Compulsory attendance
Yes.
Prerequisites and restrictions
“Propedeuse” Archaeology obtained.
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 the historical sources, followed by survey and excavation evidence from town and country, then through the art and architecture of the period. Student presentations will focus on case-studies.
Learning outcomes
To learn to compare and contrast literary and archaeological evidence for this period;
To learn how to compare and contrast iconographic evidence with other sources;
To give a deeper appreciation of the nature of ancient empires, their rise, fall and transformation;
To relate the world of mentalities and events to long-term processes of Mediterranean social and political evolution.
Mode of delivery
Tutorial.
Assessment
Presentation;
Two papers with a minimum of 3,000 words, reduced marks for late submission.
Reading list
R. Cormack, Byzantine Art (2000). Oxford: Oxford University Press;
S. Kingsley & M. Decker (eds), Economy and Exchange in the East Mediterranean during Late Antiquity (2002). Oxford: Oxbow;
T.F. Mathews, The Art of Byzantium (1998). London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson;
S. Mitchell, A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-622 (2005). Oxford: Blackwell;
A.G. Poulter (ed.), The Transition to the Late Antiquity on the Danube and Beyond (2007). Oxford, Proceedings of the British Academy, 141, Oxford University Press;
B. Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization (2006). Oxford: Oxford University Press;
C. Wickham, Framing the Early Middle Ages (2005). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Time schedule
Course schedule details can be found in the bachelor 3 time schedule.