(In this provocative and wide-ranging examination of the c...)
In this provocative and wide-ranging examination of the causes of the Peloponnesian war, first published in 1972, Geoffrey de Ste Croix argued against most previous historiography (which tended to blame Athens), that the Spartans and their allies must bear the immediate and ultimate responsibility for the war.
(In these interconnected essays, the late Geoffrey de Ste....)
In these interconnected essays, the late Geoffrey de Ste. Croix defends the institutions of the Athenian democracy, showing, that they were much more practical, rational and impartial, than it has usually been acknowledged.
(This volume brings together seven seminal papers by the g...)
This volume brings together seven seminal papers by the great radical historian Geoffrey de Ste. Croix, who died in 2000, on early Christian topics, with a special focus on persecution and martyrdom.
Geoffrey Ernest Maurice de Ste. Croix was a British historian, who studied the classical era from a Marxist perspective. Being a scholar of ancient history, he unraveled the mysteries of the class struggle in the ancient world and the decline of the Roman Empire.
Background
Ethnicity:
Geoffrey's parents were born in China to British expatriates. Also, he had Huguenot ancestors, who fled to Jersey during the time of Louis XIV.
Geoffrey Ernest Maurice de Ste. Croix was born on February 8, 1910, in Macau, China. He was a son of Florence Annie (MacGowan) de Ste. Croix, a daughter of missionaries, and Ernest Henry de Ste. Croix, who was an official in the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Geoffrey's father died, when he was four years old.
Education
Geoffrey's early years were spent in China, where his father worked for customs. After the death of de Ste. Croix's father, when he was four, the family moved back to England.
Until 1925, Geoffrey studied at Clifton College in Bristol. After leaving Clifton College, he was trained as an articled clerk. Later in his lifetime, namely in 1949, Geoffrey received a bachelor’s degree with first-class honors from the University College London.
De Ste. Croix held a post of a solicitor from 1932 to 1940, but gave up his practice to serve in the Royal Air Force for six years, eventually becoming an acting flight lieutenant. Stationed in the Middle East during World War II, Geoffrey became interested in Ancient History and decided to enroll in University College London, when he was discharged, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1949. Between 1950 and 1953, de Ste. Croix served as an Ancient History teacher at the London School of Economics and Birkbeck College (present-day Birkbeck, University of London).
In 1953, de Ste. Croix moved to New College, Oxford, as a Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History, remaining there until his retirement in 1977. His lectures were characterised by clarity of exposition. They expounded such themes, as slavery, finance and food supply, tackled by no other ancient historian in the Oxford of his day, and he gave classes on neglected subjects, such as Greek science. At Oxford, his students included Robin Lane Fox, Robert Parker and Nicholas Richardson.
In the 1970's and 1980's, Geoffrey lectured in Cambridge, Poland, Holland, France, Sweden and the United States, where he told people, that their government misunderstood Marx.
Geoffrey's books include 1972’s "The Origins of the Peloponnesian War" and 1981’s "The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World: From the Archaic Age to the Arab Conquests". De Ste. Croix also authored influential articles, such as "The Character of the Athenian Empire" and "Greek And Roman Accounting". In addition, he was the author of articles on the persecution of the Christians, ancient maritime loans and Roman religion.
The last 15 years of Geoffrey's life were spent on two large-scale books, "Early Christian Attitudes To Women, Sex and Marriage" and "Essays In Early Christian History". It became clear, that neither would be completed, so he recast their most important parts in 12 essays.
Geoffrey described himself as "an atheist, politely militant". Yet, he was always anxious not to offend sincere believers and spoke with respect of the best Christian scholarship.
Politics
Geoffrey was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain until 1939.
Views
Geoffrey was an exponent of a Marxist epistemological approach. He also wrote, that the history of antiquity could be seen as a class struggle between workers, primarily slaves and property owners. He maintained, that reliance on slave labor prevented the ancient world from modernizing and in the end undermined the Roman Empire, as the supply of new slaves diminished and the exploited lower orders had little reason to resist the advancing barbarians.
Membership
British Academy
,
United Kingdom
1972
Personality
Geoffrey was a physically strong man and a talented tennis player, competing in the singles and doubles tournament at Wimbledon from 1930 to 1932.
Geoffrey's scholarship was formidable, but he was not. Candid and straightforward, he had an austere charm and a sharp sense of humour.
Connections
Geoffrey was married twice. His first marriage produced one daughter, who predeceased him, and his second marriage to Margaret (Knight) de Ste. Croix produced two sons.