Unit information: Ancient Historical Writers in 2018/19

Unit name	Ancient Historical Writers
Unit code	CLAS10039
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Sandwell
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Classics & Ancient History
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will introduce students to some of the main writers of the Greek and Roman world who wrote what we now consider to be works of history and in so doing will reflect on what it is to do ancient history in a modern university. Our word history comes from the Greek term historia, but what did ancient people think history writing was and how does this compare to what we think we are doing when we write about the history of the ancient world? How far are categories from modern historical theory, such as causation, change and the past, relevant to ancient historical writers? How far did those we now think of as historical writers think they were writing ‘a history’ or have other ways of thinking about the project in which they were engaged, and how does this help us reflect on what we do?

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful students will be able to:

1. identify and provide key information about some of the main ancient historical writers of the Greek and Roman worlds;
2. identify and explain some of the key features of ancient historical writing;
3. identify and explain some of the key features of modern historical writing about the ancient world;
4. reflect on the similarities and differences between ancient and modern historical writing about the ancient in order to have a greater understanding of what it means to be a student of ancient history in a modern university;
5. demonstrate skills of academic writing at a level appropriate to level C;
6. demonstrate skills of collaborative working.

Teaching Information

1 x 2hr lecture and 1 x 2hr workshop

Assessment Information

• a short (1250 words) analysis of passage from an ancient historical writer (25%) (ILOs 1-5)
• 1500 word peer-reviewed essay: students submit a draft in week five, review a peer’s draft and are in turn reviewed, before submitting a revised version with an accompanying reflection (300 words) on the process (75%) (ILOs 1-6)

Reading and References

T.J. Luce, The Greek Historians (London: Routledge, 1997)

R. Mellor, The Roman Historians (London: Taylor & Francis, 1999)

C. Pelling, Literary Texts and the Greek Historian (London: Routledge, 2000)

L. Pitcher, Writing Ancient History: An Introduction (London and New York: I. B. Taurus, 2009)