Historian dies

Press, 7 September 1989, Page 8

Historian dies

NZPA-AP London Sir Ronald Syme, an Oxford historian who shook up notions of ancient Rome with his theories on the intrigues of its nobles, died yesterday. He was aged 86. Dr Martin Francis, secretary of the governing body of Oxford’s Wolfson College, where Sir Ronald had lived since 1975, said: “He was probably the most eminent classicist of this century.” Instead of focusing on the ideals and constitutional structure of the Roman emperors as his predecessors had, Sir Ronald disclosed the lust for power and money which motivated their careers and compared them to European dictators in the 19305. He introduced his theories in his first and most famous book, “The Roman Revolution,” a landmark work published in 1939.

Born in 1903 in New Zealand, Sir Ronald studied classics at Oxford in the 19205.

Sir Ronald pioneered a method of historical research which involved studying the backgrounds of groups of influential people. ' As part of his work, he held that the Roman republic was transformed into an empire partly as a result of fierce struggles between political factions surrounding the Emperor Augustus, who died in MAD.