Course description
BA Ancient History and Archaeology
Programme
First Year
You will be introduced to Greek and Roman history, and you will undertake two language tools modules, one using material in ancient Greek and one in Latin, which introduce basic features of the languages as well as the types of documentary sources relevant to Ancient History. You will study the archaeological past from the origins of the human species to the twentieth century and the aims and methods of archaeology. At the end of the first year you will participate in an excavation training school in the Leicester area.
Second Year
You choose two aspects of Greek and Roman history to study in detail. Choices vary from year to year but may include: the development of the Greek city-state; political institutions of classical Athens; classical and hellenistic Greek states; politics and society in the late Roman Republic; and the Roman Principate. They are taught through a combination of lectures and seminars, with a strong emphasis on encountering ancient primary sources in translation. There is also an optional module in classical and post-classical Latin, which provides you with the opportunity to continue to develop your language skills, while a core module focuses in more depth on sources and methods in ancient history. There is a further core course in professional skills and you will select two archaeological modules to study in detail. Choices include early prehistory, Iron Age and Roman archaeology, the archaeology of the Mediterranean world, medieval and early modern archaeology, environmental archaeology and artefact analysis. At the end of the year you participate in a research excavation, although some students are able to undertake a visit to Rome instead.
Third Year
You write a dissertation on a topic of your choice that may be focused on either ancient history or archaeology, and are encouraged to use both historical and archaeological sources. You also choose four specialist modules from a wide selection in both archaeology and ancient history. Ancient History choices vary from year to year but may include modules such as: Sparta in the Greek world; Greek countrysides; the Greek world after Alexander; politics in late Roman Republican society; North Africa in late antiquity; and Roman and American slavery. These are chiefly taught through seminars to help you handle historical problems at a more advanced theoretical level, and to refine your skill in evaluating evidence and drawing conclusions from it. Archaeological choices currently include period specialisms such as human origins, Iron Age Britain, Britain in the Roman Empire, the medieval city, and early Christian Europe; thematic modules, including, food and culture, and warfare, conflict and violence in antiquity; and science-based methodological courses such as forensic archaeology, ceramic technology, archaeobotany and human skeletal analysis.
