Module CLAS2011: THE COMMON PEACE & THE RISE OF MACEDON

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS2011: THE COMMON PEACE & THE RISE OF MACEDON

Prerequisites

• Remembering Athens CLAS1601.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students to the study of the most important developments in Greek History during late Classical period and the first decades of Hellenistic epoch. The module will include use of evidence, problem-solving, and essay work.

Content

• The module focuses on the political and social history of 4th century Greece. The main topics are the Common Peace Treaties, Spartan Imperialism and Failure, the Second Athenian League, Thebes and her Allies, Athens in the Early Fourth Century, Philip of Macedon and the Greeks, Demosthenic Athens, Alexander the Great, early Hellenistic kingship.
• Special attention is given to evaluation of the sources: Andocides III 'On the Peace', Demosthenes, IX, Philippic iii, Diodorus Siculus, XV (omitting the Persian and Sicilian chapters), Arrian, 'Anabasis I', and selected inscriptions in translation will be examined.
• The downfall of Athens and Sparta and the process of Hellenization of Macedonia and its rise to military superpower will form the core of the module.
• The module will end with a series of lectures on the process of Hellenization of Mediterranean and Near East via Alexander the Great and the Successors and with an outlook on the early Hellenistic kingdoms.

Learning Outcomes

• Principal socio - historical developments in the 4th C. BC Greece and to some extent in the Near East and Egypt.
• An overview and understanding of the relevant literary and inscriptional evidence and insight into source-specific problems.
• Insight in the current scholarly debates pertaining to 4th century history.

• Ability to apply methodology appropriate for the type of evidence.
• Ability to develop analytical and evaluative skills in handling the sources.
• Ability to use and understand modern scholarship when formulating an argument.

• Justifiable critical approach to a variety of heterogeneous sources, including analytical and evaluative skills.
• Justifiable critical approach to modern scholarly literature, based on understanding of a given argument.
• Capability to synthesize and formulate a plausible, clear and persuasive argument in writing.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures will introduce students to the relevant sources, and modern approaches in historical interpretation.
• Text classes will provide an opportunity to dissect modern accounts of the fourth century BC history into the basic elements they stem from, and will invite students to try to formulate their own argument or support an existing one with their own assumptions.
• Essays will test their capability to synthesize and formulate a plausible argument.
• Tutorials give students a chance to present and develop their own argument.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two written assignments, maximum 1500 words each.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University