This course explores the different kinds of interactions between Greek cities, communities and kingdoms and the wider Mediterranean world in the build-up to Alexander's world-changing conquests in the fourth century and their aftermath in the Hellenistic period. It examines how Greek communities conceived of themselves and others, as well as studying the conflicts and conquests which established a greatly expanded Greek world. Topics to be covered include war and conquest, kingship and empire, the major cities and their cultures, politics and ideology, and various aspects of the everyday experiences of peoples in this period (including cult, ritual and the household).

20x 1 hour lectures Monday and Tuesday at 1pm over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus; 10x 1 hour

seminars per week (choice of times) over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus.

CLASSIC2010

None

(Essay, 2000 words: 60%

Recorded presentation discussing a text or image, 10 minutes: 40%

This course aims to:

■ Explore the late classical and early Hellenistic periods from a multidisciplinary perspective, considering literary, historical and material evidence to understand the complex issues of identity, ideology and empire as they developed through the periods.

■ Understand how the inhabitants of the Greek world and the wider Mediterranean connected with it interacted with one another in a variety of ways.

■ Explore the literary and non-literary texts and material culture of the periods and their capacity to illuminate historical and cultural topics.

■ Explore the ways in which the Greek world expanded in the Hellenistic period to encompass a wide range of peoples, languages and cultures, and the implications of this multi-ethnic and multicultural material for the evolution of the disciplines of Classics and Ancient History, with the potential to decolonise those disciplines.

By the end of the course students will be able to:

■ Explain and analyse a range of factors which shaped the lived experience of the peoples of the Greek world and the wider Mediterranean connected with it, such as empire, conflict, slavery, gender, language, religion, education and disability.

■ Identify and analyse the set texts and artefacts.

■ Place primary source material into its social, political and religious contexts.

■ Engage productively with relevant secondary literature.

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