Christopher Smith (classicist)
{{Short description|British historian of ancient Rome (born 1965)}}
{{for|persons of a similar name|Christopher Smith (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
Christopher John Smith, FRSE, FSA, FRHistS (born 1965 at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire), is a British academic and classicist specialising in early Ancient Rome.
Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews, and formerly Director of the British School at Rome,{{cite web|title=Staff and Fellows|url=http://www.bsr.ac.uk/about/staff-and-fellows|publisher=The British School at Rome|accessdate=5 June 2012}}{{cite web|title=Prof. Christopher Smith|url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/classics/staff/cjs6/|publisher=University of St Andrews|access-date=5 June 2012|archive-date=17 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217215237/https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/classics/staff/cjs6/|url-status=dead}} Smith was appointed on 1 September 2020 as Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.{{Cite web |url=https://ahrc.ukri.org/newsevents/news/preferred-candidate-chosen-for-the-role-of-executive-chair-of-the-arts-and-humanities-research-council/ |title=Preferred candidate chosen for the role of Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council - Arts and Humanities Research Council |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922054753/https://ahrc.ukri.org/newsevents/news/preferred-candidate-chosen-for-the-role-of-executive-chair-of-the-arts-and-humanities-research-council/ |url-status=dead }}
Early life and education
Born in 1965 at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Smith attended Aylesbury Grammar School before going up to Keble College, Oxford, to read Literae Humaniores, graduating as Bachelor of Arts in 1988.{{cite web|title=Appointment to British School at Rome|url=http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/about/news/appointment-to-british-school-at-rome|publisher=Keble College, Oxford University|accessdate=5 June 2012|date=18 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927000527/http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/about/news/appointment-to-british-school-at-rome/|archive-date=27 September 2017|url-status=dead}} He then pursued further studies, taking a DPhil from Oxford in 1992.
Academic career
After joining the University of St Andrews in 1992 as a Lecturer in Ancient History, Smith was appointed to a professorial chair in 2002.[https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/classics/people/cjs6/ www.st-andrews.ac.uk]
Elected FSA (Scot), he served as Proctor & Provost of St Leonard's College at St Andrews,{{cite web|title=New role for Vice-Principal|url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2009/Title,32801,en.html|publisher=University of St Andrews|date=21 April 2009|access-date=21 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620225058/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2009/Title,32801,en.html|archive-date=20 June 2012|url-status=dead}} before becoming President of the Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia Storia e Storia dell'Arte in Rome from 2012 to 2017.[https://www.unioneinternazionale.it/ www.unioneinternazionale.it]
In 2017 Smith was awarded a three-year Leverhulme Trust Major Research Grant{{Cite web|url=https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/major-research-fellowships-2016|title=Major Research Fellowships 2016 | The Leverhulme Trust|website=www.leverhulme.ac.uk}} to study Rome's early kings, and is a foreign member to the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici in Florence.{{cite web |url=http://studietruschi.org/listituto/membri-stranieri |title=Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici |year=2019 |publisher=Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici |location=Florence |language=Italian |access-date=24 September 2019 |archive-date=10 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200155/http://studietruschi.org/listituto/membri-stranieri |url-status=dead }}
His research explores constitutionalism and state formation with particular emphasis on the development of Rome as a political and social community and how this was represented in ancient historical writing and subsequent political thought.
Selected publications & awards
- Early Rome and Latium: Economy and Society c. 1000 to 500 BC Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York : Oxford University Press, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-19-815031-2}}.
- The Roman Clan: The Gens from Ancient Ideology to Modern Anthropology.Cambridge; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-521-85692-8}}.
- Christopher John Smith; Anton Powell; Tim Cornell, eds. The lost memoirs of Augustus and the development of Roman autobiography. Swansea [Wales]: Classical Press of Wales; Oakville, CT: Distributor in the United States of America, David Brown Book Co., 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-905125-25-8}}.
- CJ Smith, RJ Covino (eds). Praise and Blame in Roman Republican Oratory. Swansea : Classical Press of Wales; Oakville, CT : Distributor in the United States of America, David Brown Book Co., 2011. {{ISBN|978-1-905125-46-3}}.
- Peter Derow; Christopher John Smith; Liv Mariah Yarrow, eds. Imperialism, Cultural Politics, and Polybius. Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-19-960075-5}}.
=Fellowships=
- FSA[https://www.sal.org.uk/our-fellows/directory/ www.sal.org.uk]
- FRHistS{{Cite web |url=http://www.royalhistoricalsociety.org/rhsfellows.php |title=www.royalhistoricalsociety.org |access-date=26 April 2023 |archive-date=27 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827093607/http://www.royalhistoricalsociety.org/rhsfellows.php |url-status=dead }}
- FSA (Scot)[https://www.socantscot.org/about-us/list-of-fellows/#s1 www.socantscot.org]
- FRSE[https://rse.org.uk/fellowship/professor-christopher-smith/ www.rse.org.uk]
- Awarded Premio Cultori di Roma 2017 by the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani.{{cite web|title=Premio Cultori di Roma for Christopher Smith|date=10 May 2017|url=http://standrewsclassics.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/premio-cultori-di-roma-for-christopher-smith}}/
References
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Category:People from Aylesbury
Category:People educated at Aylesbury Grammar School
Category:Alumni of Keble College, Oxford
Category:Academics of the University of St Andrews
Category:Classical scholars of the University of St Andrews
Category:Historians of antiquity
Category:British classical scholars
Category:Fellows of the Royal Historical Society
Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London