Edward J. Watts
Edward J. Watts | |
|---|---|
J. Watts in Rome, 2023 | |
| Born | 1 March 1975 |
| Board member of | San Diego Center for Hellenic Studies |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Brown University (BA) Yale University (PhD) |
| Thesis | City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Classical Studies |
| Sub-discipline | Intellectual, political, and religious history of the Roman Empire and the early Byzantine Empire |
| Institutions | University of California, San Diego |
Edward J. Watts (born 1 March 1975) is an American classical historian and writer. Since 2012, he has been a professor of history at University of California, San Diego and co-directed the San Diego Center for Hellenic Studies.[1][2][3]
Public impact
His early work, which focused on the cultural and religious changes affecting philosophy and educational life as the Roman Empire embraced Christianity, included City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria,[4] which won the CAMWS Outstanding Publication award.[5]
His later works have described social and political change in the Roman world in a fashion that prompted popular reflections about twenty-first century society. The Final Pagan Generation, which offers a generational history of the men born in the 310s that traces the experience of living through the Christianization of the Roman Empire, sparked a series of conversations among conservative thinkers and other intellectuals about similar, dramatic shifts quietly taking place in twenty-first century life.[6][7]
His books focused on political change in the Roman and Byzantine worlds, The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome and Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny prompted economists[8][9] as well as cultural[10][11] and political commentators in the United States[12][13] and around the world,[14][15] to consider the relevance of the legacies of the Roman world to modern representative democracies and culture. He is also the creator of the YouTube channel Rome's Eternal Decline.
Books
- City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria (2008)[16]
- Riot in Alexandria: Tradition and Group Dynamics in Late Antique Pagan and Christian Communities (2010)[17]
- The Final Pagan Generation (2015)[18][19]
- Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher (2017)[20][21][22]
- Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell Into Tyranny (2018)[2]
- The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome: The History of a Dangerous Idea (2021)[23][24]
- The Romans: A 2,000-Year History (2025)[25][26]
References
- ^ Diego, Chris Jennewein • Times of San (2015-01-08). "Hellenic Studies Center Created at UC San Diego". Times of San Diego. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
- ^ a b Mounk, Yascha (2018-12-24). "What the Fall of the Roman Republic Can Teach Us About America (Published 2018)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
- ^ "Citizenship in the Ancient Roman Empire". KPFA. 2025-10-29. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
- ^ "Dissertations by year, 2000-2009". Yale University Department of History. 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
- ^ "CAMWS Outstanding Publication award winners". 10 June 2014.
- ^ Dreher, Rod (July 9, 2018). "American Conservative".
- ^ Rollman, Rhea (December 7, 2020). "Pop Matters".
- ^ Lipsky, Joshua (March 2019). "Ancient Rome offers lessons on the importance of sustainable development". International Monetary Fund Finance and Development Magazine.
- ^ "Risks And Rewards: From Rome To Manhattan". Global Finance Magazine. March 8, 2019.
- ^ "The Approval Matrix: Week of January 7, 2019". New York Magazine. January 7, 2019.
- ^ Cooper, Michael (January 31, 2020). "In the Met Opera's 'Agrippina,' the Roman Empire Never Ended A contemporary-dress Handel production calls to mind "House of Cards," "Succession" and your choice of rulers in the age of Trump".
- ^ Sullivan, Andrew (August 7, 2019). "Is There Hope for the American Republic After Trump?". New York Magazine.
- ^ Mounk, Yascha (December 24, 2018). "What the Fall of the Roman Republic and Teach US About America". New York Times.
- ^ Lissardy, Gerardo (November 18, 2020). ""Es un momento alarmante": el experto que compara la situación de EE.UU. con la crisis y caída de la República romana". BBC Mundo.
- ^ Ruiz, Fatima (March 25, 2023). "Estados Unidos: manual de instrucciones para perder un imperio El historiador Edward J. Watts traza el mapa de la decadencia de Roma como GPS para los EEUU del siglo XXI". El Mundo.
- ^ "City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria by Edward J. Watts - Paper". University of California Press. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
- ^ "Riot in Alexandria by Edward J. Watts - Paper". University of California Press. Retrieved 2025-12-13.
- ^ "Review of: The Final Pagan Generation. Transformation of the Classical Heritage, 53". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. ISSN 1055-7660.
- ^ Francis, James (2015-01-01). "The Final Pagan Generation by Edward J. Watts (Review)". Journal of Early Christian Studies. 23 (4): 638–639. doi:10.1353/earl.2015.0047.
- ^ "Book Note | Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher". ANCIENT JEW REVIEW. 2019-02-04. Retrieved 2025-10-29.
- ^ "Review of: Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher. Women in antiquity". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. ISSN 1055-7660.
- ^ Hodges-Kluck, Stefan (April 2018). "A PORTRAIT OF A FEMALE PHILOSOPHER - (E.J.) Watts Hypatia. The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher. Pp. xii + 205, ills, map. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. Cased, £19.99, US$29.95. ISBN: 978-0-19-021003-8". The Classical Review. 68 (1): 150–152. doi:10.1017/S0009840X1700213X. ISSN 0009-840X.
- ^ Swist, Jeremy J. (2022). "The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Edward J. Watts". Classical Journal. 118 (1): 121–123. doi:10.1353/tcj.2022.0028. ISSN 2327-5812.
- ^ Stothard, Peter (2021-09-24). "'The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome' Review: The Road From Ruin". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
- ^ Romm, By James (2025-10-03). "'The Romans' Review: Empire of Centuries". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-10-19.
- ^ THE ROMANS | Kirkus Reviews.