What is A-level Classical Civilisation?

Have you always been interested in the ancient cultures of the Classical world, but didn't get on particularly well with Latin? Or are you taking Greek and/or Latin GCSE and want to further your knowledge of the Classics? Even if you're only passingly acquainted with the Greek and Roman world from films like Gladiator and Troy, there are plenty of reasons to study Classical Civilisation.

Most importantly: there's no need to have studied either Latin or Classical Civilisation before!

          

Why study Classical Civilisation at A-level?

• It offers you the chance to study a fascinating period of history in several ways: through history, through literature, and through the study of Greek art and architecture - and there's not a Latin verb in sight!  If you found learning about Roman culture in First and Second Year Latin fun, but weren't linguistically-minded enough to carry on into the Third Year, then Classical Civilisation lets you learn about the Greeks and Romans in the Sixth Form.
   
• Classical Civilisation develops your analytical skills through a variety of media: literature, history, and art/architecture.  It is a rigorous subject, respected by university admissions officers as a useful basis for many humanities degree courses - even ones with nothing to do with Classics.  English, History, and PPE all require the skills that Classical Civilisation A-Level can offer.
   
• Even if you plan on doing science or maths at university, Classical Civilisation is an ideal humanities-based complement.  As will any humanities subject, it will demonstrate to admissions officers that you have a broad education, and it will help you to develop the communications skills that you need for university interviews.
   
• You get to learn about Achilles and Hector, how to understand Greek ruins, how the Roman race first started, and about Roman emperors, all in a single A-Level!

What modules are studied?

1) Homer's Iliad
The Iliad is the earliest extant piece of European literature.  It tells of the feud between Achilles and Agamemnon, two Greek heroes laying siege to the city of Troy, and takes the reader through a period of the Trojan War up until the death of the Trojan hero Hector, and oversees its aftermath.  It is often said to be the Ancient Greek Bible, defining their society, and their approach to heroism, war and death.

2) Greek Art & Architecture
The ancient Greeks were renowned right up until the Renaissance as some of the finest artists and builders in history.  The quality of their sculpture was unprecedented, and their temples were works of art in themselves.  Their other principal medium, paintwork on pottery, gave rise to striking and unique depictions - such as the ones on this page, or others that can be found at the links below.  The Art & Architecture module will enhance your understanding of artistic developments and techniques, and will ask why and how they changed over time.

3) Virgil's Aeneid
The Romans grew up in the cultural shadow of the Greeks, who had expanded across much of Italy before Rome ever came to prominence, and much of Roman literature was an attempt to recapture Greek poetic prowess in Latin.  The Aeneid was one of the culminations of this endeavour - an effort to encapsulate Homer's Iliad and Odyssey into a single poem that told of the founding of the Roman race and the origins of the divine Roman mission to conquer the world, through the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero who fled when the Greeks sacked Troy.

4) Augustus and the Foundation of the Principate
Augustus was the first Roman emperor - a man who came to power after the bloody civil war that followed the assassination of his father-in-law, Julius Caesar.  For the next forty years until his death Augustus trod a fine line between being an autocrat and and a democratic "princeps" - a "first citizen", and in doing so established a quasi-hereditary monarchy that lasted for centuries.  This module will study the first Roman emperor, and will ask what made him so successful, and his legacy so enduring.

Where can I found out more?

Still undecided?  To the right you can find taster materials for each module of the course, to give you a better idea of the subject matter. 

Alternatively you might want to investigate the links below, which will give you a more detailed overview of the topics that we will study.

Homer's Iliad
Homer's Iliad
Wikipedia entry for the Iliad
Some background to the Iliad and to Homer
Archaeology and literature of Troy and other background information
The text of the Iliad in English

Greek Art & Architecture
An Introduction to Classical sculpture
An Introduction to Greek pottery
Greek Art and Archaeology
A history of Greek architecture
Classical Greek sculpture images at Wikimedia Commons

Virgil's Aeneid
An introduction to Virgil, the Aeneid
Some background on the Aeneid
A summary of the Aeneid
Wikipedia entry for the Aeneid
The text of the Aeneid in English - NB: This is a verse translation.  We will be using a prose translation

Augustus and the Foundation of the Principate
Augustus - the Principate begins
Outlines of Roman history - Augustus
Wikipedia entry for Augustus
Augustus and the empire
Ancient Rome - a military and political history (by Cambridge University Press) - PDF format

 

Download Taster Materials

Interested in studying Classical Civilisation?  Download some taster materials to give you an idea of what the course will be like.

Click on the image of the module that you are interested in:

Homer's Iliad

Greek Art & Architecture

Virgil's Aeneid

Augustus & the Principate