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| Brent D. Shaw | |
|---|---|
| Name | Brent D. Shaw |
| Birth date | 1947 |
| Occupation | Historian, Classicist |
| Known for | Studies of Roman Africa, slavery, social history |
| Workplaces | Johns Hopkins University, University of Toronto |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto, University of British Columbia |
Brent D. Shaw. Brent D. Shaw is a Canadian-born historian and classicist noted for his work on Roman Empire, North Africa, late antiquity, and the social history of Roman law and slavery. He has taught at major institutions including Johns Hopkins University and the University of Toronto and has published influential studies on provincial society in the Roman Republic, the Principate, and the Late Roman Empire. Shaw’s scholarship engages with debates in historiography associated with figures like Edward Gibbon, Theodor Mommsen, Peter Brown, and Arnaldo Momigliano.
Shaw was born in 1947 and studied classics and ancient history at the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. His doctoral work connected him to scholarly networks centered on Cambridge University and Oxford University traditions in classical studies, interacting with scholars linked to the Institute for Advanced Study and the British Academy. During his formative years he engaged with primary sources housed in archives such as the Vatican Library, the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, and manuscripts catalogued in the Bodleian Library, while participating in conferences sponsored by the American Philological Association and the Classical Association.
Shaw began teaching at the University of Toronto and later joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins University where he served in the Department of Classics and the Department of History. His academic appointments involved collaboration with researchers at the American Academy in Rome, the Center for Hellenic Studies, and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. Shaw supervised graduate students who went on to positions at institutions including the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, and the University of California, Berkeley. He has been a visiting fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, a visiting professor at Oxford University, and a lecturer at the Collège de France.
Shaw’s research focuses on provincial society in Roman Africa, social and legal history in the Roman Empire, the archaeology of rural settlement, and slavery and freedpeople in antiquity. He has examined evidence from epigraphy and papyrology found in collections such as the Egypt Exploration Society archives, the Papyrus Collection of the University of Michigan, and the Liverpool Museum. His work engages debates on the transformation of the Roman world in the fifth and sixth centuries, juxtaposing interpretations from scholars like Walter Goffart, Henri Pirenne, Michael Rostovtzeff, and Averil Cameron. Shaw has contributed to methodological discussions about the use of prosopography and quantitative analysis in classical studies, building upon traditions exemplified by T. Robert S. Broughton, Mireille Corbier, and Gordon Williams. He has also addressed continuity and change in provincial institutions drawing on comparative perspectives akin to those advanced by Fernand Braudel, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Eric Hobsbawm.
Shaw’s analyses of slavery in antiquity intersect with the work of historians such as Keith Bradley, Moses Finley, Sandra Joshel, and Paul Veyne, while his studies of rural economies and villa archaeology dialogue with research by John Lloyd, Bruno Dumézil, and Guy Thompson. He has critiqued teleological narratives about barbarian invasions and continuity, engaging controversies involving Edward Gibbon–influenced decline models and revisionist stances associated with Bryan Ward-Perkins, Peter Heather, and Chris Wickham.
Shaw’s major works include monographs and edited volumes that have shaped debates in ancient history. Notable publications include his studies collected in volumes published by presses such as Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Johns Hopkins University Press. His articles appear in journals like the Journal of Roman Studies, Classical Quarterly, American Journal of Archaeology, Speculum, and Historia. He has contributed chapters to edited collections from the British School at Rome, the American Academy in Rome, and the Dumbarton Oaks Papers. Shaw has edited or co-edited volumes in series associated with the Loeb Classical Library, the Cambridge Ancient History, and the Oxford Classical Monographs.
Shaw has received fellowships and honors from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He has been elected to scholarly bodies including the Royal Society of Canada and has served on advisory boards for institutes like the American Academy in Rome and the Institute for Advanced Study. His work has been recognized with prizes awarded by the American Philological Association and nominations for awards from the British Academy.
Category:Canadian historians Category:Classical scholars Category:Historians of antiquity