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Classics explores the literature, history, art, and material culture of ancient Greece and Rome. Students can study Latin and/or Greek at any level.
Those advancing to Honours will have the chance to spend a minimum of three weeks (typically during the summer after year 3) exploring archaeological sites and museums in Italy and Greece. Single Honours students receive financial assistance for this trip. Year 3 can also be spent studying at universities in North America, Australia, New Zealand, or Europe. The curriculum covers classical civilisation, including the history, literature, and culture of archaic Greece and republican Rome. Students engage with Homer's works alongside Herodotus and Sallust's histories, Plautus's plays, and Cicero's speeches. The program delves into the literature, culture, history, and politics of democratic Athens and the peak of the Roman Empire. Readings include plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, Plato's dialogues, Thucydides and Tacitus's histories, Virgil's Aeneid, Juvenal's satires, and Petronius's remarkable novel. For added flexibility, pre-Honours Classical Civilisation courses (1A, 1B, 2A, 2B) are now available online as an alternative to in-person classes.
Recent graduates have pursued careers as teachers, civil servants, administrators, librarians, archivists, and specialists in museums and galleries.