Ray Laurence
Ray Laurence is professor of ancient history at Macquarie University. Two of his books, both about the Roman city of Pompeii, have each won a separate named prize. One prize came for his very first book, the other for a work that followed years later. Long before either honor, he trained as a student in the United Kingdom. Long after them, he added many more titles to a growing list of publications, on subjects that ranged widely across Roman history. What made those two Pompeii books stand out enough to win twice, and what fills out the rest of that list?
In 1996, Ray Laurence published his first book, Roman Pompeii: Space and Society, and it won him the Routledge Ancient History Prize. A decade later, in 2006, a second book on the same city, Pompeii: The Living City, brought him the Longman-History Today New Generation Prize. Selected publications credited to him run to nine titles in total, and these two sit at the front of that list, a decade apart.
Leighton Park School gave Ray Laurence his early education. From there, he went on to Newcastle University. Both schools stand in the United Kingdom; no further detail attaches to either stop, not a date, not a subject studied. What followed was decades of further publishing across a wide range of subjects in Roman history.
Growing Up and Growing Old in Ancient Rome came out in 2001. The Cultural History of Childhood and Family in Antiquity followed in 2010. The next year, 2011, brought two titles at once, The Roads of Roman Italy: Mobility and Cultural Change and The City in the Roman West. Then, in 2012, two more appeared: Roman Archaeology for Historians and Rome, Ostia, Pompeii: Movement and Space. The second of those sets Pompeii alongside Rome and Ostia, rather than treating it on its own. The Cultural History of Shopping in Antiquity, published in 2022, is the last entry on that list. It turns from roads and archaeology to something as ordinary as buying goods in the ancient world.
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Common questions
Who is Ray Laurence?
Ray Laurence is professor of ancient history at Macquarie University. He built his early reputation on two books about the Roman city of Pompeii.
What prizes has Ray Laurence won?
Ray Laurence won the Routledge Ancient History Prize for his first book, Roman Pompeii: Space and Society, published in 1996. He later won the Longman-History Today New Generation Prize for Pompeii: The Living City, published in 2006.
Where was Ray Laurence educated?
Ray Laurence was educated at Leighton Park School and at Newcastle University, both in the United Kingdom.
What was Ray Laurence's first book?
Ray Laurence's first book was Roman Pompeii: Space and Society, published in 1996. It won him the Routledge Ancient History Prize.
What other books has Ray Laurence written?
Beyond his two Pompeii prize books, Ray Laurence has published Growing Up and Growing Old in Ancient Rome (2001), The Cultural History of Childhood and Family in Antiquity (2010), The Roads of Roman Italy: Mobility and Cultural Change (2011), The City in the Roman West (2011), Roman Archaeology for Historians (2012), Rome, Ostia, Pompeii: Movement and Space (2012), and The Cultural History of Shopping in Antiquity (2022).
When did Ray Laurence publish Pompeii: The Living City?
Ray Laurence published Pompeii: The Living City in 2006. It won him the Longman-History Today New Generation Prize.
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