Classical Studies

Core Modules

Year 1

• 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.

Year 2

• All modules are optional

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 Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.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.

  
  

• Greek Language and Reading

  In this module you will develop an understanding of a wide range of texts in ancient Greek. You will look at set texts in both prose and verse for translation, and complete grammar and syntax consolidation exercises. You will consider the literary and linguistic features of advanced Greek texts and examine features of grammar, syntax and style.

• 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.

• 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

  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

• Aspects of Modern Greek Language and Culture
• Intensive Latin
• Homer (in Greek)
• Imperial Greek Literature
• Latin Epic
• Latin Letters
• Homer (In Translation)
• Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Art and Power in Augustan Rome
• Virgil’s Aeneid: The Empire in the Literary Imagination
• 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.

• Augustus: Propaganda and Power
• The Roman Republic: A Social and Economic History
• The Rise of the Roman Empire: An Economic and Social history
• 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.

• Body and Soul in Ancient Philosophy
• The Good Life in Ancient Philosophy
• Understanding Pompeii and Herculaneum
• Second Year Projects
• Plato (in Greek)
• 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.

• Advanced Latin (for BA)
• Advanced Greek
• Encounters with Latin Poetry (in Latin)
• Roman Drama (in Latin)
• Latin on the Edge (in Latin)
• Tacitus on Being Roman (in Latin)
• Athenian Law and Social History
• Tacitus and the Making of Empire
• Spinning the Past: Greek Historiography from Herodotos to Diodoros
• Life in the Big City
• 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.

Year 3

• Further Aspects of Modern Greek Language and Culture
• Nature and the Supernatural in Latin Literature
• Greek Literature under the Roman Empire
• The Roman Novel
• Gender in Classical Antiquity
• Greek Law and Lawcourts
• Augustus
• Alexander the Great
• Body and Soul in Ancient Philosophy
• The Good Life in Ancient Philosophy II
• Understanding Pompeii and Herculaneum
• Perspectives on Roman Britain
• City of Athens
• The Archaeology of the Roman Near East
• 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.

• Advanced Latin (for BA)
• Advanced Greek
• Roman Drama (in Latin)
• Tacitus and the Making of Empire
• Athenian Law and Social History
• Tacitus on Being Roman (in Latin)
• Latin on the Edge (in Latin)
• Encounters with Latin Poetry (in Latin)
• Food in the Ancient World
• Roman Protests and Riots
• Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire
• Thinking Myth: classical myth and its reception
• Of Masks & Voices: Gender and Performance in ancient Greece