Ancient and Medieval History

Core Modules

• History in the Making

  The course follows a grand narrative arc that explores the themes, sources and questions that have animated the work of historians from antiquity to the present day. How have historians discussed themes like Renaissance, Revolution or Gender? What kinds of sources have they used? How do such ideas influence our understanding of historical change? How has this shaped public debate/public history?

• 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.

• Independent Essay

  The subject of the essay must be outside the direct remit of the various Group 1 and Group 2 taught courses that the student is taking. The essay is intended to facilitate and develop the student's powers of independent thought and research, exercised in a field selected by the student for its particular attractions to him/her and where regular supervisory guidance is available.

• All modules are optional

Optional Modules

There are a number of optional course modules available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course modules that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new modules may be offered or existing modules may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.

• 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 Republic

  In this module you will develop an understanding of the history of Roman literature from its beginnings until the end of the Republic. You will look at the work of the major Republican Roman authors Plautus and Terence, Lucretius, Catullus and Cicero. You will consider the issues in the earlier history of Roman literature, including the relationship with Greek models and the question of Roman originality, literature and politics, the use of literature for scientific or philosophical exposition, and the development of narrative style ant attitudes to the Roman Republican past.

• 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.

• Individual and Community

  In this module you will develop an understanding of how classical Greek and Roman societies developed the concept and role of the individual as part of the wider community. You will look at Greek and Roman education, and how that encouraged the formation of ideal behaviour and identity. You will consider the role of rhetoric, and how competition was encouraged within these societies though literary and dramatic contests, sport, military life, and religion. You will examine how these ideas reflect the role of the individual in the community of the cosmos, and the place in society of 'others', including the lower classes, women, children, the elderly, and slaves.

• 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.

• 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.

• Introduction to Greek Archaeology
• Introduction to Roman Archaeology
• Republics, Kings and People: The Foundations of European Political Thought from Plato to Rousseau

  This course investigates the origins of our ideas about human rights and duties, revolution and democracy, consent and liberty, etc. A number of key writings are studied: ranging from Plato and Aristotle in the ancient world to Machiavelli, More, Hobbes, Locke and the Enlightenment in the transition from the early modern to the modern world. Analysis of the development of fundamental ideas about politics and society through these examples sharpens the mind and throws light upon the present in the perspective of the past.

• The Age of Discovery: Expansion, Invention and Globalisation in the Early Modern World

  The early modern period is an age of change. It has been seen by many as the beginning of modernity, for it witnesses the consolidation of both national monarchies and the central state, the split of Christianity with the emergence of the Reformation, the spread of Islam to the Balkans, European expansion into the ‘new world,’ the introduction of print, and significant changes in patterns of consumption. This course will assess the impact that these processes had on the lives of ordinary early modern Europeans and on their ways of making sense of the changes in the world around them. For example, we will examine how the process of state-building brought about a new culture of discipline and self-restraint in everyday life; how people’s attitudes to the sacred and standards of morality changed with the spread of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. We will ask whether the introduction of print revolutionized ordinary people’s access to information and knowledge, and whether the encounter with Native Americans stimulated the development of a separate European identity, perceived as superior. This course will also address continuities and changes in the domestic and private spheres of individuals’ lives -- gender relations, patterns of family life, ideas about childhood and intimacy, attitudes to health and hygiene, birth and death. Throughout the emphasis will be on the experience of ordinary people.

• Rome to Renaissance: An Introduction to the Middle Ages

  The terms 'Middle Ages' and 'Medieval' are often used to evoke a dark and bigoted world, wracked by war, pestilence and superstition and oppressed by tyrannical kings and prelates. The image is not entirely false as all those things can be found in medieval history but it is by no means the full picture. The period from c.400 to c.1500 saw Western Europe transform itself from the poorer part of the retreating Roman empire to a wealthy and dynamic society that was starting to explore the world far beyond its borders. This course explores some of the changes that took place along the way and answers some of the questions that you may always have wanted to ask: What was 'feudalism'? How were castles and Gothic cathedrals built? Why did the Pope become so powerful? What were the Crusades? And does any of this have any relevance whatsoever to the modern world?

• Greek History to 404 BC
• Greek History from 403 to 322
• Greek Historiography
• Historiography of the Roman World
• Gender in Classical Antiquity
• Greek Law and Lawcourts
• Greek History to 322 BC
• Augustus: Propaganda and Power
• The Roman Republic: A Social and Economic History
• The Rise of the Roman Empire: An Economic and Social history
• The Later Roman Empire

  This 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 Roman Emperor, in AD 312. Students will explore the fundamental political, social and religious developments of the fourth century and then examine the contrasting fortunes of the western and eastern regions of the Empire in the fifth and sixth centuries.

• Byzantium and its Neighbours, 641-1081

  By the early years of the seventh century, the Eastern Roman Empire was at the point of collapse. This module traces the reasons why the empire survived and investigates the profound changes that took place in its military organisation, society, religious life, art and culture.

• London Urban Society, 1400-1600

  In this period London grew from a town of 50,000 inhabitants to a capital city of some 200,000. The Reformation not only swept away ‘superstitious’ beliefs, but destroyed much of the fabric and topography of the medieval City - this module will consider how Londoners coped with these changes. How were Londoners fed and watered? How were crafts organised? How was the City governed?

• The Crusades and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1095-1291

  The triumph of the First Crusade (1099) resulted in the establishment of a Latin Christian community in the Levant for almost two hundred years. This module is primarily concerned to examine how the settlers maintained their hold on a region which was spiritually, economically and politically important to the Byzantine empire and the Muslim world as well.

• Medicine and Society in Medieval Europe
• The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic

  This module covers the history of the Roman Republic from the foundation of Rome to the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. We will trace the rise of Rome from city-state to world power and examine the pressures that drove Rome to conquer her Mediterranean empire and the consequences of that expansion for the Romans and for the peoples they conquered.

• Rome and its Empire from Augustus to Commodus

  This module traces the history of the Roman Empire from the achievement of sole power by the first emperor, Augustus (31 BC - AD 14), to the murder of Commodus in AD 192. We will assess the political, social and cultural developments under the emperors and explore fundamental themes including imperial frontier policy and administration, the process of Romanisation, and the nature of Roman religion.

• The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1000-1250
• Politics, Pestilence and War in Late Medieval Europe, 1300 to 1500

  This module examines a period of momentous change, which witnessed the Great Famine and Black Death kill perhaps half of Europe’s population, the consequences of endemic warfare rampaging across the continent, and outbreaks of popular revolt involving exceptional brutality. Lectures and seminars trace the major developments in the period.

• The Silk Road I: Genghis Khan and the Mongol Legacy in Western Asia (1200-1500)

  This module examines the formation of the Mongol Empire and its impact on the social, political, and cultural life in Western Asia. While discussing the Mongols and their presence in Western Asia, we will also consider other intellectual and social changes that occurred in the late medieval period.

• Everyday Life in the Italian Renaissance

  The Italian Renaissance is conventionally portrayed as a period of cultural and artistic renewal, economic prosperity and advanced political forms (republican governments). This module will verify the validity of this picture by considering the everyday experience of the men and women who inhabited the cities of Northern and Central Italy between 1350 and 1650 - political participation, class conflict, education, ways of inhabiting, material culture, crime and violence, gender relationships and sexual deviancy, devotion and the use of magic.

• Religion, Culture and Society in Europe, 1000-1250

  The approach of this module is firmly comparative, and the geographical scope is wide: from the British Isles to the Crusader States. The period c.1000–1250 in Europe saw many key developments, including: the establishment of universities and of the Inquisition; the persecution of heretics, religious minorities and of perceived sexual deviants; and the growth of vernacular literature.

• The Sacred and Profane: Cultural Life in Renaissance Europe

  Late medieval Christian Europe was a world of contrasts. Plague was endemic, but those lucky enough to survive enjoyed improving standards of living that rested in many parts of Europe on a flourishing economic life. This naturally affected life in cities, opening up opportunities for many.

• The Silk Road II: The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires (1500-1700)

  This module examines the early modern history of Western Asia from 1500 to 1789. In terms of political history, this crucial period witnessed the formation of the regional empires, i.e. the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires in the Central Islamic lands - we examine the formation and transformation of these three empires through the prism of the social, religious, and intellectual changes in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

• Extended Essay (Dissertation)
• Greek Law and Lawcourts
• Augustus
• The Roman Republic: A Social and Economic History
• The Rise of the Roman Empire: An Economic and Social history
• Alexander the Great
• The City from Augustus to Charlemagne: The Rise and Fall of Civilisation
• Christians and Pagans from Constantine to Augustine, AD 306 to 430

  This course 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. Students will explore the fundamental political, social and religious developments of these years through the close study of literary and material evidence.

• Heresy, Crusade and Inquisition in Southern France, c.1140 to c.1300

  Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) was obsessed with crusading and he dedicated his pontificate to defeating the enemies of the Church. A profound challenge to his authority came from the Cathars of southern France - men and women following an austere lifestyle and holding a dualist belief in a Good God and an Evil God. Using a series of vivid contemporary narratives, in conjunction with other documents (including inquisitorial records), this course examines the beliefs and organisation of the Cathars and the progress of the Crusade and the Inquisition against them.

• Faith and Fire: Religious Culture in England, c.1375 to 1525

  This course scrutinises an area of English social history that was once universally disparaged. Recent work, however, suggests that the Church in England from c1375-c1525 displayed remarkable resource in adapting to and satisfying the needs of contemporaries. As well as surveying some of the more vibrant areas of the Church’s institutional life, the course will dwell on the laity’s response, particularly as expressed through the parish. This will provide the opportunity to delve into areas such as popular belief and practice, parish government, and more informal activity in the foundation and management of lay confraternities.

• The Causes and Consequences of the Fall of Constantinople (1453)

  In the early fifteenth century with most of the Balkans under the domination of the Ottoman Turks, Constantinople, capital city of the shrunken Byzantine empire, held out behind its formidable defences. The siege of 1453 launched by Mehmed II (1451-1481), however, succeeded where so many previous attempts failed. This module considers the political, strategic and military factors that enabled him to succeed and break through Constantinople’s Land Walls.

• Genghis Khan and His Empire, 1150-1300
• Further Latin for Historians

  This module takes students with GCSE level Latin up to Advanced Level knowledge of the language in one year. The objective of the module is to enable students to read Latin with reasonable fluency.