About the Author

RONALD MELLOR (Ph.D., Princeton University) is professor of ancient history at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he served as chair of the history department from 1992 to 1997. Centering his research on ancient religion and Roman historiography, Professor Mellor has written seven books: The Roman Historians (1999); Text and Tradition: Studies in Greek History and Historiography in Honor of Mortimer Chambers (ed. 1999); The Historians of Ancient Rome (ed. 1997); Tacitus: The Classical Heritage (1995); Tacitus (1993); From Augustus to Nero: The First Dynasty of Imperial Rome (ed. 1990); and Thea Rome: The Goddess Roma in the Greek World (1975). Professor Mellor is the statewide Principal Investigator of the California History-Social Science Project, which brings university faculty together with K-12 teachers.