James Frank Gilliam

James Frank Gilliam
Born	(1915-03-14)March 14, 1915 Seattle, U.S.
Died	March 16, 1990(1990-03-16) (aged 75) Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.

James Frank Gilliam (14 March 1915 – 16 March 1990) was an American

and historian of ancient Rome.

Career

James Frank Gilliam studied at San Jose State University (B.A. 1935) and at Stanford University (M.A. 1936). In 1940 he earned his Ph.D. at Yale University under the classicist Michael Rostovtzeff. After his Ph.D., he worked as an instructor in classics until his academic career was interrupted by military service in World War II from 1941 to 1945.

In 1947 Gilliam joined the faculty of

.

From 1970 to 1985, Gilliam worked part-time at Columbia University: from 1970 to 1981 as curator of the papyri collection and from 1970 to 1985 as an adjunct professor. From 1972 to 1975 he was a visiting lecturer at Princeton University. In the academic year 1978/1979 he taught as Sather Professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Achievements

As Rostovtzeff's student, Gilliam focused his research on

, where Rostovtzeff had excavated in the 1920s and 1930s, Gilliam studied inscriptions and papyrological documents of Roman military history in the eastern provinces. His numerous research papers dealt with almost all aspects of the complexities of Roman military history. His mastery of the material enabled him to plan an exhaustive presentation of ancient Roman military history in monograph form. He repeatedly promised to produce such a presentation but died without fulfilling his plan.

Sources

• Charles Rowan Beye (1994). "Gilliam, James Franklin". In
  ISBN 0-313-24560-6
  .
• James Frank Gilliam (1986). Roman Army Papers. Vol. 2 of Mavors-Series Roman Army Researches. Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben Publishing.
  ISBN 90-70265-28-1
  .

External links

• James Frank Gilliam at the Database of Classical Scholars
• Gilliam, J. F. — WorldCat Identities
• photo: James Gilliam – standing :: School of Historical Studies, IAS