William Sims Thurman

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William Sims Thurman (March 17, 1931–March 9, 2019) was a classicist whose major contribution to scholarship is his English translation of Justinian's Thirteen Edicts (The Thirteen Edicts of Justinian; Translated and Annotated by William Sims).^[1] Thurman was born in Paris, but he lived much of his life in Asheville, North Carolina where he taught at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.^[2]

Thurman earned Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a student of noted classicist and translator Clyde Pharr.^[3] Pharr focused on Roman law towards the end of his career and is best known for his translation of the Theodosian Code, but he also began an English translation of the Code of Justinian that he never completed. Thurman's thesis and dissertation were related to Pharr's work on Justinian in that the Thirteen Edicts are later Justinian laws attached to Justinian's Novellae Constitutiones.^[4]

After obtaining his Ph.D., Thurman held positions at Winthrop University and at Harvard University's Center for Byzantine Studies.^[5] From Harvard, Thurman went to the University of North Carolina at Asheville where he began its classics program.^[6] He was a member of the Eta Sigma Phi National Honorary Classical Languages fraternity.^[7]