Classics

Students are introduced to the political, social, and economic history of ancient Greece during the the "Classical" period, c. 480-323 BC. This era spans from the Greco-Persian Wars to the death of Alexander the Great. This course explores sources and methods that modern historians use to study ancient Greek culture, including literary texts that are read in translation and artefacts from the ancient world.

This course explores the development of ancient science and technology and its interrelation with Greco-Roman societies and the environment. The course encompasses the ancient Mediterranean area and the Near and Middle East and range from the Bronze age to the early Middle Ages, with a focus on the Roman period. It takes a wide view of technology, ranging from primitive tools and agriculture to automata (robots), aquaducts, and catapults. The course uses texts and archaeological evidence, and incorporates field and museum learning experiences as well as explaining the latest scientific advances.

This course introduces students, especially those beginning the study of ancient history, to the politics, society, and economy of the Greek world and its relations with neighboring peoples in the archaic period (800-478 BC). The principal themes of the course are the emergence and character of the leading Greek city-states and their geographical spread throughout the Mediterranean world; the rise of powerful non-Greek neighbors, especially Persia, during the sixth century; and the interaction between them, culminating in the Persian Wars. Particular attention is paid to the nature of our evidence for the period: students study the first work of western historiography, THE HISTORIES of Herodotus; and the potential and problems of using other sorts of archaeological, documentary, and literary evidence to write the history of this period.

This course offers a study of the origins of theater in Greece as well as its literary aspects-- tragedy, comedy, and satirical drama-- from the archaic and classical periods. It explores the cultural, social, and religious functions of theater in Greece as well as the role of classical literature in the birth and configuration of European vernacular literature.

The course covers the last generation of the Roman republic, primarily focusing on the political and military events between 88 and 43 BCE. It traces the process which led to the replacement of the traditional system of shared aristocratic government by a hereditary monarchy. Central themes include the rise of the late republican dynasts, above all Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar, the role of the army in politics, the gradual destabilization of domestic politics, and the challenges posed by the expanding empire as well as its socio-economic impact. The current debate about the nature of the "fall" of the republic – accidental or inevitable - is also analyzed and placed in a wider historiographic context.

Narratives about antiquity have reverberated through history. The stories the Greeks and Romans told about themselves and their past shaped the complex societies in which they lived. Today, narratives about the origins and fall of classical societies continue to be used to make claims about where modern societies came from, how they should be run, and how far we have come from our origins. This course examines influential narratives from the ancient world and their reinterpretations in later periods, from the 19th century to the present day. Possible topics include the origins of Greece and Rome and their entanglement in ancient and modern ideas of nationhood, culture and race, and the fall of the Roman empire and the lessons that have been drawn from it. This course shows that narratives of antiquity have always been embedded in contemporary culture, society, and politics, and that they continue to shape the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.

The Late Republic (first century BCE) was a time of change and conflict in the city of Rome and the wider Roman Empire. In political terms the history of that century is dominated by the series of civil wars which led to the political dominance and assassination of Julius Caesar. The literature and art of that period in many cases reflect those tensions and problems. It was also a time of rapid development of Roman art and literature as it sought to form its own new identity through the traditions it had inherited from Greek culture. From the seething passions of Catullus' poetry, through Lucretius' philosophical poetic treatise ON THE NATURE OF THINGS, to the stylish rhetoric of Cicero, the course sets the main literary texts of that period against the broader backdrop of Roman art, culture, and social life. All texts will be studied in translation.

In this course, students glimpse into the Mediterranean world, using real examples of Archaic sculpture in the British Museum as touchstones and maintaining an emphasis on first-hand inspection and close-looking through gallery visits and handling sessions. Moving beyond Greece, students consider the interconnected development of Archaic art across the Mediterranean, including Egypt, Cyprus, Anatolia, the Levant, and Magna Graecia, informing these discussions with new discoveries and scientific testing. Readings engage with current scholarly debates about periodization, gender, and polychromy in Archaic Sculpture. This course requires self-directed study and presentations in museum contexts, culminating in a final essay. All ancient texts are provided in both Greek and English. Numbers will be capped because of museum visits/handling sessions.

Early Greece was the age of beautiful poetry and cutting-edge philosophy. The course explores the diversity of early Greek thought at the crossroads of poetry and philosophy, from the 8th to the 5th century BCE starting with Hesiod's struggle to re-order the world of gods and humans: Hesiod's work stands side by side with Homer's poems as foundational works of ancient Greek epic. We then consider the exciting literary and intellectual experiments of lyric poets and philosopher poets, who saw poetry as a way of writing philosophy, exploring love and attacking enemies. Authors to be studied include Sappho, Theognis, Solon, Xenophanes, and Empedocles. All texts are studied in translation.

This course looks at the life and lasting legacy of Alexander the Great. It begins with Alexander’s father Philip and the troubled relations he had with his son.  From there it studies Alexander’s rise to power in Macedon and his conquest of the Persian Empire; examining his army, strategy, and tactics - and those of his opponents. Students also look at what motivated Alexander throughout his short life and at the nature of the empire that he constructed.