[Archport] Faleceu o arqueólogo inglês Anthony Birley

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Title: AIEGL's Circular letter: December 2020 (2)

Acabo de aceder à informação, veiculada pela Associação Internacional de Epigrafia Grega e Latina de que o «Professor Anthony Birley (Tony) died peacefully in his sleep early during the morning of Saturday December 19th at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle».

Com 83 anos de idade, era filho de Eric Birley, também ele historiador e arqueólogo. Aliás, Eric comprara casa junto a Vindolanda, célebre forte romano para forças auxiliares na fronteira actual entre a Inglaterra e a Escócia, onde Anthony e o seu irmão Robin começaram a escavar.

Transcrevo infra a mensagem veiculada pela Vindolanda Trust, associação que fundou em 1970; mas não posso também deixar de me associar ao voto de que requiescat in pace, copiando a bonita frase com que Silvia Orlandi, presidente da AIEGL, termina a sua comunicação, em jeito de legenda ao risonho instantâneo entre Anthony e Silvio Panciera:

«And maybe, “somewhere over the rainbow", in these days we could imagine a scene like this...»

Anthony Birley 1937-2020

Statement released by The Vindolanda Trust 21st December, 2020

The Vindolanda Trust conveys with great sorrow that Professor Anthony Birley (Tony) died peacefully in his sleep early during the morning of Saturday December 19th at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. He had become terminally ill with lung cancer and bore his short illness with bravery and the utmost dignity.

"In addition to a long and distinguished academic career, Tony made a major contribution to the Vindolanda Trust over many years.  As current guardians of the trust, my fellow trustees and I always appreciated Tony's expertise and wise counsel. We will miss him greatly".  Chair of Trustees, Helen Woodford. 

Anthony Birley was born at Chesterholm, (now the Vindolanda Museum) on 8th October 1937 and was the younger son of Eric and Peggy Birley. He said that his earliest memories of the place were from 1943 when the family returned to Northumberland after being away for the first years of the Second World War. For Tony, and his elder brother Robin, Chesterholm and Vindolanda became a place of boyhood freedom and adventure which left a deep love and impact on the rest of their lives.

At school, Clifton College, he showed talent mainly for languages, so, as still allowed in those days, concentrated from the age of 13 on Latin, Greek, and Ancient History to the exclusion of most other subjects and this led to Classics at Oxford.

After reading Literae Humaniores at Oxford he was Craven Fellow of that university 1960-1962 and then became a Research Fellow at Birmingham; Lecturer, later Reader at Leeds; Visiting Lecturer, Duke University, N. Carolina; Professor of Ancient History at Manchester and at Düsseldorf, retiring in 2002. He was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1969. Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute in 1981, full Member from 1992; Member of the Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften 1994-2002, now Corresponding Member; Member of the School of Historical Studies, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton 1994

He always enjoyed digging, mainly in England and especially, for many years, joining his brother at Vindolanda, Scotland and Wales, with two spells in Libya. After his experience of directing a dig himself (at Maryport in 1966) he chose to stick to teaching and writing history (several books on Roman Britain and three more on Roman emperors including extensive contributions with many more academic articles).

Anthony became a Founder Trustee of the Vindolanda Trust in 1970 and served until 2016, for the final twenty years as Chair, and then became our senior Patron. His contribution to the reading of the Vindolanda writing tablets and the numerous inscriptions from the site was immense and he never failed to apply the formidable brilliance of his academic mind for our benefit. 

We mourn this kind man who was so generous with his knowledge and personal time to everyone he met. Professor Anthony Birley was loved by all at Vindolanda, he is irreplaceable and will be forever embedded in the history of the Vindolanda Trust.

May he now rest in peace and our heartfelt condolences go to his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Copio da wikipédia o elenco selectivo das suas publicações, que mostram bem o grande alcance que teve a sua investigação para o estudo da História Antiga e da Arqueologia:

Selected publications

• Hadrian's Wall an illustrated guide. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) (1963).
• Imperial Rome with drawings by the artist. Alan Sorrell London: Lutterworth Press (1970)
• Life in Roman Britain (1972)
• Lives of the Later Caesars (1976)
• The Fasti of Roman Britain, Clarendon Press (1981)
• The African Emperors: Septimius Severus (1988)
• Roman Papers, vol. 6, by Ronald Syme, edited by A. R. Birley (Clarendon Press 1991)
• The People of Roman Britain (1992)
• Marcus Aurelius: a Biography, London: Routledge, (1993)
• Anatolica - Studies in Strabo, by Ronald Syme, edited by A. R. Birley (Oxford: OUP 1995)
• Vindolanda Research Reports (new series) 6 vols. (1996)
• Hadrian: the Restless Emperor, London: Routledge, (1997)*Eques Romanus - Reiter und Ritter (in German) by Michel Stemmler, edited by A. R. Birley (Peter Lang GmbH, 1997)
• Onomasticon to the Younger Pliny, Clarendon Press (2000)
• Garrison Life at Vindolanda: a Band of Brothers, Stroud: Tempus, (2002)
• Septimius Severus: the African Emperor, London: Routledge, (2004)
• The Roman Government of Britain (2005)
• Agricola and Germany (2009)

José d’Encarnação