Martin Joseph Routh (/raʊθ/, ROWTH; 18 September 1755 – 22 December 1854) was an English classical scholar and President of Magdalen College, Oxford (1791–1854).

In 1784 was published his edition of the Euthydemus and Gorgias of Plato but as time went on his interests turned towards patristics, which he would devote the rest of his life to studying.

Samuel Parr wrote to Lord Holland on 16 March 1823: "The new edition of Burnet is honourable to the University...As to the Preface, it is worthy of the learned, wise, upright, candid writer.

[4] In 1852, aged 97, Routh published the portion of Burnet's History that covered the reign of James II (1685–1689), adding material not included in the previous edition.

[5] When the American Anglicans visited England in 1783 on to help them set up their own episcopate, Thurlow recommended they consult Routh.

R. W. Church in his history of the Oxford Movement said Routh "had gone below the surface, and was acquainted with the questions debated by those [Anglican] divines, there was nothing startling in what so alarmed his brethren, whether he agreed with it or not; and to him the indiscriminate charge of Popery meant nothing.

[6] John Henry Newman dedicated his Lectures on the Prophetical Office of the Church (1837) to Routh as one "who has been reserved to report to a forgetful generation what was the theology of their fathers".

[7] Shrunken in size and deaf, Routh retained his eyesight, his good memory, and his other intellectual powers to the last, dying at Magdalen College.

Many affectionate stories were told of him, but he is best known today for his response to John Burgon, who asked him what he would say to a young don seeking advice: "You will find it a very good practice always to verify your references, sir!"