TSM Ancient History and Archaeology

Ancient history and archaeology are both concerned with understanding social, political and cultural experience in the past. This course offers you the opportunity to range across these two broad disciplines. You will study the Greek and Roman worlds by working with historical and literary documents alongside the material remains of ancient sites and artefacts. You also explore Greek and Roman relationships with neighbouring cultures, such as Egypt and the Near East, within the Mediterranean and beyond.

The Greek modules range in time from the development of the Greek city-states, such as Athens and Sparta, to the Hellenistic kingdoms founded in the wake of Alexander. The Aegean Bronze Age module takes you back in time to the early palatial civilizations of the Minoans and Mycenaeans. On the Roman side you will study imperial history from Augustus to the emperor Constantine, and explore the archaeology of the length and breadth of the Roman world, taking in its cities, armies and frontiers, trade and technology. The module on Roman Britain assesses the impact of Roman culture on this remote Roman province.

Among the many themes addressed are the emergence and character of urban societies, colonization and empire, cultural interaction, slavery, economy, war and ideology, landscape studies, religion, the social roles of art and architecture, and social issues such as sexuality, gender and death.

There are opportunities to participate in archaeological fieldwork and in study tours to classical sites, and you can, if you wish, take these as modules for credit. All material is studied in translation and no knowledge of Greek or Latin is required.

Junior Freshmen

• CL1003 Introduction To Greek and Roman History
• CL1210 Greek and Roman Art and Architecture
• CL1004 Sources and Methods for Ancient History and Archaeology

Senior Freshmen/Junior Sophister

2013-2014 (and alternate years)

• CL2307 Greek History
• CL2308 Greek Archaeology
• CL2309 Aegean Bronze Age

Optional modules also available:

• CL2010 Archaeological Study Tour
• CL2011 Archaeological Fieldwork
  
• HH2000 Representations of the Individual in Western Society

2014-15 (and alternate years)

• CL2310 Roman History
• CL2311 Roman Archaeology
• CL2312 Roman Britain

Optional modules also available:

• CL3010 Study Tour
• CL3011 Archaeological Fieldwork

Senior Sophister

• CL4040 Dissertation

Two special subjects: 2013-2014 options

• CL4007 Ancient Cyprus
• CL4044 Anthropology and the Greeks
• CL4004 Entertainment and Spectacle in the Greek and Roman Worlds
• CL4056 Kings and Cities

Other modules available in recent years:

• CL4051 Egypt
• CL4054 The Epic Tradition
• CL4013 Goddesses of the Ancient Mediterranean
• CL4048 Jewish History 200BC-AD66
• CL4050 Rhetoric