Laudator Temporis Acti

Peter Brown, Journeys of the Mind: A Life in History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2023), p. 282:

At about the same time, I received a letter from the Oxford Registry. In frosty terms, it informed "Dear Mr. Brown" that the Oxford History Board had received no indication that I had completed my dissertation, "The Social and Economic Position of the Italian Senatorial Aristocracy in the Sixth Century A.D." Nor had they received any report from my supervisor, Professor Momigliano. For this reason, I was no longer eligible to apply for a doctorate. In blunt, American terms: I had been kicked out of graduate school. This was not unusual. I did not even keep the letter. Failure to complete a dissertation and to gain a doctorate was not viewed as a handicap at this time. Indeed, it could appear almost as a sign of distinction—as if I did not need the extra certification of a doctorate: Alan Cameron, already a scholar of superb, almost nonchalant ability, had done the same.