Mary "brought up her children in poverty", a paternal aunt securing a place for Meiggs at Christ's Hospital; he subsequently went up to Keble College, Oxford, where he took an MA.
He "mastered the entire field" of the study of classical antiquity, as opposed to the increasing popularity of specialism; he "taught both Greek and Roman history, lectured on epigraphy, and worked closely with archaeologists, although, in the old Oxford manner, he published almost nothing for decades".
He was praefectus of Holywell Manor, an annexe ten minutes from Balliol, home to fifty graduates, where his wife was "a dashing hostess"; Meiggs's daily procession to the college was a popular subject of tourist photography.
Despite a wide range of interests which held potential as subjects for books- "a history of the Roman port of Ostia based on the exciting archaeological discoveries, a synthetic treatment of the fifth-century Athenian empire in the light of the great epigraphical material (above all, the Athenian tribute lists), a study of Herodotus"- Meiggs's first major work, Roman Ostia, was produced "in the midst of a crushing schedule of teaching and college affairs"; his later writing took place after his retirement.
His eccentricity was legendary; his "flaring shoulder-length gray hair, massive black eyebrows, leathery skin, and Aztec profile" and "jaunty disregard of conventional formalities" made him a popular and admired figure amongst undergraduates.