Gavin Betts

Gavin Betts was born in the small Australian town of Penrith and has spent most of his life in his native land. His interest in ancient Greek and Latin began in childhood when he was given a copy of the Children's Encyclopedia, which had been produced by Arthur Mee. Its many articles on famous incidents and characters of the Greek and Roman world caught his imagination and he resolved to learn Greek and Latin if ever given the chance.

He started Latin at secondary school, where he was introduced to Caesar's De Bello Gallico, but it was not until he entered the University of Sydney that he was able to begin on Greek. After graduating with first class honours and the University medal in Latin he spent two years of further study at Cambridge. His first academic appointment was at the University College at Newcastle (N.S.W., Australia). From there he moved to Monash University in Melbourne, where he was promoted to the rank of associate professor in 1971. He retired from this position in 1994 and now spends his time in writing books and re-reading Greek and Latin authors. As a hobby he makes mechanical clocks.

His publications include TY Latin, TY Ancient Greek (with Alan Henry), TY New Testament Greek and various translations of medieval and Modern Greek texts.