Professor Eric Birley (1906-95): a career in Roman frontier studies

Abstract

Study the historian before you begin to study the facts (Carr 1961, 17).

The period between the 1920s and 1930s—the inter-war decades—and the 1970s saw a transformation in the structural and institutional context of archaeological research in the UK. This took the form of a marked hegemonic ‘shift’ from local archaeological societies and private individuals to departments in state-sponsored universities and heritage organisations. Archaeology consequently began to evolve as a university discipline and became recognisably more ‘professionalised’. This thesis explores a pivotal time in the history of British archaeology, taking as a case study the career of Eric Birley, an archaeologist of the northern Roman frontier who worked at Durham University from 1931 to 1971.
The thesis is based on the study of material in personal and institutional archives in Britain and Germany, supplementing the evidence of academic publications (both Birley’s own and those of individuals influenced by him), and the memories and insights of those pupils and associates available to be interviewed. Previous assessments of Birley and his work, including autobiographical writings, are also considered carefully. Towards a more inclusive and truthful historiography, the premise of the thesis is that disciplinary developments and advances in knowledge should be understood as the product of the personal and professional networks in which practitioners participate, rather than primarily as the achievement of ‘great men’ in genealogical succession.
Birley developed a strong personal career ‘story’ based on his work on Hadrian’s Wall and other Roman frontiers and his role in military intelligence during WWII. Yet the research reveals that he was a transitional figure in disciplinary terms, who came adrift professionally in the post-WWII context. From the early 1950s, his development as a scholar was hampered by persistent ill health, including periods of depression when he struggled to work at all. He responded to the career success of more forward-thinking and career-minded colleagues by reaffirming his commitment to disciplinary approaches of the past. Birley was ever an inspiring teacher, however, and the achievements of his pupils and mentees became central to his sense of self. Towards the end of his life, as this thesis contends, a fluid notion of a ‘Durham school’ or ‘Birley school’ of Roman archaeology emerged and gained traction in tribute to Birley and his academic legacy, which has affected the subsequent reception of his work. Crucially, it has obscured Birley’s historiographical significance an exile from an earlier period in the development of archaeology, when the skilled gentleman ‘amateur’ held sway.