Editing Ronald Syme (section)

==Life==
Syme was born to David and Florence Syme in [[Eltham, New Zealand]] in 1903, where he attended primary. He then attended high school at [[Stratford High School, New Zealand|Stratford District High School]], where a teacher noticed his talent and interest in languages.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stoneman |first=Walter |last2=Taonga |first2=New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu |title=Scholarship boys: Ronald Syme |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/44348/scholarship-boys-ronald-syme |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=teara.govt.nz |language=en}}</ref> A bad case of [[measles]] seriously damaged his vision during this period. He moved to [[New Plymouth Boys' High School]] (a house of which bears his name today) at the age of 15, and was head of his class for both of his two years. He continued to the [[University of Auckland]] and [[Victoria University of Wellington]], where he studied [[French language]] and [[French literature|literature]] while working on his degree in [[Classics]]. He then attended [[Oriel College, Oxford]], between 1925 and 1927, gaining First Class honours in [[Literae Humaniores]] ([[ancient history]] and philosophy). In 1926, he won the [[Gaisford Prize]] for Greek Prose for translating a section of [[Thomas More]]'s ''[[Utopia (More book)|Utopia]]'' into Platonic prose, and the following year won the Prize again (for Verse) for a translation of part of [[William Morris]]'s ''[[The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs|Sigurd the Volsung]]'' into [[Homer]]ic [[hexameter]]s.

His first scholarly work was published by the ''[[Journal of Roman Studies]]'' in 1928.<ref>"Rhine and Danube Legions under Domitian", ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 18 (1928) 41–55; see [[Anthony Birley]], "Editor's Introduction", in ''The Provincial at Rome'' (Presses Université Laval, 2000), p. xi [https://books.google.com/books?id=D5IxWxCgFFwC&dq=%22Syme%27s+first+published+work%22&pg=PR11 online] and pp. xi–xx on Syme's publications and scholarly career.</ref> In 1929 he became a Fellow of [[Trinity College, Oxford]], where he became known for his studies of the [[Roman army]] and the [[Limes (Roman Empire)|frontiers of the Empire]]. During the [[Second World War]], he worked as a press attaché in the British Embassies of [[Belgrade]] (where he acquired a knowledge of [[Serbo-Croatian]]) and [[Ankara]], later taking a chair in classical philology at [[Istanbul University]]. His refusal to discuss the nature of his work during this period led some to speculate that he worked for the British intelligence services in [[Turkey]], but proof for this hypothesis is lacking.

Sir Ronald's work at [[Unesco]] is referred to in the autobiographical works of a collaborator, [[Jean d'Ormesson]].

After being elected a [[Fellow of the British Academy]] in 1944, Syme was appointed [[Camden Professor of Ancient History]] at [[Brasenose College, Oxford]], in 1949, a position which he held until his retirement in 1970. Syme was also appointed fellow of [[Wolfson College, Oxford]], from 1970 until the late 1980s, where an annual lecture was established in his memory.

Syme was knighted in 1959. He was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] and the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] the same year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Ronald+Syme&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ronald Syme |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/ronald-syme |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> He  received the [[Order of Merit (Commonwealth)|Order of Merit]] in 1976. He continued his prolific writing and editing until his death at the age of 86.