Eugene N. Borza

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Eugene N. Borza

Eugene N. Borza (3 March 1935 – 5 September 2021)[1] was a professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania State University, where he taught from 1964 until 1995.

Academic career[]

He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Borza wrote extensively on the ancient kingdom of Macedonia, his most notable publication In the Shadow of Olympus (1990, Princeton). He was a guest lecturer for the In the introductory chapter of Makedonika by Carol G. Thomas, Borza is characterized as a "Macedonian specialist".[2] He has also been called the dean of US scholars on ancient Macedonia, and served as president of the Association of Ancient Historians for six years, from 1984 to 1989, and was a national lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) for 40 years. He was appointed as visiting professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder; The American School of Classical Studies at Athens; the University of Washington; Trinity University; and Carlton College. He especially enjoyed serving as historical advisor to the National Gallery of Art's groundbreaking exhibition, The Search for Alexander, in 1981.

Like a number of other experts on ancient Macedonia, including Ernst Badian and Peter Green, Borza doubted that the ancient Macedonians were necessarily Greek in the strictest ethnic sense, although he believed them to be related, and also clearly stated they were certainly not related to the modern homonymous Slavic ethnic group as per his comments in "Macedonia Redux".[3] Nevertheless, his words were frequently and selectively quoted by Slavic Macedonian nationalists, which led to his demonization in some circles. His “related-but-not-Greek” view of the ancient Macedonians, rejected by the Greek government, led to the Greek refusal to allow him to film with British historian Michael Wood for the 1998 BBC television series In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great inside Greece.[4] Nonetheless, Borza's contributions to the field of Macedonian studies remain deep and well recognized by most in the field. In 2008, he received a festschrift published in his honor Macedonian Legacies: Studies in Ancient Macedonian History and Culture in Honor of Eugene N. Borza, edited by Timothy Howe and (Regina Publishers, ISBN 1539365654).

Published works[]

  • 1962 - The Bacaudae: A Study of Rebellion in Late Roman Gaul (University of Chicago, Department of History)
  • 1974 - The Impact of Alexander the Great (Dryden Press, ISBN 0-03-090000-X)
  • 1972 - "Fire from heaven: Alexander at Persepolis" Classical Philology 67, 233-245.
  • 1982 - "The natural resources of early Macedonia" in W. L. Adams and E. N. Borza, eds. Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Macedonian Heritage. Lanham, MD. 1-20.
  • 1983 - "The symposium at Alexander's court" Archaia Makedonia 3, 45-55
  • 1990 - In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon (Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-00880-9)
  • 1995 - Makedonika (Regina Books, ISBN 0-941690-65-2)
  • 1999 - "Macedonia Redux" in Frances B. Titchener and Richard F. Moorton, eds. The Eye Expanded: Life and Arts in Greco-Roman Antiquity De Gruyter, 249-65.

References[]

  1. ^ "Eugene Borza Obituary (2021) Patriot-News". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  2. ^ "Eugene N. Borza". scholar.google.com. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  3. ^ Frances B. Titchener and Richard F. Moorton (1999). The Eye Expanded: Life and Arts in Greco-Roman Antiquity. De Gruyter. pp. 249ff.
  4. ^ Joseph Roisman (2002). Brill's Companion to Alexander the Great. BRILL. p. 359. ISBN 978-90-04-21755-3.

External links[]


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