CLASSICS PROFESSOR GEOFFREY GREATREX candidly acknowledges
that at the age of 10 his interest in the ancient past was
kindled by the celebrated series of Asterix books,
which continue to offer children of all ages a unique perspective
on Gaul in the first century B.C. Of course, about the same
time he was mastering these texts, he was also adding Latin
and Greek to the list of languages he could read and write.
Indeed, it is the fact that the study of classical civilization
can be approached in so many different ways — from breezily
popular accounts to rigid scholarly treatments — that
continues to appeal to him. The field represents nothing less
than a compendium of human learning through the ages.
“We hear a lot about multidisciplinarity these days;
classics is intrinsically so,” says Greatrex. “It
demands a knowledge of languages, of literature, of history,
of philosophy, of all these domains. Then if you want to become
more technical, it can involve a knowledge of papyrology,
of numismatics, of archaeology, or of still other disciplines.”
And just as satisfying to him is the finite body of original
material that can be mined for this work, although new discoveries,
especially in the field of archaeology, continue to add to
our knowledge of the ancient world. While it is possible to
read everything that the ancients had to say for themselves
— everything that has survived, at any rate —
Greatrex regards this obvious limitation as a liberating advantage.
“You can read all there is to read,” he says.
“All the primary sources are at your disposal. You can
consult these documents and you can come to your own conclusions,
which will therefore be as valid as anyone else’s interpretation
of the same evidence.”
Yet though the body of subject matter may be well contained,
there is still plenty of research to be done. One of Greatrex’s
most recent interests was again inspired by a more popular
account, this time a novel depicting the adventures of a sixth
century Roman general. Written by Robert Graves, author of
the highly acclaimed I, Claudius, much of the story
of Count Belisarius was drawn from the writings
of Procopius, who lived during this period and provided eye-witness
accounts of activities in what we now call the Middle East.
Digging deeper into the work of Procopius, Greatrex has made
his observations of this era much more widely accessible to
classical scholars. In particular, he has become fascinated
by the intricate dynamics between the waning Roman empire
and the still powerful Persian empire. Last year, in conjunction
with Sam Lieu of Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia,
he brought out a book of his findings, The Roman Eastern
Frontier and the Persian Wars, A.D. 363–630 (London:
Routledge, 2002)
The process of achieving such insights continues to provide
the essence of a classical education, which many students
and instructors still regard as the cornerstone of any training
in the liberal arts, if not more generally. Like all his departmental
colleagues, Greatrex teaches five or six courses a year, sometimes
to classes with just a handful of students. He finds this
intimate atmosphere to be the basis for a rich intellectual
experience, one that lays a foundation for almost any kind
of occupation or further education.
“It is estimated now that people will need to be reskilled
something like seven times in an average working life,”
he notes. He adds that many classics graduates of his acquaintance
have gone on to jobs in fields as diverse and distant from
the ancient world as the law, accountancy, computing and high
finance.
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