Syme, Ronald

Ronald Syme ( born Ronald Syme , March 11, 1903 , Elham, New Zealand - September 4, 1989 , Oxford , UK ) is a British historian of New Zealand descent.

Ronald syme
Ronald syme
Date of Birth	March 11, 1903 ( 1903-03-11 )
Place of Birth	Elham, New Zealand
Date of death	September 4, 1989 ( 1989-09-04 ) (86 years old)
Place of death	Oxford , UK
A country
Scientific field	history of ancient rome
Place of work	Oxford University
Alma mater
Famous students
Awards and prizes

Born in the small town of Elham in New Zealand . He graduated from the University of Auckland , Victoria University of Wellington , then - at the University of Oxford . He was the press officer of the British embassies in Belgrade and Ankara.

Member of the British Academy since 1944 , professor of ancient history at Oxford University since 1949 . Cavalier of the Order of Merit since 1976 .

In his central work, The Roman Revolution (1939), Syme analyzes structural changes in ancient Roman politics and society in the second half of the 1st century BC. e. - beginning of the 1st century AD e. and evaluates them as revolutionary (hence the name of the book). In this work, Syme, using the prosopographic method , analyzes the composition of the ancient Roman ruling elite during this period and comes to the conclusion that the families and clans that dominated in the past were actually removed from power ( Scipio , Metella , etc.) and the arrival of new, mostly not-so people.

Syme left works on Guy Sallust Crispus , Publius Cornelius Tacitus and Ammianus Marcellinus , as well as other works.