Averil Cameron
Encyclopedia
Dame Averil Millicent Cameron, DBE
, FBA (born 8 February 1940) is Professor of Late Antique
and Byzantine History in the University of Oxford
, and was formerly the Warden of Keble College, Oxford
between 1994 and 2010.
She was previously Professor of Ancient History
(1978–89) and Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
(1989–94), at King's College London
. At Oxford, she is Chair of the Advisory Committee on Honorary Degrees and also sits on committees for Conflict of Interest, Select Preachers, and the Wainwright Fund.
Her commitments beyond the University include:
, the only child of working class parents. She studied Greats at Somerville College, Oxford
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, FBA (born 8 February 1940) is Professor of Late Antique
Late Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
and Byzantine History in the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, and was formerly the Warden of Keble College, Oxford
Keble College, Oxford
Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall...
between 1994 and 2010.
She was previously Professor of Ancient History
Ancient history
Ancient history is the study of the written past from the beginning of recorded human history to the Early Middle Ages. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, with Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing, from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC...
(1978–89) and Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
Byzantine studies
Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, costumes, religion, art, such as literature and music, science, economy, and politics of the Byzantine Empire. The discipline's founder in Germany is considered to be the philologist Hieronymus...
(1989–94), at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
. At Oxford, she is Chair of the Advisory Committee on Honorary Degrees and also sits on committees for Conflict of Interest, Select Preachers, and the Wainwright Fund.
Her commitments beyond the University include:
- Chair, Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England (1999-2005)
- Chair, Institute of Classical Studies Advisory CouncilInstitute of Classical StudiesThe Institute of Classical Studies is a research institution associated with the University of London. A member of the School of Advanced Study. The Institute is a national and international research Institute in the languages, literature, history, art, archaeology and philosophy of the ancient...
- Vice-Chair of the Society for the Promotion of Roman StudiesSociety for the Promotion of Roman StudiesThe Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies....
- President of the Ecclesiastical History Society
- President, Council for British Archaeology in the Levant
- President of the Fédération internationale des associations d'études classiques (since 2009)
- Chair, Prosopography of the Byzantine WorldProsopography of the Byzantine WorldThe Prosopography of the Byzantine World is a project to create a prosopographical database of individuals named in textual sources in the Byzantine Empire and surrounding areas in the period from 642 to 1265...
(until 2005)
Personal life
Cameron was raised in Leek, StaffordshireLeek, Staffordshire
Leek is a market town in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214.It is the administrative centre for the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council...
, the only child of working class parents. She studied Greats at Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first women's colleges to be founded there...
.
Honours
- Honorary Doctorates in Letters from the Universities of WarwickUniversity of WarwickThe University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
, St AndrewsUniversity of St AndrewsThe University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
, AberdeenUniversity of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, and the Queen's University of BelfastQueen's University of BelfastQueen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB... - Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of LondonSociety of Antiquaries of LondonThe Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
- Fellow of the British AcademyBritish AcademyThe British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
- Fellow of the Ecclesiastical History Society
- Fellow of King's College LondonKing's College LondonKing's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
Selected bibliography
- AgathiasAgathiasAgathias or Agathias Scholasticus , of Myrina , an Aeolian city in western Asia Minor , was a Greek poet and the principal historian of part of the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian I between 552 and 558....
(Clarendon Press 1970), ISBN 0-19-814352-4 - ProcopiusProcopiusProcopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
and the Sixth Century (Duckworth 1985), ISBN 0-7156-1510-7 - Christianity and the Rhetoric of Empire: The Development of Christian Discourse (University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
1991), ISBN 0-520-07160-3 - The Later Roman Empire, AD 284-430 (FontanaFontana-Places:*Fontana, Chaco, a settlement in San Fernando Department in Chaco Province, Argentina*Fontana, Cape Verde, a settlement in the island of Sal, Cape Verde*Fontana, Gozo, on Gozo Island, Republic of Malta*Fontana , a neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia...
1993), ISBN 0-00-686172-5 - The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, AD 395-600 (RoutledgeRoutledgeRoutledge is a British publishing house which has operated under a succession of company names and latterly as an academic imprint. Its origins may be traced back to the 19th-century London bookseller George Routledge...
1993), ISBN 0-415-01420-4 - Images of Women in Antiquity (rev. ed., Routledge 1993), ISBN 0-415-09095-4 (ed. with Amélie Kuhrt)
- The Cambridge Ancient History:
- Vol. 12: The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337 (Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
2005), ISBN 0-521-30199-8 (2nd ed., ed. with Alan K. Bowman and Peter Garnsey) - Vol. 13: The Late Empire, AD 337-425 (Cambridge University Press 1998), ISBN 0-521-30200-5 (ed. with Peter Garnsey)
- Vol. 14: Late Antiquity: Empires and Successors, AD 425-600 (Cambridge University Press 2000), ISBN 0-521-32591-9 (ed. with Bryan Ward-PerkinsBryan Ward-PerkinsBryan Ward-Perkins 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. His published work has focused primarily on the urban and economic...
and Michael Whitby)
- Vol. 12: The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337 (Cambridge University Press
- The Byzantines (Blackwell 2006), ISBN 0-631-20262-5