The ancient world not only introduced the major forms of political government (representative and participatory democracy, republicanism, empire), but also its foundational political texts. This course provides the opportunity to study the roots of modern politics and consider the insights that ancient theorists and practitioners can afford us today

Ten two-hour seminars

None

One seminar presentation 30% and one 3,000 word essay 70%.

This course provides the opportunity to:

■ explore a range of different kinds of ancient political writing, including historiography and oratory

■ examine the variety of ancient constitutions and political practices

■ investigate the relationship between political theory and political practice

■ compare politics within different cultures, from archaic and Classical Greece to Republican and Imperial Rome

■ understand political texts in their historical and literary contexts

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

■ demonstrate familiarity with the principal strands of ancient political theory;

■ demonstrate familiarity with the main outline of historical development within the periods studied;

■ relate their knowledge of ancient political systems to historical events, and show how political writing does and does not play a dynamic role;

■ relate the concerns of historiography and oratory to their personal, generic, and cultural concerns

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.