Sir
Ronald Syme (
1903-
1989) was a
New Zealand-born
historian, specialising in the Classical period. He graduated in Classics from
Oriel College, Oxford, and in
1929 became a Fellow of
Trinity. During the
Second World War, he worked in the British Embassies of
Belgrade and
Ankara and as a professor at
Istanbul University. In
1949, he was appointed
Camden Professor of Ancient History within
Oxford University. The work for which he is chiefly remembered,
The Roman Revolution (
1939), was a masterly analysis of Roman political life in the period following the assassination of
Julius Caesar. His biographies of
Tacitus (
1958) and
Sallust (
1964) are also regarded as authoritative.