The course

If you are seeking to further your undergraduate qualification, conducting research into or wanting to specialise in the history of the ancient Greek, Roman and Near Eastern worlds, then this programme offers you the perfect opportunity to do just that. Covering the historical period from Classical Athens to Christian Byzantium, we offer courses which allow you to examine many aspects of the Ancient History of Greece, Rome and the Near East. Our Ancient History MA also provides postgraduates with the ideal foundation for conducting further research at doctoral level.

Organised on an intercollegiate basis, this course is jointly run with King’s College London and University College London to enable you to take full advantage of the teaching expertise of all three participating colleges. This tri-collegiate approach offers up an unparalleled range of modules to study: postgraduate units cover Greek and Latin literature and ancient philosophy, as well as key technical skills such as papyrology, epigraphy, and palaeography.

Our Classics department has an excellent track record in producing research that advances the understanding of the ancient world. A thriving and internationally recognised centre of excellence in research and teaching, the department is home to two Research Centres - the Centre for the Reception of Greece and Rome (CRGR) and the Centre for Oratory and Rhetoric (COR). Research in the department covers the whole range of Classical Studies, from Homeric Greece to the very end of the Roman Empire with particular interests in language, literature, history, ancient philosophy as well as Greek and Roman archaeology.

Teaching & assessment

Assessment is primarily carried out by coursework and the dissertation, although some examinations may be used particularly in language acquisition classes.

Full-year units will normally be completed by the end of the second term with coursework usually due in June. Some half-year units taught in the autumn term may have coursework deadlines in January.

Part-time students will take two taught modules in their first year, and a third taught module plus dissertation in their second year. Each of these elements will normally be examined in the year in which it is taken.

Your future career

Graduates of classical degrees have much to offer potential employers having developed a range of transferable skills, both practical and theoretical, whilst studying with us.

In recent years, PhD graduates, many of whom have progressed from our MA courses, have taken up academic positions at Oxford, Bristol and Roehampton Universities. Outside of academia, our graduates have embarked on teaching careers in the UK and overseas, undertaken archaeological and museum work and pursued careers in journalism, finance, politics and the arts.