Bryan Ward-Perkins

For his father, the architectural historian, see John Bryan Ward-Perkins.

Bryan Ward-Perkins FRHistS ^[1] is an archaeologist and historian of the later Roman Empire and early Middle Ages, with a particular focus on the transitional period between those two eras, an historical sub-field also known as Late Antiquity. Ward-Perkins is an emeritus fellow in history at Trinity College, Oxford. ^[2] He joined the college in 1981 and received the title of distinction of Professor of Late Antique History in November 2014. ^[3]

Early life and education

The son of historian John Bryan Ward-Perkins, he was born and raised in Rome and spoke Italian from childhood. ^[4] He graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford with a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1980: his doctoral thesis was titled "Urban public building in Italy, north of Salerno 300–850 AD". ^[5]

Academic interests

Ward-Perkins' published work has focused primarily on the urban and economic history of the Mediterranean and western Europe during Late Antiquity. His 2005 book, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, included statements addressing what he saw as an over-correction in the approaches of modern historiography to late Roman history. Using primarily archaeological evidence, Ward-Perkins takes issue with what he says is the "fashionable" idea that the western Roman Empire did not actually fall but instead experienced a mostly-benign transformation into the Christian kingdoms of medieval Europe. In his contrasting view, "the coming of the Germanic peoples was very unpleasant for the Roman population, and the long-term effects of the dissolution of the empire were dramatic." ^[6]

Ward-Perkins' contributions to fourteenth volume of The Cambridge Ancient History were praised by Jan Willem Drijvers and Geoffrey Greatrex  [ de ], with the latter declaring that Ward-Perkins' chapters on the economy of the late Roman Empire were "among the finest of the volume". ^{[7] [8]}

Awards and honours

• 2006 Hessell-Tiltman Prize, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization

Selected works

• 1984: From Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages: urban public building in Northern and Central Italy AD 300–850. Oxford: Clarendon Press ISBN   0-19-821898-2
• 1998: "The Cities", in The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. XIII: 337–425
• 2000: "Why did the Anglo-Saxons not become more British?" (English Historical Review, June 2000)
• 2001: The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. XIV: 425–600 (edited with Averil Cameron and Michael Whitby). Cambridge University Press
• 2005: The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press ISBN   0-19-280564-9
• Smith, R. R. R.; Ward-Perkins, Bryan, eds. (2016). The Last Statues of Antiquity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0198753322.

References

1. "List of Fellows (February 2024)" (PDF). Royal Historical Society. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
2. Bryan Ward-Perkins Archived March 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Trinity College, University of Oxford, 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
3. "Recognition of Distinction: Successful applicants 2014" Archived 16 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine , The University of Oxford Gazette, no. 5076, 6 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
4. "A personal (and very patchy) account of medieval archaeology in the early 1970s in northern Italy" Archived 2014-05-18 at the Wayback Machine by Bryan Ward-Perkins in European Journal of Post-Classical Archaeologies, Vol. 1, 2011.
5. Ward-Perkins, B. (1980). "Urban public building in Italy, north of Salerno 300–850 AD". E-Thesis Online Service. The British Library Board.
6. Ward-Perkins, Bryan (2005). The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization . Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-280728-5.
7. Jan Willem Drijvers, 'Reviewed Work: The Cambridge Ancient History XIV. Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, AD 425–600 by Averil Cameron, Bryan Ward-Perkins and Michael Whitby', Mnemosyne, Fourth Series, Vol. 56, Fasc. 2 (2003), p. 242.
8. Geoffrey Greatrex, 'Reviewed Work: The Cambridge Ancient History XIV. Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, AD 425–600 by Averil Cameron, Bryan Ward-Perkins and Michael Whitby', Phoenix, Vol. 57, No. 1/2 (Spring - Summer, 2003), p. 183.

External links

• Staff profile at University of Oxford History Faculty
• A joint interview with Bryan Ward-Perkins and Peter Heather Archived 4 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine at Oxford University Press
• Podcast Bryan Ward-Perkins on the Fall of the Roman Empire
• Interview about The Fall of Rome for Historically Speaking. (archived from the original)