Thomas Ashby

Thomas Ashby ( born October 14, 1874 in Staines, England; † May 15, 1931 in London) was a British archaeologist Classic. From 1906 to 1925 he was director of the British School at Rome, when he until 1906, their second was already by 1903 been director.

Life

Ashby was the only child of Thomas Ashby and his wife Rosa Emma. His father belonged to a well-known family of Quakers who ran a brewery in Staines. 1887 to 1893 he had a scholarship to Winchester College, where he was nicknamed Titus, whom he should never get rid of it. He then studied with a scholarship at Christ Church College in Oxford. First university degrees he earned in 1895 and 1897 in classical moderation literae humaniores. In 1890 the family had moved to Rome, where the sixteen year-old Rodolfo Lanciani Ashby archaeologists met. After 1897 he focused in his studies entirely in ancient Roman times and earned his Doctor of Letters in 1905.

In 1902 he enrolled as the first student at the British School at Rome, founded in 1901, and was in the same year a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London. From 1903 to 1906 Ashby was next Second Director of the British School, 1906-1925 whose first director. During his tenure, he expanded the research of the Institute on the entire western Mediterranean. 1915 involved the British School under his leadership, the Villa Giulia as a new home. During the First World War Ashby served the British Red Cross as a translator, the official duties during this time led his deputy Eugénie Strong. In 1918, he returned as an education officer to Rome, but took until 1919 again the leadership of the British School. In 1921 he married Caroline May 1924 decided the leadership of the British School, Ashby's contract in the following year to phase out. After retiring from office Ashby drove his Roman studies to end in 1930 and returned back to England. On May 15, 1931, he died of a cancerous condition.

Research

Since it was foreign researchers are not allowed after 1910 to carry out excavations in Italy, Ashby was forced to devote topographical studies. These studies initially focused on the Roman road system, before turning to the city of Roman aqueducts. Ashby developed into a specialist in the topography of the city of Rome, referring to his work, both ancient and modern sources, such as architectural drawings Antonio Labaccos from the 16th century, Eufrosino della Volpaias maps of the Campagna of 1547 or the topographical studies of the Étienne du Perač and Antiquae statuae urbis Romae by Giovanni Battista de'Cavalieri.

Ashby is involved in the archaeological investigation of Caerwent, a Roman city in what is now Wales in his homeland. From 1901 to 1907, and from 1909 to 1911, he published regularly the results of this research.

Memberships

Ashby was from 1913 Member of the German Archaeological Institute, in 1914 the Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeological Museum, in 1918 foreign member of the Reale Accademia dei Lincei, 1922 Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Reale Accademia di San Luca from 1925. 1927 he was a member of the British Academy.

Works

• Topographical Study in Rome in 1581st London 1916.
• The Roman Campagna in classical times. 1st Edition, 1927. Reprint 1970. Italian edition in 1982.
• William J. Anderson and Richard Phene Spiers: The Architecture of Ancient Rome - An Account Of Its Historic Development. By Thomas Ashby revised and rewritten edition, Rome 1927 ( first edition London 1902).
• Scrittori contemporanei di cose novels. Rome 1929.
• Samuel Ball Platner: A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Completed by Thomas Ashby and revised. Oxford University Press, London, 1929.
• The aqueducts of ancient Rome. Posthumously published by Ian Archibald Richmond, 1935.