Classics & Ancient History

In this course, Dr Ed Bispham (University of Oxford) explores Book 4 of Tacitus’ Annals. As we move through the course, we think about the position of Book 4 in the Annals as a whole, the structure of the book...

In this course we explore Book 1 of Tacitus’ Annals, in which Tacitus describes the death of Augustus, the accession of Tiberius and the mutinies of the army in Pannonia and Germania. We consider not just what happened in those...

In this course, Dr Ed Bispham (University of Oxford) explores Book 15 of Tacitus' Annals. We begin by considering Tacitus as a historian. How does he construct his history, and how much can we trust him? We then give a...

In this course Professor Christopher Whitton (University of Cambridge) explores Books 13-14 of Tacitus’ Annals, focusing in particular on Nero’s murder of his mother, Agrippina. In the first lecture we introduce Tacitus and the Annals in general,...

In this course Dr Ed Bispham (University of Oxford) explores Books 12-14 of Tacitus’ Annals, focusing in particular on the figures of Nero and Agrippina the Younger. In the first lecture we think about the hexadic structure of Tacitus’ Annals as a...

In this course Professor Chris Whitton (University of Cambridge) explores Book 12 of Tacitus’ Annals. In the first lecture, we provide an introduction to Tacitus’ Annals itself, as a work of history and literature. The following three modules each...