Chester G. Starr | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1914-10-05)October 5, 1914 |
| Died | September 22, 1999(1999-09-22) (aged 84) Ann Arbor, Michigan, US |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | history |
| Sub-discipline | ancient history |
| Institutions | |
| Main interests | ancient art andarcheology of theGreco-Roman civilization |
| Notable works | A History of the Ancient World |
Chester G. Starr (October 5, 1914 inCentralia, Missouri – September 22, 1999 inAnn Arbor, Michigan) was an Americanhistorian. An authority onancient history, he specialized in theancient art andarcheology of theGreco-Roman civilization. According to the University of Michigan, he was "the acknowledged dean of ancient history in America."[1]
Starr studied atCornell University, withMax Ludwig Wolfram Laistner. Between 1940 and 1953 he was lecturer in history at theUniversity of Illinois,Urbana. He became a professor in the same department, a position he held until 1970, when he moved to theUniversity of Michigan. From 1973 to 1985 he held the Bentley Chair at Michigan. In 1974 he became the first president of theAmerican Association of Ancient Historians.
DuringWorld War II Starr served in the history section of the U.S. Army, posted to the headquarters of theUnited States Fifth Army in Italy from 1942 to 1946. As a result of that commission, he wrote a nine-volume compilation entitledFifth Army History, and a popular book about it titledFrom Salerno to the Alps (1948).
Among his historical works are twenty-one books, dozens of articles and over one hundred book reviews. His best-known text,A History of the Ancient World, was reissued with successive enlargements between 1965 and 1991. His historiographical methodology has been described asHegelian, especially inCivilization and the Caesars: The Intellectual Revolution in the Roman Empire (1954). In what has been called his greatest work:The Origins of Greek Civilization (1961), he dismantled theNordic theory, which sought to interpret Greek cultural achievements in terms of amaster race. His approach focused on individuals as agents of historical change, in contrast to the dominant methodology of the time: theAnnales School and theBraudelian concept oflongue durée.
Among his other works areThe Awakening of the Greek Historical Spirit (1968),Economic Growth of Early Greece (1977),The Beginnings of Imperial Rome: Rome in the Mid-Republic (1980),The Flawed Mirror (1983) andPast and Future in Ancient History (1987).[2]
