Ancient History

DPhil in Ancient History

Course Code |  000290

The Sub-Faculty has about 20 permanent members, and covers every aspect of Greek and Roman History from Archaic Greece to the Later Roman Empire. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, Oxford’s Classics Faculty presented the largest number of academics in UK Classics (71), of whom 70% were assessed at either 4* or 3*, the highest proportion in UK Classics. The faculty also received the top rating of 24 in the last Quality Assurance Exercise (2000).

MSt in Greek and/or Roman History

Course Code | 000700 

The MSt is designed primarily for those students who wish to prepare for doctoral work but for whom a shorter course than the MPhil is more appropriate. The requirements for this degree are:

• a dissertation of up to 10,000 words
• two options:
  • one from a list of languages, including elementary and intermediate Greek and Latin and also French, German and Italian
  • one from either:
    a list of more technical disciplines such as epigraphy, numismatics and documentary papyrology, as well as a number of options in Classical Archaeology and Classical Languages and Literature,
    or one from a more general list of options comprising a wide range of periods and topics in Greek and Roman History, including courses offered at the British schools in Athens and Rome

• Length of programme: Nine months

MPhil in Greek and/or Roman History

Course Code | 000690 

The MPhil is a research-training degree designed to equip students with a range of both knowledge and skills. The requirements for this course are:

• A thesis of up to 25,000 words
• Two extended essays based on work done for Graduate Seminars run by members of the faculty in Greek and Roman History
• Three options:
  • one from a list of languages, including intermediate Greek and Latin and also French, German and Italian
  • one from a list of more technical disciplines such as epigraphy, numismatics and documentary papyrology, as well as a number of options in Classical Archaeology and Classical Languages and Literature
  • one from a more general list of options comprising a wide range of periods and topics in Greek and Roman History, including courses offered at the British Schools in Athens and Rome

• Length of programme: Twenty-one months

Oxford has academic resources amongst the best in the world for Ancient History. The new Faculty building at 66 St Giles' houses state-of-the-art facilities; it adjoins the newly modernised Ashmolean Museum, with its celebrated collection of antiquities, and the Sackler Library, globally unrivalled for Ancient History and Archaeology.

Information on academic staff profiles is available on the Classics website:

• Permanent postholders in Ancient History
• Full listing of Oxford classicists

Careers teaching classics in schools and universities, museum and archive work, plus other varied high-grade destinations.

• MSt and MPhil in Greek and Latin Languages and Literature
• MSt and MPhil in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
• MSt in Women’s Studies
• MSt and MPhil in Classical Archaeology