DELIVERED BY: Literary & Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne
At the end of his long life John Collingwood Bruce died an honoured son of Newcastle, the author of a book on Hadrian’s Wall which has continued through several editions to this day and the progenitor of the world’s oldest archaeological tour.
Yet 40 years earlier he had been charged with failing to acknowledge his sources, even by a fellow member of the Society of Antiquaries, an omission which continued during his publishing career. Bruce was a good self-promoter, and in that process sometimes the truth was bent. Surviving letters reveal his relationship with dukes of Northumberland and his ability to seize on other’s good ideas. This lecture will explore these aspects of the life and publications of the great interpreter of Hadrian’s Wall.
Professor Breeze graduated from Durham University with a PhD in 1970 and has enjoyed a long career as an archaeologist and scholar, his subsequent research focussing on Roman frontiers and the Roman army. After serving as Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Scotland, he led the team which successfully nominated the Antonine Wall as a World Heritage Site and helped create the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
He has served as chair of the International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies as well as president of several British archaeological societies. He is an honorary professor at the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Stirling, and was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Glasgow in 2008. He was awarded the 2021 Kenyon Medal for his outstanding international contribution to the archaeology of the Roman Empire.
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