Newcastle University > Undergraduate > Find a Degree > Module

• Offered for Year: 2020/21

• Module Leader(s): Dr John Holton

• Owning School: History, Classics and Archaeology
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Aims

This module aims to introduce students to historical developments across the ancient Greek and near eastern worlds in the fourth to first centuries BC. This period covers the conquests of Alexander the Great in 336-323 BC and the rise and fall of the Hellenistic empires (principally the Antigonid, Seleucid, and Ptolemaic) down to the collapse of the Ptolemaic kingdom, under Cleopatra VII, in 30 BC. Recurrent thematic focuses across this module principally (but not exclusively) include:

• structures and strategies of ancient imperialism (Greek, Macedonian, near eastern);
• relations between different cultural groups (Greeks, Macedonians, Persians, Egyptians, Babylonians, etc.);
• power, agency, and dynamics of interaction between political actors of differing statuses;
• social and cultural issues, such as identity and belonging, from the elite to the masses;
• continuity and change in the eastern Mediterranean and ancient near east in the 4th-1st centuries BC;
• long-term and short-term perspectives on historical processes, and how the historian can integrate these.

Underpinning the content of the module is a commitment to a further aim, namely the development of more holistic and more sophisticated approaches to the ancient evidence for a given area of study, be it historiographical, poetic, epigraphic, numismatic, artistic, or other.

Outline Of Syllabus

The following constitute some central topics that might typically be included in a given year:

• Experiences under Alexander’s rule
• The Achaemenid Persian empire prior to Alexander’s conquest
• Alexander in Egypt and Persia
• Greeks and Macedonians in Afghanistan and India
• The emergence of the Hellenistic royal state after Alexander
• Regional identities in the Seleucid empire
• Culture and power in Ptolemaic Egypt
• Rome and the Hellenistic empires

Aligned with the lecture programme, the following seminars might be included.

• Research skills in ancient history
• The League of Corinth
• The cities of Anatolia (a.k.a. Asia Minor)
• Egyptian relations with Alexander
• Factional strife after Alexander’s death
• Kings, oligarchs, and democrats in early Hellenistic Athens
• Babylonia under the Seleucids
• Hellenistic Alexandria

Teaching Methods

Please note that module leaders are reviewing the module teaching and assessment methods for Semester 2 modules, in light of the Covid-19 restrictions. There may also be a few further changes to Semester 1 modules. Final information will be available by the end of August 2020 in for Semester 1 modules and the end of October 2020 for Semester 2 modules.

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Non-synchronous lecture materials will introduce topics and provide structured orientation and exposition, supplemented by structured weekly reading in advance. Consolidation and further skills-development opportunities will come from weekly quizzes and digital skills tasks. Synchronous seminars and drop-ins, as well as non-synchronous, independently-organised reading groups, include active learning opportunities, teacher-learner dialogue, and peer-to-peer support.

Synchronous seminars will also consolidate the learning progress from lecture materials and weekly readings by enabling students to focus on connected issues and material in greater depth. Seminars will be student-led (though facilitated by teaching staff), focusing on group discussion and debate surrounding material circulated in advance (for example, sets of evidence, scholarship, and questions), and so will provide enhanced grounds for active skills and knowledge development in relation to all of module’s intended learning outcomes.

Assessment Methods

Please note that module leaders are reviewing the module teaching and assessment methods for Semester 2 modules, in light of the Covid-19 restrictions. There may also be a few further changes to Semester 1 modules. Final information will be available by the end of August 2020 in for Semester 1 modules and the end of October 2020 for Semester 2 modules.

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

PORTFOLIO (40% of total module grade)

The portfolio, a 1,500-word collection of three short studies (avg. 500 words each) of a coin, an inscription, and a literary source, is intended to assess in particular the evidence-competence further developed in this module. This type of activity aligns with knowledge outcomes 1 & 3, and with skills outcomes 1, 2, 3, & 4.

ESSAY (60% of total module grade)

The essay, a 2,000-word piece of work (responding to a question chosen by the student from a pre-circulated set of options), is intended to assess in particular the ability to pursue topics introduced during the module on an individual and independent basis. This assessment component aligns with knowledge outcomes 1, 2, & 3, and with skills outcomes 1, 2, 3, & 4.

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.

Reading Lists

• CAH2006's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• CAH2006's Timetable