Prospectus

nl en

The World of Late Antiquity

Course
2009-2010

Admission Requirements:

MA registration

Description:

This course will offer a detailed overview into an era of remarkable historical changes in the Mediterranean world, from ca. 300-700 AD, Late Antiquity to historians and Late Roman to archaeologists. After an historical introduction, this era will be studied through the presentation of survey and excavation evidence from town and country, then through the art and architecture of the period.

Educational Aims:

The student will learn how to compare and contrast literary, archaeological and iconographic sources in order to gain insights into social and economic structures and political developments, as well as the mental worlds of a past society.

Method of Instruction:

Lecture course

Examination Form:

Students will submit two essays of minimum 3000 words.

Basic Reading List:

Cormack, R. (2000). Byzantine Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kingsley, S. and M. Decker, Eds. (2002). Economy and Exchange in the East Mediterranean during Late Antiquity. Oxford, Oxbow.
Mathews, T. F. (1998). The Art of Byzantium. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Mitchell, S. (2005). A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-622. Oxford, Blackwell.
Poulter, A.G. (Ed.)(2007). The Transition to the Late Antiquity on the Danube and Beyond. Oxford, Proceedings of the British Academy, 141, Oxford University Press.
Ward-Perkins, B. (2006). The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Wickham, C. (2005). Framing the Early Middle Ages. Oxford, Oxford University Press.