William Murray, Ph.D.

William M. Murray is the Mary and Gus Stathis Professor of Greek History at the University of South Florida. A member of the team that published the famous Athlit Ram (L. Casson & J. R. Steffy, eds., The Athlit Ram [Texas A&M 1991]), Murray is also known for his work on large polyreme warships. He is author of The Age of Titans (Oxford 2012) and published the first study of the rostral monument built by Octavian to celebrate his victory in the Actian War. He joined with RPM in 2012 because he felt the Egadi site offered a unique opportunity to supplement with physical evidence what is known about a naval battle from ancient texts. He also felt the site held important information for the relationship between the sizes of warship rams and the classes of warship that carried them.