Classical Archaeology and Ancient History

Core Modules

Year 1

• Greek History and the City State

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the Greek World in the Classical Period. You will look at the key events in Greek History from 580 to 323 BC and place these in their historical context. You will consider historical problems and critically examine information and accounts set out in the Greek sources as well as in the works of modern historians. You will analyse a range of sources materials, including inscription, historiography and oratory, and develop an awareness of potential bias in these.

• Key Themes in Roman History

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the development of Roman politics and society over the extended period of Roman history, from early Rome through to the emergence of the Medieval World. You will look at the chronology and development of Rome, examining key themes in the interpretation of particular periods of Roman history, including the rise and fall of the Republic and the Imperial Monarchy. You will consider the difficulties and methological issues in the interpretation of Roman Historiography and analyse a variety of theoretical approaches used by historians.

• Introduction to Greek Archaeology

  This is a survey module covering a large and disparate field. No previous knowledge is assumed: it will offer a basic introduction to the principles of classical archaeology and to the archaeological material of ancient Greece. The module will help you to place archaeological objects and contexts alongside literature and philosophy and to gain a more rounded understanding of how the Greeks thought about their world and the physical environment they created for themselves. The main aim of the module is to familiarise you with the material culture of the Greek civilisation from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period. We will examine the principal forms of Greek art and architecture, together with their stylistic development and social context. We will also consider developments in political organisation and religious practice, as well as evidence for everyday life. The module will introduce basic methodological concepts and theoretical approaches to the study of ancient Greek material culture.

• Introduction to Roman Archaeology

  This module studies the broad spectrum of archaeological evidence for the Roman world. It will provide an introduction to the main sources of archaeological evidence and key sites across the Roman world. It will offer a taste of how we can use the evidence they provide in the study of history, society and technology during the period c. 200 BC – c. AD 300. It aims to familiarize you with the principal forms and contexts in which art and architecture developed in the Roman world; to introduce you to the uses of material culture in studying history, i.e. to study the art and architecture of Rome as part of its history, social systems, culture, and economy; and to develop critical skills in visual analysis.

Year 2

• From Dig to Digital: Archaeological Theory, Method and Practice

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the key theoretical and methodological concepts and practices within classical archaeology. You will look at excavation practices, dating techniques, material culture and environmental archaeology, and learn how to interpret different site types and present the past and landscape archaeology. You will gain practical experience in handling primary data and integrating appropriate theoretical models. You will consider the practice of archaeology in its changing theoretical, methodological and professional contexts, and examine how to communicate archaeological data to the wider public.

Year 3

• Extended Essay (Dissertation)

  The Extended Essay is a unit of independent study under the supervision of a member of staff. Students are required to write a long essay of 8,000 to 10,000 words.

Optional Modules

Below is a taster of some of the exciting optional modules that students on the course could choose from during this academic year. Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.

Year 1

• Beginner’s Greek

  In this module you will develop an understanding of Ancient Greek grammar and syntax and learn elementary vocabulary. You will acquire basic aptitude in reading Ancient Greek text (mostly adapted, with some possible original unadapted basic texts) and consider the relationship between Ancient Greek language and ancient Greek literature and culture.

• Intermediate Greek

  In this module you will further your understanding of Greek grammar and syntax. You will look at Greek prose and/or verse texts, in unadapted original Greek, and learn how to accurately translate passages at sight.

  
  

• Beginner's Latin

  This module can be taken by anyone with less than a B in GCSE Latin.  If students have a B or better in Latin GCSE or equivalent, they should be looking at Intermediate Latin (unless it was a very long time ago). The module sets out to provide a basic training in the Latin language for those with little or no previous experience of Latin. The emphasis is on developing the skill of analysing the structure and meaning of Latin sentences, and on efficient use of the dictionary. Students will also gain familiarity with a range of literary and epigraphic texts in the original Latin.

• Intermediate Latin

  A module intended to build on Beginner’s Latin or O-level/GCSE, extending the students' knowledge of Latin to the point where they are ready to read substantial texts.

• Introduction to Greek Literature

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the framework of Greek literary history from Homer to Heliodorus. You will look at the chronology of major authors and works, and how they fit into larger patterns in the development of Greek culture and political history. You will examine ancient literary texts in translation, considering issues in key genres including epic, lyric, drama, oratory, philosophical writing, historiography, Hellenistic poetry, and the Greek novel.

• Roman Literature of the Empire

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the history of Roman literature in the early imperial period. You will look at the work of five authors selected from the Julio-Claudian period, considering the ways in which Roman literature responded to the new political conditions established by the Principate. You will develop your skills in interpretation, analysis and argument as applied both to detailed study of texts (in translation) and to more general issues.

• Introduction to Ancient Philosophy

  In this module you will develop an understanding of ancient philosophical ideas and the ways in which philosophical arguments are presented and analysed. You will look at the thought and significance of the principal ancient philosophers, from the Presocratics to Aristotle, and examine sample texts such as Plato's 'Laches' and the treatment of the virtue of courage in Aristotle, 'Nicomachean Ethics' 3.6-9.

• Studying Classical Antiquity

  In this module you will develop an understanding of how different classical disciplines interrelate. You will focus on specific academic skills such as avoiding plagiarism, approaching and evaluating a range of ancient evidence, using library and other resources, critically evaluating modern scholarship and theoretical approaches, and relating academic study to employability.

• Advanced Greek
• Advanced Latin

Year 2

• Greek History to 322 BC
• Spinning the Past: Greek Historiography from Herodotos to Diodoros

  This module will introduce you to the genre of Greek historiography, from Hecataeus of Miletus (who wrote in the early fifth century B.C.E.) to Diodoros of Sicily (who wrote in the first century B.C.E.). The module will provide you with an overview of the genre, its relationship with other literary genres (including the Homeric epics and drama), and with the narrative techniques adopted by the Greek historiographers. We shall discuss in what ways the philosophical and political agendas of individual authors shaped their representation of both the distant and the recent past, and their explanations of historical events and developments. We shall also explore the question what sources the historiographers themselves may have used as a basis for their reconstruction of the past, including oral tradition, poetry, eyewitness accounts and works of their fellow historiographers. The module aims to enhance your understanding of the methodological problems that modern Ancient Historians face when using works of historiography as evidence, to develop your skills in discussing these problems orally and in writing, and to approach and analyse the evidence critically and with good judgement. 
  The first half of the module will be thematically structured, covering the development of the genre and introducing you to a range of key methodological issues. The second half of the module will focus on six key authors and the historical contexts to which they were responding.

• Historiography of the Roman World

  The module aims to cover the full chronological range of Roman historiography from the Republic to the Empire, to educate the students in the broad sweep of Roman historiography and Roman history.

• The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic

  The Roman Republic occupies a special place in the history of Western civilisation. From humble beginnings beside the river Tiber, the Romans expanded to dominate the classical world. Their armies defeated Carthage and the successors of Alexander the Great, and brought all the surrounding peoples under Roman rule. Yet the triumph of the Republic was also its tragedy. Political and socio-economic crisis plunged Rome into a descending spiral of civil war as rival warlords struggled for supremacy, until the Republican constitution collapsed and was replaced by the autocratic Roman empire. In this module, we explore the history of the Republic from the foundation of Rome to the murder of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March 44 BC. Students examine the social and political pressures that drove Rome to conquer her Mediterranean empire and the consequences of that expansion for the Romans and for the peoples they conquered. The major literary sources are discussed in translation, together with the evidence of archaeology and material culture which helps us to bring the ancient Romans to life.

• Rome and its Empire from Augustus to Commodus

  For almost half a millennium, the Roman empire ruled over the ancient Mediterranean world. This module surveys the golden years of imperial Rome, from the achievement of sole rule by the first emperor Augustus (31 BC - AD 14) to the murder of Commodus (the white-clad emperor from Gladiator) in AD 192. At its peak, Rome’s empire spanned from Hadrian’s Wall in Britain south to North Africa and east to Syria, enclosing the Mediterranean Sea within a single dominion. We analyse the political, social and cultural developments under the emperors of the first and second centuries AD, and reassess their achievements and legacies: Claudius’ invasion of Britain, Nero’s cultured tyranny, the terrible efficiency of Domitian, Trajan the conqueror, and the philosophical Marcus Aurelius. We likewise explore fundamental themes that shaped the wider empire, including imperial frontier policy and administration, the process of Romanisation, and the nature of Roman religion. The evidence of art and architecture is examined, particularly the monuments from Rome herself and the wealth of material preserved in the buried town of Pompeii, alongside the major literary sources all readily available in English translation.

• Homer (in Greek)
• Plato (in Greek)
• Imperial Greek Literature
• Latin Epic (in Latin)
• Homer (In Translation)
• Greek Drama (In Translation)
• Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Art and Power in Augustan Rome
• Augustus: Propaganda and Power
• The Good Life in Ancient Philosophy
• Second Year Projects
• Life in the Big City
• Intensive Greek

  An introduction to the ancient Greek language designed for second/third year students. The course offers an introduction to Ancient Greek for complete beginners. The course proceeds through a set textbook (currently Athenaze book I and, where appropriate, advancing selectively to book II), working chapter by chapter, at time, where appropriate and needed, supplemented by further ad hoc materials. The class will systematically survey aspects of grammar, including declension and conjugation, and syntax, will complete written and oral in class and home-prepared exercises, etc.

• Intermediate Greek

  In this module you will further your understanding of Greek grammar and syntax. You will look at Greek prose and/or verse texts, in unadapted original Greek, and learn how to accurately translate passages at sight.

  
  

• Advanced Greek
• Aspects of Modern Greek Language and Culture
• Intensive Latin
• Intermediate Latin

  A module intended to build on Beginner’s Latin or O-level/GCSE, extending the students' knowledge of Latin to the point where they are ready to read substantial texts.

• Advanced Latin
• Athenian Law and Social History
• Empire and its Others - Virgil's Aeneid
• Tacitus and the Making of Empire
• The Later Roman Empire

  The Later Roman Empire module spans the four centuries that marked the end of classical antiquity and the rise of the early medieval world. The module opens with the transformation of the Roman empire under Diocletian (284-305) and Constantine (306-337), and with the conversion of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, in AD 312. Students explore the fundamental political, social and religious developments of the fourth century, which saw the emergence of a Christian Roman empire and the migration of the Goths and Huns towards the imperial frontier. We then compare the contrasting fortunes of the western and eastern regions of the empire in the fifth and sixth centuries. In the west imperial power collapsed under the waves of barbarian invasions, to be succeeded by the Germanic kingdoms of the Goths and Franks and by the rising prestige of the Roman papacy. Yet in the east the empire survived and reached a new peak during the attempted reconquest of the emperor Justinian (527-565), before triumphing in the last great conflict between the Roman and Persian empires with which this module concludes. These were centuries of dramatic change, accessible through an impressive combination of literary sources (read in translation) and material evidence, and the legacy of those changes exerted a profound influence on later history.

• Byzantium and its Neighbours, 641-1081

  By the middle of the seventh century, the very existence of the Byzantium (also known as the Byzantine Empire) was in question. It had lost almost half its territory to the Arabs and even its capital city of Constantinople was now under direct threat. Yet the state not only weathered this period of crisis but revived and flourished so that by 1050, it was once more a major power in the region, stretching from southern Italy to Armenia. This module traces the reasons why it survived, how it reversed the long series of defeats and the profound changes that took place in its military organisation, society, religious life, art and culture. It also examines how one key to its success was the way in which it interacted with the world around it, particularly with the Islamic caliphate, western Europe and the Slavonic world. Although the Byzantines frequently fought their neighbours, they preferred where possible to influence them through diplomacy and conversion. Then in the later eleventh century, new enemies appeared on the borders and Byzantium began to contract once more, a series of events that was to provide the background for the later launch of the First Crusade in 1095.

Year 3

• Understanding Pompeii and Herculaneum
• City of Athens
• Augustus
• Alexander the Great
• The Good Life in Ancient Philosophy
• Further Aspects of Modern Greek Language and Culture
• Food in the Ancient World
• Of Masks & Voices: Gender and Performance in Ancient Greece
• Roman Protests and Riots
• Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire
• Thinking Myth: classical myth and its reception
• Advanced Greek
• Advanced Latin
• Art, Architecture and Identity in the Hellenistic World
• Athenian Law and Social History
• Christians and Pagans from Constantine to Augustine (AD 306-430)

  This module covers the crucial transitional period in which Christianity came to dominate the Mediterranean world, from the accession of the first Christian Roman emperor Constantine in 306 to the death of Augustine of Hippo in 430. The fundamental political, social and religious changes that took root during these dramatic years, which also witnessed the early Germanic invasions into the Roman empire, are brought to life by a broad spectrum of translated literary texts and material culture. Students engage with a wide selection of influential writers: Eusebius of Caesarea (Constantine’s biographer), the last pagan emperor Julian ‘the Apostate’, the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, the orator and teacher Libanius, and the Church fathers Jerome (with his ascetic circle of female students) and Augustine (author of the Confessions and City of God). We also examine other forms of evidence: the laws of the Theodosian Code, the inscriptions left by the Roman senatorial aristocracy, and an array of surviving examples of Late Roman art and architecture. The scope and diversity of these sources reflect the transformations of the period itself and offer dissertation opportunities for students with interests ranging from religious and political history to gender studies or the Roman empire’s ‘Decline and Fall’.

• Contemporary Approaches to Latin Literature
• Encounters with Latin Poetry (in Latin)
• History and Fiction

  Stories are everywhere, and the human mind is wired to love them. And one of the jobs of historians is to tell stories - the stories of the past. Historians also have other tasks - evaluating evidence, making responsible arguments, and weighing the ethical issues involved in giving voice to some figures from the past rather than others simply because chance - or the interests of the historical 'winners' - led to one source being preserved, while another was lost, forgotten, or destroyed. This module explores the critical questions and techniques of narrative analysis, considering the problems and pitfalls faced by historians, novelists and dramatists in their effort to bring the past alive. We will explore case studies drawn from history, fiction, and film representing the ancient, medieval, and modern worlds, and the issues we raise will be relevant to students whose interests lie in any period.

• Intensive Greek

  An introduction to the ancient Greek language designed for second/third year students. The course offers an introduction to Ancient Greek for complete beginners. The course proceeds through a set textbook (currently Athenaze book I and, where appropriate, advancing selectively to book II), working chapter by chapter, at time, where appropriate and needed, supplemented by further ad hoc materials. The class will systematically survey aspects of grammar, including declension and conjugation, and syntax, will complete written and oral in class and home-prepared exercises, etc.

• Intensive Latin
• Intermediate Greek

  In this module you will further your understanding of Greek grammar and syntax. You will look at Greek prose and/or verse texts, in unadapted original Greek, and learn how to accurately translate passages at sight.

  
  

• Intermediate Latin

  A module intended to build on Beginner’s Latin or O-level/GCSE, extending the students' knowledge of Latin to the point where they are ready to read substantial texts.

• Latin Epic (in Latin)
• Tacitus and the Making of Empire