The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies - The Roman Society - was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies.
The Roman Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those interested in the study of Rome and the Roman Empire. Its scope is wide, covering Roman history, archaeology, literature and art down to about A.D. 700. It has a broadly based membership, drawn from over forty countries and from all ages and walks of life.
The Society supports:
- an extensive programme of publication: two annual publications, the Journal of Roman Studies, which contains articles and book reviews dealing with the Roman world in general, and Britannia, which has articles and reviews specifically on Roman Britain
- two monograph series: the JRS and Britannia monographs
- a library of over 110,000 volumes and 600 current periodicals, maintained jointly with the Hellenic Society and in conjunction with the University of London's Institute of Classical Studies. It has an international reputation as one of the world's foremost Classics lending libraries. It also houses a lending collection of over 6,700 slides
- summer schools, etc. by the annual award of grants
- archaeology, through grants for excavations and by organising a biennial conference
- schools, by the award of grants to help the teaching of all aspects of the Roman world
- a programme of public lectures in London, and others outside London arranged with local branches of the Classical Association, and other occasional events of general interest
Membership is open to all; no entrance fee or professional qualification is required.
Members are entitled to:
- receive annually either the Journal of Roman Studies or Britannia or both. Online access is available for an extra fee of £5/US$10. Student members receive their journal(s) online only (from 2007)
- receive advance notice of forthcoming monographs at special offer prices
- use the library and borrow the Society's books and slides, either in person or by post, while living or resident in the UK
- attend the Society's lectures, of which a programme is circulated in September
- purchase back issues of the journals