Robin Lane Fox

Robin James Lane Fox, (born 5 October 1946) is an English classicist, ancient historian, and gardening writer known for his works on Alexander the Great. Lane Fox is an Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford, and Reader in Ancient History, University of Oxford. Fellow and Tutor in Ancient History at New College from 1977 to 2014, he serves as Garden Master and as Extraordinary Lecturer in Ancient History for both New College and Exeter College. He has also taught Greek and Latin literature and early Islamic history.

His major publications, for which he has won literary prizes, include the James Tait Black Award, the Duff Cooper Prize, the Heinemann Award and the Runciman Award, include studies of Alexander the Great and Ancient Macedon, Late Antiquity, Christianity and Paganism, the Bible and history, and the Greek Dark Ages. In addition, he is the gardening correspondent of the Financial Times.

Early life Lane Fox was educated at Eton College, an all-boys public school near Windsor, Berkshire. He studied Literae Humaniores (Classics) at Magdalen College, Oxford. he was an undergraduate student of G. E. M. de Ste. Croix. In 2012, he retired and was appointed an Emeritus Fellow of New College. Important influences on his contributions to the study of ancient history include Louis Robert, Peter Brown, E. R. Dodds, Martin Litchfield West, Walter Burkert,

His 1973 book Alexander the Great was awarded the Duff Cooper Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Due to the success of the book, Lane Fox was historical advisor to the film director Oliver Stone for the epic Alexander. His appearance as an extra in cavalry manoeuvres, in addition to his work as a historical consultant, was publicised at the time of the film's release. He wrote and presented Greek Myths: Tales of Travelling Heroes, which was first broadcast on BBC Four in November 2010.

While primarily focused on ancient Greece, Fox has written three books dealing with the history of Christianity, Pagans and Christians, The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible, and a biography of Saint Augustine, Augustine: Conversions and Confessions, which was awarded the Wolfson History Prize. In the second book, Fox professes himself to be a non-believer, although in the last book he expresses much admiration for St Augustine.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1974.

Personal life

Lane Fox, an atheist, is the father of Martha Lane Fox.

As gardening correspondent of the Financial Times, Lane Fox was involved in a controversy around the banning of garden gnomes and other items of kitsch from the Chelsea Garden Show; Fox made wordplay over the term 'fairy' which can denote a mythical creature or be a slang reference to gay men, saying "there are several very distinguished, great garden designers who are solely male-orientated".

List of publications Alexander the Great, Allen Lane, 1973. ; US title: The Search for Alexander, Little, Brown & Co., 1980. (reprinted by the Folio Society with revisions & corrections, 1997) Variations on a Garden, Macmillan, 1974. (reprinted by R. & L., 1986) Better Gardening, R. & L., 1982. V. Sackville-West. The Illustrated Garden Book: A New Anthology, Michael Joseph, 1986. Pagans and Christians, Viking, 1986. (reprinted by the Folio Society in 3 vols., 2010) The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible, Viking, 1991. The Long March: Xenophon and the Ten Thousand, Yale University Press, 2004. (editor) The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer to Hadrian, Allen Lane, 2005. (reprinted by the Folio Society) Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer, Allen Lane, 2008. Thoughtful Gardening: Great Plants, Great Gardens, Great Gardeners, Particular Books, 2010. Brill's Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC-300 AD, Brill, 2011. (editor) Augustine: Conversions and Confessions, Allen Lane, 2015. The Invention of Medicine: From Homer to Hippocrates, Basic Books, 2020. Homer and his Iliad, Allen Lane, 2023.