Dr Harry Sidebottom
Dr Harry Sidebottom
Expert on ancient warfare, and Greek culture under Rome
Harry Sidebottom was educated at various schools and universities, including Oxford, where he took his Doctorate in Ancient History at Corpus Christi College. He has taught at various universities, including Oxford, where he is now Fellow and Director of Studies in Ancient History at St Benets Hall, and Lecturer in Ancient History at Lincoln College.
His main scholarly research interests are Greek culture under the Roman empire, in particular the compromises and contradictions involved when an old and sophisticated culture is conquered and ruled by what it considers to be a younger and less civilised power. He also specialises in warfare in classical antiquity, looking at how war was both conducted and thought about by Greeks and Romans. He has published numerous chapters in books, articles and reviews in journals, and is an internationally recognised scholar in these fields.
His first book Ancient Warfare: A Very Short Introduction was published by Oxford University Press in 2004. It got excellent reviews, with the Guardian calling it “a boot camp for the brain – a short, sharp shock to the presumptions". It has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, German and Greek.
Since 2003 he has been a regular reviewer of fiction, especially historical novels, in the Times Literary Supplement. Here he has enthused about Robert Harris and Allan Massie, and probably made enemies for life of Erica Jong and Colleen McCullough. Since 2006 he has been working on the Warrior of Rome series of novels.
Away from classical scholarship, he says his other interests include "fiction, travel, sport, booze, and women".
