Richard Miles (historian)

Biography

Miles was born in Pembury, Kent. He studied ancient history and archaeology at the University of Liverpool and undertook a PhD in classics under Professor Peter Garnsey at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He is Professor of Roman History and Archaeology and pro-vice-chancellor of enterprise and engagement at the University of Sydney. He was formerly head of the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, and is a former director of the Arts Career Ready Programme at Sydney. His research primarily concerns Punic and Late Roman history and archaeology.

He has directed archaeological digs in Carthage and Rome, and in 2010 he published Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Mediterranean Civilisation. He also hosted the two-part Channel 4 series Carthage: The Roman Holocaust (2004), which focuses upon the war between Carthage and Rome.