Classics & Ancient History

In this course, Professor Hans van Wees (University College, London) explores the reforms of Solon in the early sixth century BC. We begin by thinking about the social and political problems faced by Athens in the period, before moving on...

In this course, Professor Catherine Steel (University of Glasgow) explores Cicero as an orator in a set of lectures designed to be used alongside the OCR A Level Classical Civilization option, ‘Politics and the Late Republic’. In the first module,...

In this course, Professor Lynette Mitchell (University of Exeter) explores the presentation of Persians and other non-Greeks (‘barbarians’) in Aeschylus’ Persians and Herodotus’ Histories. In the first module, we offer a brief history of the...

In this course, Dr Ellen O'Gorman (University of Bristol) explores Tacitus' Histories, focusing in particular on Book 1. We begin by providing a broader introduction to the Histories, thinking about the scope of the work, as well as how the...

In this course, Professor Paul Cartledge (University of Cambridge) explores compares and contrasts the democracy of Classical Athens with that of the United Kingdom in the 21st century. The course begins by considering the origins of democracy in...

In this course, Professor Anthony Price (Birkbeck College, London) explores Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. In the first module, we explore the central concept of eudaimonia, or happiness, in Aristotle's ethics, before turning in the second module...

In this course, Professor David Sedley (University of Cambridge) explores Plato's Phaedo, in which several arguments are made for the immortality of the soul. We begin by providing a broad introduction to the dialogue, focusing in particular on...

In this course, Dr Regine May (University of Leeds) explores the story of Cupid and Psyche in Apuleius’ Metamorphoses. In the first module, we think about the literary and historical context of Apuleius’ Metamorphoses, before turning in the second...

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, Professor Edward Harris (University of Durham) explores the development and operation of Athenian democracy in the fifth century BC. In the first module, we think about the kind of society that existed in Attica in the sixth...

In this course, Professor Catharine Edwards (Birkbeck, University of London) provides an introduction to Seneca the Younger and his Epistulae Morales. We begin by providing a broad introduction to Seneca's life, career, and literary output, before...

In this course, Professor Robin Osborne (University of Cambridge) explores vase-painting in the Greek world from the eighth century to the middle of the fifth century BC, tracing a narrative that includes each of the vases on the OCR A Level...

In this course, Dr David Lewis (University of Edinburgh) explores slavery in ancient Greece. We begin by looking at the earliest evidence for slavery in the Greek world, focusing in particular on the descriptions of slavery in the Linear B ...

In this course, Professor Llewelyn Morgan (University of Oxford) explores Horace’s Odes and Satires. The first two modules focus on the Odes. In the first, we think about the nature of Horace’s lyric poetry, focusing in particular on what ...