Andrew Kenrick won this year's £2,000 (about $2,535) Tony Lothian Prize, given for the best proposal by a first-time biographer, for Juba--From Roman Slave to African King. The award is administered by the Biographers' Club in London.
Organizers wrote that "Juba was raised by Octavian (later Emperor Augustus), and given the Kingdom of Mauretania (modern-day Morocco and Algeria) to rule in the name of Rome. He did this with a liberal and civilizing hand. Juba was a famed antiquarian, travel writer and explorer; he discovered the Canary Islands, wrote histories of Arabia and Libya, and led diplomatic missions to fellow rulers."
The judges said that Kenrick "throws light on a corner of the ancient African-Roman world hitherto and regrettably shrouded in shadow," the Biographers' Club noted. "The judges thought that the story was marvelous and that Ancient Rome is very much of the moment."
The prize will have a new name beginning next year, following the death of Elizabeth, Duchess of Buccleuch, who had named it in honor of her mother (Antonella Kerr, Marchioness of Lothian). The duchess's widower, the Duke of Buccleuch, is continuing the sponsorship of what will be the Elizabeth Buccleuch Prize.