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).

One face to face meeting at the start of the course; Weekly online group work and discussion; viewing of 21 online lectures

CLASSIC2001

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 this course, students will be able to:

■ identify the formal and structural elements of Athenian drama, oratory, monuments and space

■ relate the textual and visual evidence of the period to its social, political, cultural and material context

■ analyse arguments made in oratorical, dramatic, historical or philosophical texts

■ explain the processes by which Greek political discourse developed

■ evaluate modern approaches to politics and ideology in democratic Athens

■ develop, individually and in groups, their own interpretations of the textual and material evidence in relation to the politics of the period, and evaluate those of peers

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