Ancient History

Ancient history is the study of the human past from the earliest civilisations of the ancient Near East through the Greek and Roman worlds to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century. It is a discipline concerned with understanding how very different societies organised themselves, what they believed, how they governed and were governed, how they made war and trade, and how they understood the world and their place in it. Ancient history sits at the intersection of history, classical languages, archaeology and literary study, asking students to engage seriously with societies for which the evidence is often fragmentary, partial and mediated through translation.

At Nottingham, this four-year programme includes a foundation year, providing an extended route into the degree for students who need additional academic preparation before engaging with degree-level study. The foundation year builds the historical, analytical and literary skills needed for degree-level ancient history. Nottingham has a distinguished Department of Classics and Archaeology, with particular strengths in Roman and Greek history, and you will study across the major civilisations of the ancient world, engaging with primary sources in translation and with the historiographical debates that surround our understanding of the ancient past.

You will develop the ability to work critically with ancient evidence, to construct well-argued historical accounts, and to engage with the complex questions of interpretation that all ancient history raises. The skills of reading, argument and evidence-based reasoning that the discipline develops are widely transferable.

Graduates of ancient history programmes move into education, law, the civil service, journalism, museums and heritage, arts administration, publishing, public affairs and academic research. Postgraduate study in classics, ancient history, archaeology or related fields is a natural option.