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The course aims to be a general introduction
to the topic of forced and slave labour
in the ancient world. It covers major topical
issues within slavery studies, such as enslavement
processes, the role/s of slaves in society,
law and slavery, female slave labour, slave
resistance and rebellion, numbers of slaves,
etc. Although the course specifically focuses
on the Roman world, it will also cover selected
other parts of the ancient world, e.g. Greece
and the Ancient Near East.
Tutor: Dr Ulrike Roth
Custodians
of Empire: the Praetorian Guard
The praetorian guard was an elite Roman
military force, in existence for over
three hundred years. Adapted from a republican
institution by Augustus, it was in
essence the personal army of the emperor,
and, within a very short time, was
also responsible for specialized military
tasks and for various administrative duties
in Rome, such as policing the games.
It was thanks to the praetorians that Claudius
obtained the throne in 41, and their role
in precipitating the civil war in
the late second century indicates the power
that was inherent in their position.
This course will examine the praetorian
guard from its establishment to its
demise in AD 312, considering aspects as
diverse as the physical make-up of the unit
and the political influence that it
had in Rome. For comparative purposes, we
will also consider the use of similar
units in later empires, most notably the
Janissaries of the Ottoman empire.
Tutor: Dr Sandra Bingham
Women
in the Ancient Greek World
This course explores the ideology and reality
of women's lives the Greek world from the
Homeric period to the Hellenistic age. It
will explore the literary and artistic constructions
of women in Greek poetry, drama, vase-painting
and sculpture, in other words the gendered
constructions of the female, and set them
alongside sources which give evidence for
women's actual experiences - medical texts,
legal documents, archaeological findings.
The course will study women from different
social classes and poleis within Greece
( Athens , Sparta , Macedonia etc ); students
will explore the institutions of queenship,
female priesthoods, prostitution, slavery
etc. In addition to this the course will
also look at Greek constructions of 'barbarian'
women, such as Amazon warriors and Persian
queens. Students will be required to work
with primary materials, both text and image,
and to integrate their work in the contemporary
scholarship. Students will also become aware
of the recent historiography of women and
gender.
Tutor: Dr Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones & other
members of staff
Life and
Labour in the Ancient World
How did the ancients live? How did an ancient
Greek peasant family get hold of their daily
bread? How did a Roman town dweller do in
this respect? How did women contribute to
their families' income? And how did men?
And what about children? And to what extent
were their efforts similar? And to what
extent did their efforts change over time?
And why should we bother finding out about
it? These and similar questions will be
at the core of this course, which is set
to investigate what is generally referred
to as the ancient economy. The course thus
aims to be an introduction to an extremely
important topic for the study of the ancient
world.
The course will deal with some of the most
complex and intriguing questions of the
study of the ancient economy, and the range
of historical problems to be worked on will
cut right across periodical and geographic
boundaries - from Roman Italy to Classical
Athens and beyond. It should enable students
to gain an understanding of the centrality
of the economy for ancient societies as
well as of the importance of the modern
debate in both a Greek and a Roman context.
Course organiser: Dr Ulrike Roth
The
City of Rome
During the imperial period the city of
Rome was the largest and most important
city in the world and its history and legacy
have fascinated scholars and tourists alike
for centuries. This course on the city of
Rome takes in a range of approaches, themes
and periods. It looks at the ancient city
from different angles, for instance, as
a lived-in space, as a political space,
as a site of spectacle, as the emperor's
city. While focusing on a single but crucial
city the students will be introduced to
many of the key areas of debate in ancient
history, such as the nature of the ancient
city itself and the process of Christianisation
of the city. In the course of the semester
we shall focus on the city mainly from the
age of Augustus to the Sack of Rome, though
we shall also consider the stories the Romans
themselves told about the origins of their
city. Finally the course will look at later
receptions of the ancient city, from the
Renaissance, through the Romantics, to Mussolini.
Tutor: Dr Lucy Grig
Dress
and Society in the Ancient World
This course will introduce students to
the way dress reflected a multitude of identities
(e.g. gender, ethnicity, wealth and legal
status) in the Roman Empire, and will show
how dress behaviour can be analysed to answer
social and cultural-historical questions.
Students will use mainly written and pictorial
primary sources and will analyse debates
and developments surrounding dress in modern
classical and anthropological scholarship.
Tutor: Dr Ursula Rothe
Northern
Gaul and the Germanies in the Roman World
This course aims to promote knowledge
of the northwestern continental region of
the Roman Empire consisting of the provinces
of Gallia Belgica, Germania inferior and
Germania superior. It also aims to introduce
students to the methodology of combining
literary, pictorial and artefactual sources
together to explore the history of a region
under Roman rule.
Tutor: Dr Ursula Rothe
Hellenistic
Egypt: Society, Economy and Culture (332
B.C. to 31 B.C.)
This course aims to introduce students
to theories on, and evidence for, cultural
interaction in the Hellenistic period of
Egypt's history (332-31 BC), particularly
between Greeks and Egyptians. The course
encourages students to consider social,
economic, political and cultural life in
Egypt , using a wide range of documentary,
papyrological, literary and archaeological
source material.
Tutor: Dr April Pudsey
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