All Scholars

EVANS, James Allan Stewart

  • EVANS, James Allan Stewart
  • Date of Birth: March 24, 1931
  • Born City: Cambridge, Ontario
  • Born State/Country: Canada
  • Parents: David Arthur, a farmer, & Isabella Jane E.
  • Date of Death: November 15, 2023
  • Death City: Victoria, British Columbia
  • Death State/Country: Canada
  • Married: Eleanor Lynn Ward, June 16, 1964.
  • Education:

    B.A., Victoria College, Toronto, 1952; M.A. Yale, 1953; Ph.D., 1957; study at ASCSA, 1954-5.
  • Dissertation:

    “A Social and Economic History of the Egyptian Temple of Soknebtunis in the Greco-Roman Period” (Ph.D., Yale, 1957; rev. and publ. as Economic History of an Egyptian Temple in Greco-Roman Egypt (New Haven: Yale U. Press, 1961).
  • Professional Experience:

    Asst. prof., classics, Western Ontario and Waterloo College, London, 1955-60; vis. spec. lectr., Toronto, 1960-1; asst. prof., Texas, 1961-2; prof. history, McMaster, 1962-71; prof. classics & head of dept.,  British Columbia, 1972-95; fellow, Royal Society of Canada, 1992; vis. prof. history, Washington, 1997-8; vis. faculty, Simon Fraser U., British Columbia, 1998; Whitehead vis. prof., ASCSA, 1998-9;  ed., Waterloo Review, 1958-60; VERGILIUS, 1963-71; lit. ed., Commentator, 1963-71; ed. Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History, 1977-95. 
  • Publications:

    Books:

    Procopius (Boston: Twayne, 1972); Polis and Imperium: Studies in Honour of Edward Togo Salmon (Toronto: Hakkert, 1974); Herodotus (Boston: Twayne, 1982); Herodotus, Explorer of the Past: Three Essays (Princeton: Princeton U. Press, 1991); The Age of Justinian: The Circumstances of Imperial Power (New York: Routledge, 1996); The Empress Theodora: Partner of Justinian (Austin: U. of Texas Press, 2002); The Emperor Justinian and the Byzantine Empire(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005); Daily Life in the Hellenistic Age: From Alexander to Cleopatra (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008).

    Articles:

     

    “Herodotus and the Gyges Drama,” Athenaeum, n.s. 33 (1955) 333–6; "The Dream of Xerxes and the Nomoi of the Persians," CJ 57.3 (Dec. 1961) 109–11; "Histiaeus and Aristagoras: Notes on the Ionian Revolt," AJP 84 (1962) 113–28; "Herodotus and the Problem of the 'Lake of Moeris'," CW (June 1963) 275–7; "Note on Miltiades' Capture of Lemnos,” CP  58 (1963) 168–70; "The 'Final Problem' at Thermopylae," GRBS 5 (1964) 231–7; "Despotes Nomos," Athenaeum, n.s. 43 (1965) 142–53; "Father of History or Father of Lies: The Reputation of Herodotus," CJ 64 (1968) 11–17; "Notes on Thermopylae and Artemisium," Historia 18 (1969) 389–406; ""Justinian and the Historian Procopius," G&R 17 (1970) 218–23; "Christianity and Paganism in Procopius of Caesarea," GRBS 12 (1971) 81–100; "Herodotus and the Ionian Revolt," Historia 25 (1976) 31–7; “The Settlement of Artaphrenes," CP 71 (1976) 344–8; "Herodotus and the Ionian Revolt," Historia 25 (1976) 31–7; "The Settlement of Artaphrenes," CP 71 (1976) 344–8; "What Happened to Croesus?," CJ 74.1 (1978) 33–40; "Herodotus and Athens: The Evidence of the Encomium." LAC 48 (1979) 112–18; "The Quadriga at the Entrance of the Acropolis," RSC 27 (1979) 13–15; "Herodotus' Publication Date," Athenaeum n.s. 57 (1979) 145–9; "Oral Tradition in Herodotus," Canadian Oral History Association Journal 4 (1980) 8–16; "Notes on the Debate of the Persian Grandees,” QUCC n.s. 7 (1981) 79–84; "The Oracle of the 'Wooden Wall'," CJ 78 (1982) 24–9; "The Nika Rebellion and the Empress Theodora," Byzantion 54 (1984) 380–2; "'Candaules, Whom the Greeks Named Myrsilus...'" GRBS 26 (1985) 229–33; “The Faiyum and the 'Lake of Moeris'," AHB 92 (1987) 66–74 (Also published in similar form as "The Fayum (in Egypt) and the Lake of Moeris (in Herodotus)".); “The 'Recent' Prominence of Themistocles," AJP 108 (1987) 382–4; "Cavalry about the Time of the Persian Wars: A Speculative Essay," CJ 82 (1987) 97–106; "Herodotus 9.73.3 and the Publication Date of the Histories," CP 83 (1987) 226–8; "The Story of Pythius," LCM 13.9/10 (Nov.–Dec. 1988) 139; "The 'Wooden Wall' Again," AHB 2.2 (1988) 25–30; "The Medism of Pausanias: Two Versions," Antichthon22 (1988) 1–11; "Herodotus and the Battle of Marathon," Historia 43 (1993) 279–307; "The Dates of Procopius' Works: A Recapitulation of the Evidence," GRBS 37 (1996) 301–13; "Joseph-François Lafitau: A Disciple of Herodotus among the Iroquois," in *The Beginnings of History* (2006), previously unpublished.
  • Notes:

    Allan Evans came from farming stock and grew up in the countryside of southern Ontario. His powerful attachment to his Canadian rural origins, and to his Welsh ancestry, remained with him to the very end. 

            He followed the route of many other Canadian Classical scholars of the period who became distinguished in their fields, first entering the demanding University of Toronto undergraduate Classics program, then moving on to a prestigious American graduate school, Yale in his case.

            After completing his Yale MA he travelled in 1954 to Greece to enter the American School of Classical Studies, where he studied under Benjamin Merritt (1899-1989), then working on the Athenian Tribute Lists. Greece had emerged from its vicious civil war just over four years previously and Allan would describe his time there as one of the most exciting periods of his life. He travelled out in steerage in an antiquated passenger boat and later enjoyed reminiscing about the motley collection of fellow voyagers, who included a Greek Canadian from Vancouver travelling to Greece for the sole purpose of avenging his brother’s death.

            He returned to Yale and on completion of his PhD held a number of appointments in Canada and America, moving to McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1962. While at McMaster he married fellow Canadian classicist Eleanor Ward (she survived him by two years). In 1971, the mild climate and the opportunity to be part of a Classics Department (at McMaster he served in the History Department) lured him to the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

            Allan’s early years in Vancouver were not easy. The Department Head at the time was Malcolm McGregor (1910-89), a larger-than-life Campus personality. Like Allan he was a scholar of Greek history as well as former collaborator of Benjamin Merritt. He was also someone with firm views on his place in the scheme of things and on his role as Head. The contrast between the flamboyant Malcolm McGregor and the soft spoken and unassuming Allan Evans could not have been greater. Allan, with some justification, felt unappreciated. But happily, he stayed the course, and came into his own when later he was himself appointed Head and through his quiet efficiency gave the Department ten years of stable and orderly governance that was much appreciated. 

             After retirement he eventually moved to the quiet retreat of Mayne Island, lying between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island. He became secretary of the local Lions Club there and remained an active and productive scholar. He kept in touch with old friends in Vancouver, communicating on family matters and on his enthusiastic plans to travel to Wales to trace his roots. Sadly, he was unable to complete this last project before his death in 2023.                         
  • Sources:

    Personal knowledge.
  • Author: Anthony A. Barrett