Russell Meiggs

Who was Russell Meiggs?

Russell Meiggs was a British ancient historian, perhaps best known for his extensive work on the Roman port city of Ostia.

He was educated at Christ's Hospital and Keble College, Oxford. He was Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at Balliol College, Oxford from 1939 to 1970. During World War II he worked at the Ministry of Supply in the timber section. Meiggs served as Prefect of the College from 1945 until 1969. His eccentricity was legendary. His papers are in the Balliol College library.

He was a periodic visiting professor in the Classics Department at Swarthmore College in the 1970s, where he taught Greece in the Fifth Century and Roman Ostia. See Dover in reference 2, below.