Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Name	Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Formation	1910
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	London
Leader title	President
Leader name	Sir Barry Cunliffe

Contents

Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies is a learned society founded in 1910 to advance the study of Roman Britain, Roman Empire, Roman Republic, and related cultures across the Mediterranean and Europe. It operates alongside institutions such as the British Museum, the British School at Rome, the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, and the Society of Antiquaries of London to support research, publication, and fieldwork. The society's activities intersect with disciplines represented by the British Academy, the Royal Archaeological Institute, the Institute of Classical Studies, and university departments at University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, King's College London, and the University of Edinburgh.

History

The society was established in 1910 amid coordination between scholars from British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the British School at Rome to institutionalize studies that included figures like Francis Haverfield, Theodor Mommsen, F. J. Haverfield, and contemporaries linked to excavations at Hadrian's Wall, Bath (Roman baths), and sites in Pompeii. Early governance drew on models from the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Royal Society, and the British Academy, while collaborations involved the Ashmolean Museum, the National Museum of Scotland, and foreign partners such as the École Française de Rome and the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut. Through the twentieth century it engaged with post-war projects connected to the Roman Forum, the Via Appia, the Antonine Wall, and campaigns by archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler, Gerald Avery Wainwright, and R. G. Collingwood. In recent decades links with the European Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council shaped funding for excavations at Caerleon, Vindolanda, Fishbourne Roman Palace, and surveys in North Africa and the Levant.

The society promotes research into Roman-period sites and artefacts, supporting projects at locations such as Colchester, Eboracum, Lindum Colonia, Silchester, Londinium, and Verulamium and coordinating with museums including the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and the National Roman Museum. It organizes lectures, conferences, and seminars featuring scholars from University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, University of York, and the University of Leicester and partners with organizations such as the British School at Rome, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, the Isle of Man Archaeological Society, and the Council for British Archaeology. The society funds fieldwork and publication efforts linked to archaeological campaigns at Herculaneum, Ostia Antica, Caerwent, Aventicum, and research projects supported by bodies like the Leverhulme Trust and the European Union.

The society publishes the annual journal Britannia, monographs in the Roman Society Monograph series, and a range of bibliographies and excavation reports similar in output to the Journal of Roman Studies, the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, and the Archaeological Journal. Notable volumes have documented excavations at Vindolanda, Silchester, Caerleon, Bath, and survey work in Britanny, Dalmatia, and Tunisia. Publication collaborations involve presses and institutions such as Oxford University Press, the British School at Rome, the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, and the Society of Antiquaries of London and have featured contributions from scholars like Sheppard Frere, Norman Hammond, A. J. B. Wace, and Birgitta Hoffmann.

Membership attracts academics, field archaeologists, curators, and students affiliated with University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, University of Glasgow, University of Manchester, and international institutions including the University of Rome La Sapienza, the University of Bologna, and the École Normale Supérieure. Governance follows a council and presidential model with officers often drawn from the British Academy fellowship, the Society of Antiquaries of London, and university faculties; past presidents and officers include figures linked to Francis Haverfield, A. H. M. Jones, and contemporary academics attached to the British Museum and the Ashmolean Museum. Committees administer publications, grants, and outreach in concert with bodies such as the Royal Archaeological Institute and the Institute of Classical Studies.

The society awards grants and bursaries that support excavation, post-excavation analysis, and research travel, comparable to funding from the Leverhulme Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the European Research Council. It administers small grants for students and early-career researchers working at sites including Vindolanda, Pompeii, Ostia Antica, Bath, and Silchester and funds publication costs for monographs on excavations at Caerleon, Fishbourne Roman Palace, and Colchester. Prize schemes and bursaries echo awards named in the wider field such as those from the British Academy and the Society of Antiquaries of London and have supported work by scholars associated with Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, and international universities.

The society runs lecture series, public events, and teacher resources that connect with museums like the British Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and the National Museum Wales and with heritage agencies such as Historic England and Cadw. Educational programmes target schools and adult learners and collaborate with institutions including the British School at Rome, the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, and university initiatives at University of Leicester and University College London, while public-facing publications and exhibitions have accompanied exhibitions on Hadrian, Claudius, Nero, Trajan, and material culture from Pompeii and Herculaneum.