Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	LH Special Subject A: Democracy and Empire: The World of the Athenian archē
School	History and Cultures
Department	Classics, AH and Archaeology
Module Code	09 37454
Module Lead	Dr William Mack
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites	LH Special Subject B: Democracy and Empire: The World of the Athenian archē - (09 37455)
Restrictions	None
Exclusions
Description	This module and its co-requisite (Special Subject B: Democracy and Empire: The World of the Athenian archē) will allow students to engage in in-depth research and study on a topic in Classics, Byzantine Studies, Egyptology, Ancient History, or Archaeology. Working in a small group format under the guidance of the module co-ordinator, students will engage with key primary material and with research findings, interpretative approaches, and methodologies associated with the module topic. The module will help students to develop and exercise advanced research skills and to learn through critique and discussion, as well as to acquire knowledge and expertise in their chosen topic. The fifth century was a period of apparent paradoxes. It saw the development of the Athenian democracy in its most radical form, in which the mass of ordinary Athenian citizens exercised direct power, yet at the same time Athens was perceived as the ‘tyrant city’, exploiting allies and restricting freedom. This module will use the text of the Athenian historian Thucydides within the context of the rich contemporary record of epigraphy, archaeology, and other literary sources, to explore the Greek world in the 5th century (478-404 BC). The Athenian Empire will provide a lens for understanding the complex structure of this world, from both the perspective of the radical Athenian democracy, the allied communities which they dominated and exploited, and other states such as Sparta, Persia, and Corinth, who stood outside and challenged Athenian dominance. The module will examine a range of themes (e.g. the development of the Delian League; the mechanisms of Athenian imperialism; the Peloponnesian war; slavery and economic history; the place of rhetoric and political ideology; oligarchic and democratic factionalism; and political comedy) to understand how things changed over time for the inhabitants of the wider Greek world as well as the Athenians, and to put the cultural products of the so-called ‘Golden Age of Athens’ in their imperial context.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: analyse and appraise key findings, interpretative approaches, and methodologies relevant to the material under discussion analyse and evaluate a wide range of relevant primary source material critically evaluate the scholarly context and trends of the subject under exploration summarise and evaluate the subject material with clarity and confidence, in writing and in oral presentation
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: 1 x 2,000-word essay (50%) and 1 x 10-minute individual presentations (50%) Reassessment: Resubmission of failed component(s)
Other
Reading List