Unit name | Non-Literary Sources for Ancient History |
---|---|
Unit code | CLAS22319 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. Momigliano |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit concentrates on the non-literary evidence which ancient historians use: art, archaeology, epigraphy, and numismatics. This kind of evidence is useful not only for confirming our literary sources or plugging gaps in the literary record but also for questioning and contradicting the elite perspective offered by those sources, and for addressing aspects of ancient society which the literary sources entirely ignore. The unit will focus on a range of different types of non-literary evidence, considering their nature and the issues involved in their interpretation, and will explore their contribution to specific historical debates.
Aims:
To develop students understanding of the nature and significance of different kinds of non-literary evidence for ancient history, and to develop their skills in its interpretation.
On successful completion of this unit students should:
Lectures and seminars.
Three written assessment tasks, analysing the nature and use of different forms of evidence in relation to specific historical questions. Two of 1500 words (25% each) and one of 2000 words (50%).