Arthur ER Boak

Arthur Edward Romilly Boak (born April 29, 1888 in Halifax (Nova Scotia) , † December 16, 1962 in Ann Arbor ) was a Canadian ancient historian who taught and researched at the University of Michigan from 1914 to 1958 .

Life

Arthur ER Boak (back, fourth from left) with his colleagues at McGill University (1908/1909)

Arthur Edward Romilly Boak was the son of attorney Henry Westman Boak and his wife Elizabeth Ballington Reid Boak. He studied at Queen's University in Kingston (Ontario) . After completing his bachelor's degree in 1907, he taught Greek at Mc Gill University College of British Columbia until 1910 , while completing a master's degree at Harvard University under William Scott Ferguson , which he graduated in 1911.

From 1912 to 1916 Boak deepened his studies in Europe. From 1912 to 1914 he studied in Berlin with the ancient historian Eduard Meyer . In 1914 he received his doctorate from Harvard with the dissertation The Roman Magistrati: A Study in Constitutional History . After completing his doctorate, he was employed at the University of Michigan as an instructor for ancient history, and from 1915 as an assistant professor . From 1914 to 1916 (according to other sources 1913) he stayed at the American Academy in Rome . On his return he was appointed Associate Professor in Michigan in 1918 and Full Professor in 1920 . From 1930 to 1946 Boak was chairman of the university's historical institute. In 1940 he became Richard Hudson Professor of Ancient History. He retired in 1958. Since 1950 he was a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences .

Services

Boak was particularly concerned with the history of the late Roman Republic and late antiquity . From his Berlin teacher Eduard Meyer he adopted the thesis that Gaius Iulius Caesar had planned the establishment of a monarchy in Rome in his later years. He also represented this thesis in his main work A History of Rome to 565 AD (first New York 1921), the sixth edition of which appeared in 1977 (edited by William G. Sinnigen). In addition to this work, Boak emerged through special investigations into the Roman and Byzantine forms of administration, as well as through much- noticed papyrus editions . In 1924/25 and 1932/32 Boak took part in excavations at the University of Michigan in Egypt.

Fonts

• The master of the offices in the later Roman and Byzantine Empires . Macmillan, New York 1919 ( archive.org ).
• A history of Rome to 565 AD Macmillan, New York 1921 (online) . Further editions. 6th edition 1977, edited by William G. Sinnigen.
• with James Eugene Dunlap : Two studies in later Roman and Byzantine administration . Macmillan, New York 1924.
• The growth of western civilization . Crofts, New York 1936. Further editions.
• Manpower shortage and the fall of the Roman Empire in the West . University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1955. Other editions.

literature

• Mortimer Chambers : Boak, Arthur Edward Romilly. In: Ward W. Briggs (ed.): Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists , Westport, CT / London: Greenwood Press 1994, ISBN 978-0-313-24560-2 , pp. 49-50.
• Leaders in Education. A Biographical Directory . Science Press, New York 1932.
• Biographical Encyclopedia of the World. 3. Edition. Institute for Research in Biography, New York 1940.
• The Author's and Writer's Who's Who & Reference Guide . Shaw Publishing Guide, London 1949.

Web links

• Entry on Arthur ER Boak in the Database of Classical Scholars (English)

Footnotes

1. ^ Leaders in Education. A Biographical Directory . Science Press, New York 1932.
2. ↑ Member entry by Arthur Edward Romilly Boak at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences , accessed on January 2, 2017.