William Seston


William Seston was a 20th-century French historian and epigrapher, a specialist of the history of the Roman Empire. He was professor at the Sorbonne and a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.

Biography

The son of a Protestant pastor, William Seston was a student of the École Normale Supérieure where he was formed by Jérôme Carcopino. A professor of history and geography, he became a member of the École française de Rome in 1926. In 1927 he participated in the excavation of the Rapidum camp in Djouab in the former Numidia in today Algeria. After teaching in high schools in Nîmes and Marseille, he obtained a position at the University of Strasbourg in 1929. In 1935 he was appointed to the University of Bordeaux, where he directed the . Called in Montpellier and Toulouse, he became head of the then newly created division of historical antiquities. He then joined the Sorbonne in 1944 before holding the chair of Roman history in 1949, and ended his career as Director of Ancient History Research Center. When he left in 1969, his post was taken over by André Chastagnol. In 1970 he became a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.
His thesis on Diocletian and the Tetrarchy profoundly influenced the historiography of the Lower Empire. An historian highly attentive to law, he made important contributions to the study of Roman citizenship, particularly through the publication of Tabula Banasitana.
His colleagues, friends and students offered him a volume of Festschrift in 1974

Publications (selection)

Books