Aims

The aim of this module is to provide students with a broad overview of Roman history from its origins to the Arab conquests in order to give a grasp of chronology and of important themes and problems across the centuries.
The module will focus on key issues, including Rome’s expansion and decline, and cultural transformations in the Mediterranean world.

Outline Of Syllabus

This module explores the following key themes and periods:
•       the origins of Rome and the problems of using later tradition.
•       the development of the early Republic and the struggle of the orders.
•       Rome’s expansion in Italy and the Mediterranean: conquest and settlement.
•       the fall of the Roman Republic and the Augustan settlement.
•       the Hellenisation of Rome and the Romanisation of the Mediterranean.
•       the Principate from the ‘golden age’ to crisis (AD I-III).
•       Christianisation of the empire.
•       the fall of Rome and the rise of Constantinople.
•       neighbours of empire from Germans to Persians.
•       the ‘end of antiquity’.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lecture materials will provide students with fundamental knowledge plus guidance on methods and skills for approaching the important topics and themes of the module. Some lecture material is better delivered in the more interactive method of a live lecture, directly involving the students in active learning. Other material is better recorded, allowing for more measured and reflective engagement combined with close reading of source materials. The students also come prepared from reading and lectures to the seminars, in flipped classroom style, ready to lead the discussion and analysis of key ancient source texts and/or modern scholarship.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The two written assignments, which have the same format but are weighted differently (40% and 60%), test the students' ability to analyse an ancient source (part 1: commentary) and to engage in depth with key primary evidence and modern scholarship and construct a reasoned argument on the basis of these (part 2: essay).

The first assessment tests students on topics covered in Weeks 2-5 (from the monarchy to the end of the Republic). The second assessment tests students on topics covered in Weeks 6-9 (from the Principate to Late Antiquity).

All Erasmus students at Newcastle University are expected to do the same assessment as students registered for a degree.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending semester 1 only are required to finish their assessment while in Newcastle. This will take the form of an alternative assessment, as outlined in the formats below:

Modules assessed by Coursework and Exam:
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be one essay in addition to the other coursework assessment (the length of the essay should be adjusted in order to comply with the assessment tariff); to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Exam only:
The normal alternative form of assessment for all semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be two 2,000 word written exercises; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Modules assessed by Coursework only:
All semester 1 non-EU study abroad students will be expected to complete the standard assessment for the module; to be submitted no later than 12pm Friday of week 12. The essays should be set so as to assure coverage of the course content to date.

Study-abroad, non-Erasmus exchange and Loyola students spending the whole academic year or semester 2 are required to complete the standard assessment as set out in the MOF under all circumstances