. P. Harvey, and A. Souter. A...
in matters relating to the Hellenistic world and the Roman republic, and wrote the chapter on ‘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....
, the fall of Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
and the sack of Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
’ for the 2nd edition of the Cambridge Ancient History (volume 8; 1989). In this chapter, he expounded his view of Roman imperialism in the Greek East
Greek East
"Greek East" and "Latin West" are terms used to distinguish between the two parts of the Greco-Roman world, specifically the eastern regions where Greek was the lingua franca, and the western parts where Latin filled this role...
as harsh, a view he had earlier proposed in an article on Polybius and Roman imperialism; a more accessible version of these views can be found in his chapter in the Blackwell Companion to the Hellenistic world. These (and other papers) represent a sustained argument about the impact of Rome on the Hellenistic world, contesting the previously accepted views of Maurice Holleaux on the nature of Roman expansion and of Polybius' narrative of it. Later he co-edited (with Robert Parker) a memorial volume for George Forrest, Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
and his World (Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2003).
Probably his most accessible work is a volume of translated sources for Hellenistic history, co-edited with Roger S. Bagnall
Roger S. Bagnall
Roger Shaler Bagnall is an American classical scholar. He was a professor of classics and history at Columbia University from 1974 until 2007, when he took up the position of first Director of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University...
. First issued in 1981 as Greek Historical Documents: The Hellenistic Period (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press), it was somewhat overshadowed by M. M. Austin’s comparable (and excellent) collection of sources, The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest (Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 1980). But ‘Bagnall & Derow’ had a distinctive tone, with its greater emphasis on inscriptions and papyrus
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
texts, and it found favour with many students and teachers who used the two volumes together. Long unavailable, it was reissued (and updated) in a second edition in 2004, as The Hellenistic Period: Historical Sources in Translation (Oxford: Blackwell). It was typical of Derow to combine scholarly research with a passion for communicating his learning to the widest audience.
Derow was a strong supporter of the campaign to return the Parthenon (Elgin) marbles
Elgin Marbles
The Parthenon Marbles, forming a part of the collection known as the Elgin Marbles , are a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures , inscriptions and architectural members that originally were part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens...
to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and was one of the original members of the Marbles Reunited
Marbles Reunited
Marbles Reunited : Friends of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles is a campaign group, governed by charter & funded by donations from members and supporters, affiliated to the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles which lobbies and raises...
campaign.
Derow died unexpectedly on 9 December 2006 from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, after collapsing in Wadham College. His funeral, attended by a great many colleagues and former students, was held in Wadham College Chapel on 16 December 2006, followed by a memorial service in the Sheldonian Theatre on 28 April 2007.
A conference devoted to his memory, entitled 'Rome and the Mediterranean', was held at Wadham College from 2 to 4 April 2009.
Select Works
- "The Arrival of Rome: From the Illyrian Wars to the Fall of Macedon", in A. Erskine (ed.), A Companion to the Hellenistic World (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003), pp. 51–70.
- (with R.S. Bagnall) Greek Historical Documents. The Hellenistic Period (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1981).
- (with R.S. Bagnall) The Hellenistic Period. Historical Sources in Translation (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004). ISBN 1-4051-0133-4
- (ed. with R.C.T. Parker) Herodotus and His World: Essays from a Conference in Memory of George Forrest (Oxford: OUP, 2003). ISBN 0-19-925374-9
- "Herodotus Readings", Classics Ireland, Vol. 2 (1995), pp. 29–51.
- "Historical Explanation: Polybius and His Predecessors", in S. Hornblower (ed.), Greek Historiography (New York: OUP, 1994), pp. 73–90.
- (with W.G. Forrest) "An inscription from Chios", Annual of the British School at Athens, Vol. 77 (1982), pp. 79–92.
- "Kleemporos", PhoenixPhoenix (classics journal)Phoenix, originally The Phoenix, is one of two journals of the Classical Association of Canada , and the oldest classics journal published in Canada.-History:...
, Vol. 27 (1973), pp. 118–134. - "A New Inscription from Chios", in G.E. Malouchou and A.P. Matthaiou (eds.), Χιακον Συμποσιον. Εις μνημην W.G. Forrest (Athens, 2006), pp. 95–102.
- "Perseus", in S. Hornblower and A.J. Spawforth (eds.), Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1996), pp. 1143–1144.
- "Pharos and Rome", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, Vol. 88 (1991), pp. 261–270.
- "Philip V", in S. Hornblower and A.J. Spawforth (eds.), Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1996), p. 1162.
- "Polybios and the Embassy of Callicrates", Essays Presented to C.M. Bowra (Oxford: Alden Press, for Wadham College Junior and Middle Common Rooms, 1970), pp. 12–23.
- "Polybius", in T.J. Luce (ed.), Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome, Vol. 1 (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982), pp. 525–539.
- "Polybius", in S. Hornblower and A.J. Spawforth (eds.), Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1996), pp. 1209–1211.
- "Polybius, Rome, and the East", Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 69 (1979), pp. 1–15.
- "Pyrrhus", in S. Hornblower and A.J. Spawforth (eds.), Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1996), p. 1283.
- (with J.T. Ma and A. Meadows) "RC 38 (Amyzon) reconsidered", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, Vol. 109 (1995), pp. 71–80.
- "The Roman Calendar, 190-168 B.C.", Phoenix, Vol. 27 (1973), pp. 345–356.
- "The Roman Calendar, 218-191 B.C.", Phoenix, Vol. 30 (1976), pp. 265–281.
- "Rome, the Fall of Macedon, and the Sack of Corinth", Cambridge Ancient History, 2nd edition, vol. 8 (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 290–323.
External links
- A memorial page at Wadham College website; includes Funeral Address, by Stephen Heyworth
- An obituary in The Independent, 21 December. 2006 (by Thomas Harrison)
- An obituary in The Guardian, 2 February. 2007 (by Jonathan Williams)
- An obituary in The Times, 9 February. 2007
- Obituary notice at the Elginism website
- A. Kerkeslager, rev. of P.S. Derow and R.S. Bagnall, The Hellenistic Period: Historical Sources in Translation. Blackwell Sourcebooks in Ancient History, BMCR 2004.03.19