{{Short description|British historian of ancient Rome (born 1965)}} {{for|persons of a similar name|Christopher Smith (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} '''Christopher John Smith''', FRSE, FSA, FRHistS (born 1965 at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire), is a British academic and classicist specialising in early Ancient Rome.

Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews, and formerly Director of the British School at Rome,<ref name="Staff list BSR">{{cite web|title=Staff and Fellows|url=http://www.bsr.ac.uk/about/staff-and-fellows|publisher=The British School at Rome|accessdate=5 June 2012}}</ref><ref name="School of Classics profile">{{cite web|title=Prof. Christopher Smith|url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/classics/staff/cjs6/|publisher=University of St Andrews|access-date=5 June 2012|archive-date=17 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217215237/https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/classics/staff/cjs6/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Smith was appointed on 1 September 2020 as Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ahrc.ukri.org/newsevents/news/preferred-candidate-chosen-for-the-role-of-executive-chair-of-the-arts-and-humanities-research-council/ |title=Preferred candidate chosen for the role of Executive Chair of the Arts and Humanities Research Council - Arts and Humanities Research Council |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922054753/https://ahrc.ukri.org/newsevents/news/preferred-candidate-chosen-for-the-role-of-executive-chair-of-the-arts-and-humanities-research-council/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early life and education== Born in 1965 at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Smith attended Aylesbury Grammar School before going up to Keble College, Oxford, to read Literae Humaniores, graduating as Bachelor of Arts in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|title=Appointment to British School at Rome|url=http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/about/news/appointment-to-british-school-at-rome|publisher=Keble College, Oxford University|accessdate=5 June 2012|date=18 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927000527/http://www.keble.ox.ac.uk/about/news/appointment-to-british-school-at-rome/|archive-date=27 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> He then pursued further studies, taking a DPhil from Oxford in 1992.

==Academic career== After joining the University of St Andrews in 1992 as a Lecturer in Ancient History, Smith was appointed to a professorial chair in 2002.<ref>[https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/classics/people/cjs6/ www.st-andrews.ac.uk]</ref>

Elected FSA (Scot), he served as Proctor & Provost of St Leonard's College at St Andrews,<ref name="New role for Vice-Principal">{{cite web|title=New role for Vice-Principal|url=http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2009/Title,32801,en.html|publisher=University of St Andrews|date=21 April 2009|access-date=21 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620225058/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/news/archive/2009/Title,32801,en.html|archive-date=20 June 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> before becoming President of the Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia Storia e Storia dell'Arte in Rome from 2012 to 2017.<ref>[https://www.unioneinternazionale.it/ www.unioneinternazionale.it]</ref>

In 2017 Smith was awarded a three-year Leverhulme Trust Major Research Grant<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/major-research-fellowships-2016|title=Major Research Fellowships 2016 &#124; The Leverhulme Trust|website=www.leverhulme.ac.uk}}</ref> to study Rome's early kings, and is a foreign member to the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici in Florence.<ref name=studietruschi>{{cite web |url=http://studietruschi.org/listituto/membri-stranieri |title=Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici |year=2019 |publisher=Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi ed Italici |location=Florence |language=Italian |access-date=24 September 2019 |archive-date=10 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200155/http://studietruschi.org/listituto/membri-stranieri |url-status=dead }}</ref>

His research explores constitutionalism and state formation with particular emphasis on the development of Rome as a political and social community and how this was represented in ancient historical writing and subsequent political thought.

== Selected publications and awards== Among Smith's publications are:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/christopher-john-smith(19eda452-fdde-42c2-af97-47acbc9c32d6)/researchoutput.html:|title=Christopher John Smith - Research publications - University of St Andrews|website=risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk}}{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> *''Early Rome and Latium: Economy and Society c. 1000 to 500 BC'' Oxford : Clarendon Press; New York : Oxford University Press, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-19-815031-2}}. *''The Roman Clan: The Gens from Ancient Ideology to Modern Anthropology.''Cambridge; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|978-0-521-85692-8}}. *Christopher John Smith; Anton Powell; Tim Cornell, eds. ''The lost memoirs of Augustus and the development of Roman autobiography.'' Swansea [Wales]: Classical Press of Wales; Oakville, CT: Distributor in the United States of America, David Brown Book Co., 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-905125-25-8}}. *CJ Smith, RJ Covino (eds). ''Praise and Blame in Roman Republican Oratory.'' Swansea : Classical Press of Wales; Oakville, CT : Distributor in the United States of America, David Brown Book Co., 2011. {{ISBN|978-1-905125-46-3}}. *Peter Derow; Christopher John Smith; Liv Mariah Yarrow, eds. ''Imperialism, Cultural Politics, and Polybius.'' Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0-19-960075-5}}.

===Fellowships=== *FSA<ref>[https://www.sal.org.uk/our-fellows/directory/ www.sal.org.uk]</ref> *FRHistS<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.royalhistoricalsociety.org/rhsfellows.php |title=www.royalhistoricalsociety.org |access-date=26 April 2023 |archive-date=27 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827093607/http://www.royalhistoricalsociety.org/rhsfellows.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> *FSA (Scot)<ref>[https://www.socantscot.org/about-us/list-of-fellows/#s1 www.socantscot.org]</ref> *FRSE<ref>[https://rse.org.uk/fellowship/professor-christopher-smith/ www.rse.org.uk]</ref> *Awarded '''Premio Cultori di Roma''' 2017 by the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Romani.<ref name="Premio Cultori di Roma for Christopher Smith">{{cite web|title=Premio Cultori di Roma for Christopher Smith|date=10 May 2017|url=http://standrewsclassics.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/premio-cultori-di-roma-for-christopher-smith}}/</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Christopher}} Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:People from Aylesbury Category:People educated at Aylesbury Grammar School Category:Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Category:Academics of the University of St Andrews Category:Classical scholars of the University of St Andrews Category:Historians of antiquity Category:British classical scholars Category:Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh