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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Postgraduate (History, Classics and Archaeology)

Postgraduate Course: The Hellenistic City (PGHC11183)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course explores the role of the city, the Greek polis, in the Hellenistic world, both old cities like Athens and new ones like Alexandria. There will be a particular emphasis on the use of epigraphic material.
Course description This course explores the role of the city, the Greek polis, in the Hellenistic world. Many have thought that the polis ended with Alexander, so the validity of this position will be examined. Key themes will include civic identity, the interaction between cities and with kings, cult and euergetism and the spread of Greek culture, but the selection of themes will also vary according to the interests of those taking the course. Other possible topics would include specific cities such as Athens or Alexandria, education, food supply, diplomacy, philosophers, public buildings, democracy, leagues and federations. An understanding of the Hellenistic world is particularly important for understanding the development of the Roman empire in the East. All taking the course will be expected to do a presentation on a subject of their choice.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  15
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 1 Essay of minimum 4000 words.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. a detailed and critical command of the body of knowledge concerning the nature of the Greek polis and its place in the Hellenistic world
  2. an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship concerning the development and character of the Hellenistic polis and its place in the Greek East, and relevant primary source materials, especially epigraphy
  3. the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written form by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course
  4. originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers; and a considerable degree of autonomy
Reading List
Alexandria and Alexandrianism: papers delivered at a symposium organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996

Austin, M. 2006. The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest. 2nd ed. Cambridge

Bugh, G. (ed.) 2006. Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge

Chaniotis, A. 2005. War in the Hellenistic world: a social and cultural history. Oxford

Erskine, A. 2003 (ed.) A Companion to the Hellenistic World. Oxford

Giovannini, A. 1993. 'Greek Cities and Greek Commonwealth' in A.W. Bulloch etc. (ed.) Images and Ideologies: Self-definition in the Hellenistic World, 265-86

Gruen, E. 1993. 'The Polis in the Hellenistic World' in Nomodeiktes: Greek studies in honor of Martin Ostwald edited by Ralph M. Rosen and Joseph Farrell. 339-54

Hansen, M. H. 2006, Polis; an introduction to the ancient Greek city-state. Oxford

Ma, J. 2013. Statues and Cities. Honorific Portraits and Civic Identity in the Hellenistic World. Oxford

Mackil, E. 2013. Creating a Common Polity: Religion, Economy, and Politics in the Making of the Greek Koinon. Berkeley

Martzavou, P. and Papazarkadas, N. 2013. The Epigraphy of the Post-Classical Polis. Oxford

Shipley, G. 2000. The Greek World After Alexander 323-30 BC. London
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsHellCity Hellenistic
Contacts
Course organiserProf Andrew Erskine
Tel: (0131 6)50 3591
Email: Andrew.Erskine@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lauren Smith
Tel:
Email: Lauren.N.Smith@ed.ac.uk
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