12-02-2022, 10:50 PM
Ramsay MacMullen, emeritus Professor of History and Classics at Yale University, passed away on 28 November.
His name may be familiar to RAT members from his seminal article on "Inscriptions on armor and the supply of arms to the state" (American Journal of Archaeology 64, 1960), which was just one of many insightful papers, including two of my own favourites, both of which appeared in 1984: "The legion as a society" (Historia 33) and "The Roman emperors' army costs" (Latomus 43). His first book, Soldier and Civilian in the Later Roman Empire (1963), remains very readable 60 years on. His several books on religion in the ancient world (e.g. Christianizing the Roman Empire, AD 100-400, also coincidentally from 1984) cemented his reputation as a first-rate scholar.
His name may be familiar to RAT members from his seminal article on "Inscriptions on armor and the supply of arms to the state" (American Journal of Archaeology 64, 1960), which was just one of many insightful papers, including two of my own favourites, both of which appeared in 1984: "The legion as a society" (Historia 33) and "The Roman emperors' army costs" (Latomus 43). His first book, Soldier and Civilian in the Later Roman Empire (1963), remains very readable 60 years on. His several books on religion in the ancient world (e.g. Christianizing the Roman Empire, AD 100-400, also coincidentally from 1984) cemented his reputation as a first-rate scholar.
