Edith Mary WightmanFSA (1 January 1938 – 17 December 1983) was a Britishancient historian andarchaeologist. She was Assistant-Professor and then Professor atMcMaster University (1969–1983). Wightman was best known for her studiesRoman Trier andGallia Belgica.
Edith Mary Wightman was born on 1 January 1938 inScotland, the daughter of R. J. and Edith W. Wightman.[1] She undertook undergraduate studies at theUniversity of St Andrews, receiving her MA in 1960.[2] Next, she studied inOxford withIan Richmond and C.E. Stevens, receiving a diploma in Classical Archaeology in 1962, and a DPhil in 1968.[2] Her dissertation on RomanTrier and theTreveri was published as a monograph in 1970.[2] Wightman lectured at theUniversity of Leicester from 1965 to 1969,[2] before joining the Department of History atMcMaster University in 1969,[3] replacing her predecessorEdward Togo Salmon as Professor of Ancient History.[2]
Wightman undertook archaeological fieldwork in the Mediterranean as part of three projects; atMonte Irsi under the direction of Alaster Small,[3][4] as co-director of the Second Canadian Team excavations atCarthage alongsideColin Wells,[5] and as the director of the multidisciplinary field survey project in theLiri Valley,Italy.[6]
Wightman's work has been described as a "model of how to combine literary, epigraphic, and archaeological data with caution and imagination[7] Research forGallia Belgica involved annual research visits to archaeological institutes inBelgium,France,Germany and theNetherlands.[8] Her posthumously published survey ofGallia Belgica has been described as "magisterial",[9] and John Percival stated that "it is hard to think of a better study of an individual Roman province in terms of comprehensiveness and reliability".[10] Underlying her work was a "concern for the Roman countryside and its population".[3] She was noted for her skill as a researcher and as a teacher,[3] and as "a much loved and respected scholar".[10]
Wightman was murdered on 17 December 1983 in her office atMcMaster University.[1][2] She was found lying on the floor with her eyes and mouth bound with surgical tape and her hands handcuffed behind her back.[11] According to the police, credit cards were missing and robbery was probably the motive for the killing.[11] A 27-year-old chemist was charged with the murder some weeks later.[12]
Wightman, E. 1970.Roman Trier and the Treveri. Oxford
Wightman, E.M. 1974. La Gaule chevelue entre César et Auguste. InActes du IXeme Congres International d'études sur les Frontières Romaines, Mamaïa, 6-13 septembre 1972.
Wightman, E.M. 1975. The pattern of rural settlement in Roman Gaul.ANRW 2.4: 584-657
Wightman, E.M. 1977. Military arrangements, native settlements and related developments in early Roman Gaul.Helinium 17, 105–126.
Wightman, E. 1978. Peasants and potentates: an investigation of social structure and land tenure in Roman Gaul.American Journal of Ancient History 3.
Wightman, E. 1980. The plan of Roman Carthage, inNew Light on Ancient Carthage (Ann Arbor, 1980), 29-46
Wightman, E. 1981. The lower Liri valley: problems, trends and peculiaritiies. In G. Barker and R. Hodges (eds.)Archaeology and Italian Society. Prehistoric, Roman and Medieval Studies. Oxford: BAR International Series 102.
Wightman, E. 1985.Gallia Belgica. London: B. T. Batsford
Wightman, E.M. 1994a The Iron Age. In J.W. Hayes and I.P. Martini (eds.)Archaeological survey in the Lower Liri Valley, Central Italy (BAR International Series 595). Oxford, Tempus Reparatum. 13–17.
Wightman, E.M. 1994b Communications. In J.W. Hayes and I.P. Martini (eds.)Archaeological survey in the Lower Liri Valley, Central Italy (BAR International Series 595). Oxford, Tempus Reparatum. 30–33.
Hayes, J.W. and Wightman, E.M. (1984) Interamna Lirenas: risultati di ricerche in superficie 1979–1981. In S. QuiliciGigli (ed.)Archeologia Laziale VI (Quaderni del Centro di Studio per l'Archeologia Etrusco-Italica 8). Roma, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. 137–148.
^abGordon, Laura."Wightman, Edith Mary".Database of Classical Scholars | Rutgers, University of New Jersey. Retrieved25 April 2020.
^abcdefgRidgway, David (1994). "Edith Wightman".Biographical Dictionary of North American Classicists by American Philological Association. p. 709.
^abcdRossiter, J (1984). "Edith Mary Wightman".Échos du Monde Classique.28:302–3.
^Monte Irsi, Southern Italy : the Canadian excavations in the Iron Age and Roman sites, 1971-1972. Small, Alastair., Barker, Graeme. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports. 1977.ISBN090453166X.OCLC3390190.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Archaeological survey in the Lower Liri Valley, Central Italy. Wightman, Edith Mary, -1983., Hayes, John W., Martini, I. P. (Ireneo Peter), 1935-. Oxford: Tempvs Reparatvm. 1994.ISBN9780860547693.OCLC32394341.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Woolf, G. (2005). "Family History in the Roman North-West". In George, M. (ed.).The Roman Family in the Empire: Rome, Italy, and Beyond. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 231–254.
