Ancient History: Sources and Controversies

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Critically analyse a diverse range of source material
• Communicate a coherent and convincing argument in both oral and written formats
• Participate actively in group discussions and debate
• Use a range of perspectives in problem-solving
• Organise and structure material to write and present confidently

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Understand how major interpretations of ancient sources develop and change
• Identify and evaluate different historical interpretations of the ancient world
• Evaluate critically the methodological approaches used by scholars working on the ancient world
• Understand the interplay between historical sources and interpretations of them
• Express familiarity with and interpret critically a variety of primary sources from the ancient world

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Different academic approaches to analysis of primary sources from the ancient world
• Historical problems and questions raised by different types of primary sources from diverse contexts within the ancient world
• Key literary, visual and material sources that provide evidence for Greek, Roman and Byzantine history
• The latest research on the specific primary sources under consideration

This module does not focus on one period or region within the ancient world, but emphasises and encourages exploration of the range and types of evidence available to ancient historians, how we can use them to learn about particular historical contexts, and responses to and representations of the ancient world within them. Each lecture and seminar will be dedicated to a specific source or type of source. These will vary each year depending on staff availability, but would be selected from topics such as:

• Herodotus, 484-425 BCE, The Histories
• Thucydides, 460-395 BCE, History of the Peloponnesian War
• Socrates, 469 – 399 BCE
• Xenophon, 430-354 BCE, Hellenica
• Plato, 428 – 347 BCE
• Aristotle, 384 – 322 BCE
• Polybius, 200-118 BCE, The Histories
• Livy, 64 BCE – 17 CE, History of Rome
• The Dead Sea Scrolls
• Josephus, 37-100 CE, Antiquities
• The Bible
• Plutarch, 46-120 CE, Parallel Lives and

Lives of Roman Emperors

• Tacitus, 56-117 CE, Annals and Histories
• Suetonius, 69-122 CE, Lives of the Caesars
• Appian, 95-165 CE, Roman History
• Eusebius, 260-340 CE, Ecclesiastical History
• Ammianus Marcellinus, 325-392 CE,

History

• Procopius, 500-560 CE, The Wars of Justinian, and Secret History
• Buildings and Monuments
• Inscriptions
• Coins
• Art/Images
• Archaeological sites
• Legal codes

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include:

• One-hour lectures. The lectures will have two main aims: to introduce you to some of the most important and influential sources that define and help to understand the ancient world; and to develop your analytical skills in approaching such sources. The lectures will also provide an introduction and method for interpreting the set texts, which will be discussed and debated in detail in the accompanying seminars.
• One-hour seminars. Seminars will focus on detailed reading and analysis of primary sources, accompanied by discussion of the implications of these documents and how they connect with the principal historiography and wider perceptions of the context in question. Discussion in seminars will help you to develop your ideas on a topic, to analyse a range of source material and to articulate a critical argument. Such discussions will also allow you to reflect on the historiography and on broader attitudes towards the period in question.
• Opportunity for individual consultations with seminar tutors and feedback on assignments Learning activities include:
• Preparatory reading before each seminar
• Participation in group and seminar discussion
• Independent reading of the sources provided and of related secondary works
• Preparing and delivering presentations in seminars
• Independent research of additional information and source materials

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Walbank, F.W (1992). The Hellenistic World. London: Fontana.

Crawford, M (1992). The Roman Republic. London: Fontana.

Cameron, A (1993). The Mediterranean world in late antiquity, AD 395-600. London: Routledge.

Hornblower, S (2002). The Greek World 479-323 BC. London: Methuen.

Brown, P (1993). The making of late antiquity. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

Champion, C.B., (ed.) (2004). Roman Imperialism: Readings and Sources. Oxford: Blackwell.

Rajak, T (1983). Josephus: the historian and his society. London: Duckworth.

Kraus, C.S. and A.J. Woodman (1997). Latin Historians. Cambridge: CUP.

Gill, M.L. and P. Pellegrin (eds) (2006). A Companion to Ancient Philosophy. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Gill, C (1995). Greek Thought. Greece and Rome New Surveys in the Classics. Oxford: OUP.

Beard, M. and J. Henderson (2001). Classical Art from Greece to Rome. Oxford: OUP.

Elsner, J (1996). Art and Text in Roman Culture. Cambridge: CUP.

Sedley, D (2003). Cambridge Companion to Greek and Roman Philosophy. Cambridge: CUP.

Maas, M (2000). Readings in Late Antiquity: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge.

Kleiner, D (1992). Roman Sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Stevenson, J. and W.H.C. Frend (1987). A New Eusebius: documents illustrating the history of the Church to AD 337. London: SPCK.

Erskine, A., (ed) (2003). A Companion to the Hellenistic World. Oxford: Blackwell.

Goodman, M (1997). The Roman World 44 BC - AD 180. London: Routledge.

Cornell, T.J (1995). The Beginnings of Rome. London: Routledge.

Wells, C (1992). The Roman Empire. London: Fontana.

Marincola, J (1997). Authority and Tradition in Ancient Historiography. Cambridge: CUP.

Rohrbacher, D (2002). The historians of late antiquity. London: Routledge.

Shipley, G (2000). The Greek World after Alexander 323-30 BC. London: Routledge.

Cameron, A (1993). The Later Roman Empire. London: Fontana.

Woodman, A.J (1988). Rhetoric in Classical Historiography. London: Areopagitica Press.

Mitchell, M.M and F.M. Young (eds) (2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 1: Origins to Constantine. Cambridge: CUP.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External