GREENFIELD — A Turners Falls man facing charges related to the December death of a Greenfield man who was struck by a pickup truck while crossing the street is due back in court for a pretrial conference set for March 1.

According to Greenfield Police Department records, Allen J. Aubrey, 55, struck Marios Philippides, 72, with his pickup truck while he was crossing the street near the intersection of Bernardston Road from Harrison Avenue at around 12:48 p.m. on Dec. 12. Philippides was transported to Baystate Franklin Medical Center before being transferred to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he died from his injuries on Dec. 27, according to Philippides’ death certificate.

Aubrey is facing seven charges and was arraigned in Greenfield District Court on Jan. 4. Charges include a crosswalk violation, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery on a disabled person over 60 years old, assault and battery on a disabled person over 60 years old with serious injury, failure to file an accident report, and intimidation of a witness, juror, police or court official.

According to his obituary, Philippides was born in Athens, Greece. He immigrated to New York City to study at age 19, eventually receiving his doctorate in classics from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Throughout his life, he wrote nine books and was a commentator for both seasons of the Netflix series “Rise of Empires: Ottoman.”

Additionally, Philippides spent more than half his life as a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Over 39 years, the educator contributed “essential scholarship while engaging and inspiring thousands of students,” the university wrote in a statement following his death. Most of his work “explored a wide range of subjects related to the land of his birth,” the statement recalled. For his efforts, Philippides won both the College of Humanities and Fine Arts Outstanding Teacher Award and the UMass Amherst Distinguished Teaching Award.

“Generations of UMass Amherst students were thrilled by Philippides’ lectures,” the statement reads. “For him, the classroom was a place to weave together the threads of literature, history and archaeology, illuminating the rich tapestry of antiquity.”

Peers within the Classics Department were similarly enthralled by Philippides’ storytelling.

“From my first days at UMass Amherst, it was obvious that he enjoyed a connection with his students that most teachers could not possibly hope to achieve,” Classics Department Chair Anthony Tuck, who was interviewed by Philippides in 2005 for the position he currently holds, wrote in an email. “Simply put, students adored him — and for a while, I could never figure out why! He’d bark at them, tell them they were utterly confused about some issue, ridicule their temporary interests and basically delight tormenting them. But beneath that … his students loved him because his passion gave them something they couldn’t find in the other places of their college experiences — an unalloyed joy at chasing the sparks of curiosity without worrying about how it might fit into some career path.”

“He was an unforgettable presence around the Department of Classics in his three-piece suits and motorcycle boots, paired in the appropriate season with a massive Russian fur hat,” classics professor Brian Breed wrote in an email. “He knew many languages and was a true citizen of the world, a New Englander by choice but also unmistakably and fully Greek.”

Professor Teresa Ramsby remembers her UMass colleague as “someone who told the most compelling stories about his life and career at department functions, and who gladly shared his knowledge of Greek culture (and especially Greek vase-painting) with her and with students.”

Philippides’ contributions to the world were celebrated by his peers long before his death, as well. Staff, faculty and students shared fond memories and kind words in a statement released by UMass around the time of the professor’s retirement in 2017.

One such peer, fellow classics professor Rex Wallace, recalled a trip to Greece in the spring of 2006 where Philippides was invited to speak about the Battle of Marathon. Wallace “imagined students dozing off in the middle of his lecture” before “something amazing happened.”

“Marios delivered one of the most inspiring lectures I’ve ever heard — period,” Wallace recalled. “When Marios concluded, I could see in the eyes of the students how very profoundly moved they were. As Marios turned to walk to the tumulus for our class picture, a powerful round of applause, cheers and bravos erupted from the students. Marios is not easily moved by such displays; he was moved by this one.”

Philippides’ wife of 50 years, Corinne Lynam Philippides, declined to comment when reached by the Greenfield Recorder by phone, expressing that the topic is “too painful” to speak about.

Concluding its statement following Philippides’ death, UMass Amherst recognized a profound legacy that will survive him.

“It has been said that when a professor dies, a library burns down,” the university wrote. “In Marios Philippides, we have lost a truly great resource of knowledge on the Greek and Byzantine world. But there is comfort in knowing that he remains in the lives of the colleagues he challenged, of the students he inspired and of the world he enlarged.”

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

]]>