author
Edward Vernon Arnold
1857–1926
A gifted classicist and Indologist, this scholar brought unusual mathematical rigor to ancient texts and became especially known for studying the chronology of the Rigveda. He also spent four decades teaching Latin in Bangor, shaping generations of students while publishing on Greek, Latin, and Stoic thought.
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About the author
Born in South Norwood on July 18, 1857, he was educated at Westminster School and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he earned first-class results in both the Classical and Mathematical Triposes. He later studied at Tübingen, a background that helps explain the unusual mix of linguistic skill and analytical method seen in his scholarship.
He is best remembered as a British Indologist and classical scholar whose work on the Rigveda used quantitative methods to investigate the order and development of its hymns. Alongside his Sanskrit research, he wrote on Latin, Greek pronunciation, and Stoic philosophy, showing a range that stretched from ancient language teaching to major historical studies such as Roman Stoicism.
In 1884 he became Professor of Latin at the University College of North Wales in Bangor, a post he held until 1924. That long academic career, combined with his wide interests across classical and Indian studies, gave his work a distinctive place among late 19th- and early 20th-century scholars.