BA Ancient & Modern History | Final Honour School (Second Years) - Course Handbook

2025-27

Welcome!

 

This handbook applies to students starting the Final Honour School in Ancient and Modern History in Michaelmas Term 2025.

Welcome to the Final Honour School of History. You have probably completed Prelims in History or one of its joint schools, and therefore know your way around Oxford and the academic requirements of the History School. The next two years will enable you to use the skills acquired in the first year to study in much greater depth and breadth, both drilling down more fully into societies and their surviving sources, and ranging more widely around the world to make bigger connections between the various parts of your accumulating knowledge and understanding.

You will become theoretically more sophisticated and methodologically more competent. Your degree will culminate in the writing of your own piece of independent research. This will enable you to take on further study in History or perhaps another academic discipline after your undergraduate degree, if you so wish. You will also continue to develop the more general abilities and transferable skills which will equip you to tackle the very wide range of careers open to History graduates.

It is worth emphasising here that the final year of your course will be particularly intensive. Pathways differ according to the particular History course you are following. But whichever course you are pursuing, you are likely to submit at least two long pieces of coursework over the course of your final year (usually an extended essay and thesis), while also studying for weekly tutorials and classes, and eventually having to revise and take the final exams. It is, therefore, a good idea to make some time for academic work in the long vacation between the second and third years (or third and fourth for HML), and to ensure that your second-year work is in a good state before the final year, since there will be no time to catch up lost ground in the first two terms of your final year.

What follows is the Faculty’s formal Handbook to guide you through the Final Honour School: as well as basic information about facilities and resources and official regulations about courses and examinations, it includes fuller guidance to help you choose amongst the various options, and advice on a range of matters which you will not have encountered before, such as designing and writing a thesis, professional referencing, and tackling Special-Subject sources through the specialized practice of writing ‘gobbets’. You will of course also receive plenty of information and guidance from your colleges too, and ideally Faculty and colleges will complement each other.

You probably won’t want to read the Handbook all at once, but do consider its contents so that you know what is available for reference in the course of the next two years; and there may be sections which catch your eye now as of particular interest or relevance to you. We hope that you will continue to make the most of the opportunity of reading History at Oxford, and to enjoy doing so.

Dr. Catherine Holmes and Prof. Giuseppe Marcocci (Directors of Undergraduate Studies, History)

Prof. Peter Thonemann (Chair of the Sub-Faculty of Ancient History)

The information in this handbook may be different for students starting in other years. This is version 1.0 of the Final Honour School in Ancient and Modern History Handbook, published online in October 2025.

If there is a conflict between information in this handbook and the Examination Regulations then you should follow the Examination Regulations.

If you have any concerns please contact the History Faculty Undergraduate Office: undergraduate.office@history.ox.ac.uk.

The information in this handbook is accurate as at date of publication; however it may be necessary for changes to be made in certain circumstances, as explained at http://www.ox.ac.uk/coursechanges and http://www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/coursechanges.

If such changes are made the department will publish a new version of this handbook together with a list of the changes and students will be informed.

The Final Honour School of Ancient and Modern History is a two-year course run by the Faculty of History and Faculty of Classics.

The course consists of seven papers. The formal Examination Regulations may be found at Appendix 1. The next sections briefly describe the seven units, and full descriptions of each paper are available on Canvas at the links below.

The knowledge and skills you will acquire over the whole course are outlined in Section 2 | Teaching and Learning, which build upon the basic skills you will have developed in the first year.

1| Course Content and Structure

The Final Honour School of Ancient and Modern History is a two-year course run by the Faculty of History and Faculty of Classics. It builds upon the skills and knowledge that you have developed during the Preliminary Examination, and challenges you to read more widely and deeply, as well as engage further with primary sources and historiography.

The course consists of eight papers. The formal Examination Regulations may be found at Appendix 1. The next sections briefly describe the eight units, and full descriptions of each paper are available on Canvas at the links below.

The knowledge and skills you will acquire over the whole course are outlined in Section 2 | Teaching and Learning, which build upon the basic skills you will have developed in the first year.

You may balance the Ancient and Modern elements of your course according to taste, but must observe the following restrictions:

  • You must take one Outline paper in Ancient History, and one Outline or Theme paper in Modern History.
  • At least one of your Further Subject or your Special Subject papers must be in Ancient History.

If you choose a European & World History paper in Finals it must not overlap with the one you took in Prelims. Here is a list of the illegal combinations:

 

EWP1 The Transformation of the Ancient World, 370-900

with EWF1 The World of Late Antiquity, 250-650

or EWF2 The Early Medieval World, 600-1000

EWP2 Communities, Connections and Confrontations, 1000-1300

with EWF3 The Central Middle Ages, 900-1300

EWP3 Renaissance, Recovery, and Reform, 1400-1650

with EWF5 The Late Medieval World, 1300-1525

or EWF6 Early Modern Europe, 1500-1700

EWP4 Society, Nation, and Empire, 1815-1914

and EWF10 The European Century, 1820-1925

In order to ensure that there is adequate teaching provision, the majority of Further and Special Subjects have a pre-determined cap on the number of places available for students each year. As places for these subjects may be competitive, students will be asked to indicate four papers that they would be keen to study, in order of preference.

Where the number of prospective takes exceeds the number of spaces available, students will be allocated to one of their chosen subjects via a random ballot. The balloting process takes place in the term before the subject is taught:

  • The ballot for Further Subjects will be held in Michaelmas Term of the second year.
  • The ballot for Special Subjects will be held in Trinity Term of the second year.

Students will be contacted by email in advance of the ballot, and should consider their options carefully. While it is likely that you will get your first- or second-choice subject, you should be prepared to study any of your four choices. It may be helpful to discuss your choices with your college tutors; please ensure that you leave enough time to do so.

If you wish to make a special case for being accepted on to a particular paper, please consult your college tutors in the first instance.

The examination is designed to test the wide range of work that you have carried out for the Final Honour School.  For that reason, you will want to show the breadth of your understanding, and you should not directly repeat material either within or across your papers, including the extended essay and the thesis.  If you do, your paper(s) may be marked ‘overlap’, and you may be penalised by the exam board.

Note that there are some specific rules concerning the Thesis, and a general exception concerning Disciplines of History (Regulations B6.9)

  • For the Thesis, you may not choose a topic that substantially re-works material studied in the Further and Special Subjects.  The Thesis must be based on sources largely different from those set for the Further or Special Subject that you have taken. This does not preclude using some of the same sources, but the majority of them must be different.
  • You also may not use material from your Thesis to answer questions in any other paper, except Disciplines of History.  The Disciplines paper is intended (among other things) to allow you to show how different topics you have studied resonate with each other, so it is natural that your answers will draw on knowledge you have acquired in your work for any of the other papers.  Even in this paper, however, it is best to avoid repeating the same detailed examples.

Please be aware of these limits on your choices from the outset. It is your responsibility, and not your tutors’, to ensure that your choices fall within the regulations.

The programme aims to enable its students to:

  • acquire a knowledge and understanding of humanity in past societies and of historical processes, characterised by both range and depth, and increasing conceptual sophistication;
  • approach the past through the work of a wide variety of historians, using a range of intellectual tools; and thus appreciate how History as a subject itself has developed in different societies;
  • learn the technical skills of historical investigation and exposition, above all how primary evidence is employed in historical argument;
  • enhance a range of intellectual skills, such as independent critical thinking, forensic analysis, imagination and creativity;
  • perhaps learn or develop languages, or numerical tools;
  • analyse and argue persuasively in writing, and engage in interactive oral discussion to deepen understanding;
  • develop the ability to work independently, and to plan and organize time effectively.

Please see the dropdowns below (§1.4.1-7) for detailed information on the papers taken in the FHS.

Victory over Persia led to the rise of the Athenian Empire, conflict between Athens and Sparta and Sparta’s eventual victory in the Peloponnesian War. These years cover the transition from archaic to classical Greece, the Periclean age of Athens, the masterpieces of art, architecture and literature which are the supreme legacies of the Greek world, the contrasting lifestyles of Sparta and democratic Athens, and the careers of Alcibiades, Socrates and their famous contemporaries. They are studied predominantly through the

History of Thucydides, antiquity’s most masterly analysis of empire, inter-state relations and war, which Thucydides claimed to have written, justifiably, as ‘a possession for all times’. The issue of Thucydides’ own bias and viewpoint and his shaping of his History remain among the storm centres of the study of antiquity and are of far-reaching significance for our understanding of the moral, intellectual and political changes in the Greek world. The period is also studied through inscriptions, whose context and content are a fascinating challenge to modern historians.

Lectures on this period of Greek History normally take place in Michaelmas Term.

Greek History in the years immediately after the Peloponnesian War is no longer dominated by the two super-powers, Athens and Sparta. Cities which in the fifth century had been constrained by them acquired independence; groups of small cities, such as Arcadia and Boiotia, co-ordinated their actions to become significant players in inter-city politics. Areas in which the city was not highly developed, and particularly Thessaly and then Macedon, were sufficiently united by energetic rulers to play a major role in the politics of mainland Greece, and the manipulation of relations with Persia preoccupied much of Greek diplomacy. This society gave rise to the political theorising of Plato and Aristotle.

The absence of dominant cities in the fourth century is paralleled by the absence of a single dominant source. Students of this period have at their disposal two works which imitate Thucydides, Xenophon’s Hellenica and the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia, pamphlets and speeches by Isokrates and Demosthenes aimed at influencing Athenian politics, specialist studies of military matters, such as Aeneas’ Poliorcemata, and of particular cities, such as Xenophon’s account of the Spartan Constitution, and an abundance of epigraphic material. The compilations of later historians and biographers, such as Diodorus and Plutarch, who worked from earlier texts now lost to us, provide further information: through these later works we have access to contemporary accounts of high quality that illuminate the history of such places as Thebes and Syracuse.

The wealth of varied information, the multiplication of sources, and the need to weave together the stories of many different cities, present a challenge quite distinct from that offered by earlier periods of Greek history. The importance of the events of the period for our understanding of Plato and Aristotle, on the one hand, and of the history of Greek art, on the other, ensures that the complexities of the study bring ample rewards.

Lectures on this period of Greek History normally take place in Hilary Term.

In 146 the Romans destroyed Carthage and Corinth. In 133 a popular tribune was beaten to death in front of the Capitol by a mob led by the High Priest. At the other end of the period, in 49 Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, and in 46 crushed his enemies at the battle of Thapsus, celebrating his victory with an unprecedented quadruple triumph.

Despite repeated deeply threatening crises, Rome survived – capital of an increasingly large and organized Mediterranean-wide empire, its constantly growing populace more and more diverse, its richest citizens vastly wealthier, and its cityscape more and more monumental. But the tradition of the ancestors, the rule of the aristocracy, the armies and their recruitment, the sources of wealth, the cultural horizons of the literate, the government of allies and subjects, the idea of a Roman citizen, the landscape of Italy, and Roman identity itself had all changed forever. This subject studies how.

For the earlier years, from the Gracchi to the Social War, we mainly have to rely on the writings of later historians and on contemporary inscriptions, although Sallust and Cicero offer some near-contemporary illumination. But for the latter part of this period our knowledge is of a different quality from that of almost any other period of Roman history thanks to the intimate light shed by the correspondence, speeches and other works of Cicero, with strong backing from Caesar’s Gallic War and the surviving works of Sallust.

Lectures on this period of Roman History normally take place in Hilary and Trinity Terms.

Beginning this period in 46 BC immediately presents us with issues of uneasy adjustment and faltering responses to shattering social and political change. The Civil War, fought from one end of the Mediterranean to another, raised problems about the nature of Urbs and Orbis, city and world, and their relations. Caesar drew his own solutions from the widest cultural range. The first years of the period set the scene for the developing drama of the transformation of every aspect of the societies of the Mediterranean world ruled from Rome, and of the identity of Rome itself, as experiment, setback and new accommodation succeeded each other in the hands of the generals of the continuing war-years, and finally, after Actium, of Augustus and his advisors. The central problems of this subject concern the dynasty, charisma and authority of the Roman Emperor, the institutions of the Roman provincial empire, and the most intensely creative age of Roman art and Latin literature, and how these were related. The sequel addresses very different rulers. Tiberius, Gaius Caligula and Claudius, whose reigns did much to shape the idea of an imperial system and its historiography, which we sample through Tacitus and the biographies of Suetonius, and the virulent satirical sketch by Seneca of Claudius’ death and deification. The subject invites consideration of the changing relations of Greek and Roman, and the increasing unity of the Mediterranean world; and also of the social and economic foundations of the Roman state in the city of Rome and in the towns and countryside of the Italy of the Georgics and Eclogues. Within Roman society, political change was accompanied by upward social mobility and by changes in the cultural representations of status, gender and power which pose complex and rich questions for the historian.

Lectures on this period of Roman History normally take place in Michaelmas and Hilary Terms.

Please see the Classics Faculty Canvas page for the equivalent Finals papers for further resources, where they are listed under ‘Ancient History FHS’. These include a set of relevant primary texts and a dossier of epigraphic documents: these are not formally prescribed for AMH students, but they are strongly encouraged to make full use of both in translation, and to attend the biennial Classics lectures on the ‘Documents' for the relevant period.

The History of the British Isles outline papers develop and expand upon the options available at Prelims. There are seven period papers, and two Theme papers, to choose from. Please note that you are not permitted to study the same period that you chose at Prelims.

The options available will give you the opportunity to study the development of the closely-related societies of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland over long periods of time. You will be able to probe the history of different societies in the British Isles, and to prioritise political, intellectual, social, cultural or economic history as you choose. The British History papers demand an appreciation of both breadth and depth, requiring you to engage closely with specific issues and historiographical debates, whilst also demonstrating a clear sense of the whole chronology of the period and the differences and similarities between the various parts of the British Isles. Your tutorial preparation should not therefore be too narrow in chronological, geographical or thematic terms.

If you opt to take one of the British History Theme papers, you will be challenged to study a specific issue or problem in depth across chronological and geographical boundaries. You will be able to explore how the paper’s theme (such as gender and sexuality or the state and national identity) manifests itself in different ways across time and space, and how it has been approached by historians who have very different skills and interests.

Teaching

8-16 lectures usually in Michaelmas Term; 4 lectures in Trinity Term (except for BIF7, for which there are 8); 8 tutorials in either Michaelmas or Trinity Term, for most of which an essay or some other output such as a presentation will be required.

Assessment

A three-hour written examination takes place during Trinity Term of year 3. This accounts for one seventh of the overall mark.

 

Course information for each of the period options available can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22234/pages/bif-paper-options?module_item_id=209542

European and World History in the Final Honour School is divided into fourteen periods, which cover much of the last two millennia. Papers vary in their focus, with some being centred on particular regions and others offering the opportunity to think on a more ‘global’ scale, or to look at different parts of the world and their relationships within particular periods. Some papers are badged as either ‘European’ or ‘World’ History; some are double-badged, allowing you to examine both regions in parallel. You can study times and places not covered in the Preliminary Examination, and periods are studied in greater depth, requiring you to examine the distinctive features of individual societies as well as to grasp broad themes.

If you opt to take one of the European and World History Theme papers, you will be challenged to study an issue or problem in depth across chronological and geographical boundaries. You will be able to explore how a theme (such as gender and sexuality, technology, or religion and war) manifests itself in different ways across time and space, and how it has been approached by historians who have very different skills and interests.

Teaching:

8-16 lectures, usually in Trinity Term; 8 tutorials in either Michaelmas or Trinity Term, for most of which an essay or some other output such as a presentation will be required.

Assessment:

A 3-hour written examination takes place during the Trinity Term of year 3. This accounts for one seventh of your overall mark.

 

Course information for each of the European and World History options available can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22234/pages/ewf-paper-options?module_item_id=209547

Much like the Optional Subjects in the Preliminary Examination, Further Subjects challenge you to examine a closely-defined period or theme in depth, making particular reference to a body of primary sources, which you will be required to comment on directly in your exam. There are a wide range of subjects to choose from, spanning the chronological and geographic scope of recorded history, and enabling you to study subjects in which members of the Faculty are themselves actively engaged in research. You may wish to take a subject that relates to a period you have previously covered, so that you start from a basis of knowledge, but you should also feel encouraged to use the Further Subject to explore topics and themes beyond your comfort zone.

Further Subjects are usually taught through a combination of tutorials and classes held over Hilary Term of the second year. In addition to producing essays, you will develop your ability to work effectively in a group through class discussions, small-group work, and occasional presentations on a topic or theme.

Further Subjects are examined in a single paper in the Final Honour School. You are required to answer three questions, including at least one from each of Section A (usually focused on the prescribed sources) and Section B, and to illustrate your answers as appropriate by reference to the prescribed texts.

Ballot:

The ballot for Further Subjects is held at the beginning of Michaelmas Term of year 2.

See 1.2.3 | Balloting for further details on the ballot process

Teaching:

Twelve contact sessions, usually 6 tutorials and 6 classes, held over Hilary Term of year 2.

Please Note: Finalists may not attend Further Subject classes again in their final year.

Assessment:

A 3-hour written examination takes place during the Trinity Term of year 3.

 

Course information for each of the options available can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22234/pages/further-subject-paper-options?module_item_id=209550

Further Subjects in Ancient History are taught in a variety of formats, in most cases via tutorials and in others through a university class. Ancient History Further Subjects to be taught in Hilary Term 2024 (unless listed as suspended) are:

  • 409: The Hellenistic World: societies and cultures, c.300 BC–100 BC
  • 411: Politics, Society and Culture from Nero to Hadrian
  • 412: Religions in the Greek and Roman World, c.31 BC-AD 312
  • 415: The Achaemenid Empire, 550-330 BC
  • 457: Athenian democracy in the Classical Age 
  • 601: The Greeks and the Mediterranean World c.950-500 BC
  • 603: Hellenistic Art and Archaeology, 330-30 BC
  • 605: Art under the Roman Empire, AD 14-337
  • 633: Etruscan Italy

Course information for most of the Ancient History Further Subjects can be found in the Course Handbook for Literae Humaniores (Greats), available on the Classics Faculty website under the tab ‘For Students’.

The following courses are different for Ancient and Modern History, so the course description and set texts are given here:

457: Athenian Democracy in the Classical Age

This subject includes the constitutional, social, economic and cultural history of Athens from 462 to 321 BC. The paper will range over such topics as the workings of the Assembly and Council, military organization, the development of political leadership, the workings of the Athenian law courts, legal procedure and the law code, citizenship, theoretical attitudes to democracy and its alternatives, public festivals and public entertainments, attitudes to religion and the rights of the individual, freedom of speech, kinship organizations and the position of women, the provision of education, the status of metics, slavery, the workings of taxation and liturgy systems, the organization of trade (especially the corn trade), the characteristics of Athenian manufacturing industry and the workings of the silver mines.

Opportunity is given to study the archaeology of classical Athens. Only such knowledge of external affairs is expected as is necessary for an understanding of the workings of the democracy.

All texts are available in translation; the texts prescribed for special study are not examined by compulsory passages, though optional passages are set together with essay questions specifically on the texts, and candidates are expected to show knowledge of the texts in their answers.

Prescribed Texts:

  • Aristotle, Constitution of Athens (tr. P.J. Rhodes, Penguin Classics).
  • Herodotus, III. 80–2 (Loeb).
  • Thucydides , I. 31–44, 66–79, 140–5; II. 35–65; III. 35–50, 82–83; V. 43–46;  VI. 8–29; VIII. 47–97 (tr. M. Hammond, Oxford World’s Classics 2009)
  • Xenophon,  Hellenica 1. 6 and 7; II. 3 and 4 (Loeb). 
    • Memorabilia I. 1 and 2; III. 6 (Loeb). 
    • Revenues (tr. P.J. Rhodes, Loeb).
    • Constitution of Athens (Loeb).
  • Andocides, I (Loeb, Minor Attic Orators I ).
  • Lysias , XXII, XXV (Loeb).
  • Aeschines,  II (Loeb).
  • Demosthenes, VI, XIX, LIX (Loeb).
  • Aristophanes,  Wasps, Clouds, Ecclesiazusae, Acharnians 1–173, 
  • Thesmophoriazusae 295–530 (Penguin Classics).
  • Plato,  Apology, Gorgias, Protagoras 309–28 (Penguin Classics).
  • Aeschylus, Eumenides (tr. D. Grene & R. Lattimore. The Complete Greek  Tragedies , Chicago, 1958-9).
  • Sophocles,  Antigone (tr. D. Grene & R. Lattimore. The Complete Greek Tragedies, Chicago, 1958-9).
  • Euripides,  Supplices (tr. D. Grene & R. Lattimore. The Complete Greek Tragedies, Chicago, 1958-9).
  • C.W. Fornara, Translated Documents of Greece and Rome. I, nos. 15, 68, 75, 97, 100, 103, 106, 114, 119, 120, 128, 134, 140, 147, 155, 160,  166.
  • P. Harding, Translated Documents of Greece and Rome II, nos. 3, 5, 9, 45, 47, 54, 55, 56, 66, 78, 82, 101, 108, 111, 121.

415: The Achaemenid Empire, 550-330 BC

The course for The Achaemenid Empire, 550-330 BC is slightly different from the other Ancient Further Subjects, so the course description is given here.

The empire of the Achaemenid kings was one of the largest the world has ever seen, stretching from the shores of the Mediterranean to the foothills of the Hindu Kush. This paper covers the history and material culture of the Achaemenid Persian empire, from the conquests of Cyrus the Great to the Macedonian invasion of Asia. A typical eight-week course will cover: (1) Cyrus at Babylon, and the Median, Assyrian, and Neo-Babylonian background; (2) Darius and Persepolis; (3) Cultural Hybridity and “Glocalization” (Karia, Lykia, Kilikia); (4) The Achaemenids at War (the Deve Hüyük burials); (5) Imperial Connectivity (the Black Sea hoard; Memphis customs-account); (6) Achaemenid Egypt (Arshama, Elephantine); (7) Achaemenid Cyprus; (8) The Vampire (tribute; coinage; metalwork).

This paper will be of interest to anyone interested in the Ancient Near East, the comparative history of empires, or the intellectual challenges in writing history from material culture. It makes a good fit with any other ancient Greek history or archaeology paper you might choose to take. This paper is taught in classes (a maximum of eight students per class) in the Ashmolean Museum during Michaelmas term. AMH students may take the paper in either their second or third year.

One of the central features of the paper is to have a prescription both of set texts and of prescribed artefacts, with a “gobbets question” on the exam paper consisting of 4 texts and 4 images, with candidates writing on three (including at least one text and at least one image). The examination paper will include compulsory comment on both texts and images.

Prescribed Texts:

The prescribed texts for comment are those included in:

Amelie Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period (Routledge, 2007), Chapters 3–5 pp.47–177), Chapter 11.A–C (pp.469–501), Chapter 12.C–D (pp.593–615), Chapter 15 (pp.730–762) and Chapter 17.C.b–c (pp.852–872).

Candidates are also expected to be familiar with a dossier of artefacts in the Ashmolean Museum, available via Canvas; the picture questions will include (but may not be restricted to) images from this dossier. https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/48796/modules#module_109812

 

Please see the Classics Faculty Canvas page for the equivalent Finals papers for further resources: they are listed under ‘Ancient History FHS’  or ‘Classical Archaeology FHS’.

Special Subjects are normally studied by candidates in History and its Joint Schools in their third year; in the great majority of cases the teaching is done in the Michaelmas term of the third year.

The Ancient History Special Subjects to be taught in 2024-25 (unless listed as suspended) are:

458: Alexander the Great and his Early Successors (336-302 bc) (two papers)

Assessment: Paper 1 (Gobbets): A 3-hour written examination at the end of the Trinity Term of year 3, requiring twelve commentaries to be written. This paper accounts for one seventh of the overall mark. Paper 2 (Essays): A 3-hour written examination at the end of the Trinity Term of year 3, requiring three essays. This paper accounts for one seventh of the overall mark.

460: Cicero: Politics and Thought in the Late Republic (two papers)

Assessment: Paper 1 (Gobbets): A 3-hour written examination at the end of the Trinity Term of year 3, requiring twelve commentaries to be written. This paper accounts for one seventh of the overall mark. Paper 2 (Essays): A 3-hour written examination at the end of the Trinity Term of year 3, requiring three essays. This paper accounts for one seventh of the overall mark.

461: The Greek City in the Roman World from Dio Chrysostom to John Chrysostom.

This option will be examined by a 3-hour commentary paper and an extended essay of between 5,000 and 6,000 words (including footnotes but excluding bibliography). The essay shall be on a topic or theme selected by the candidate from a question paper published by the examiners on Friday of Week 4 of Michaelmas Term in the year of examination. The candidate must submit the essay no later than 12 noon on Thursday of Week 0 of Hilary Term of the year of examination. The University’s regulations on Late Submission of Work will apply.

Course information for each of the Ancient History Special Subjects can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/48796

Teaching: 8 classes, up to 4 tutorials, and lectures, held over Michaelmas Term of year 3.

Assessment: For more information on the nature of gobbets and extended essays see below.

The Special Subject is the paper which provides the greatest opportunity to engage with scholarly research in the Final Honour School outside of the thesis. Much like the Further Subject, you will study a defined period or theme through the close analysis of primary sources, on which you will be examined through two assessments: the gobbets exam paper and the extended essay. For this reason, the Special Subject counts for two of your seven papers in the Final Honour School.

Your comprehension of how historians use sources is extended through the writing of short commentaries, or ‘gobbets’, on unseen excerpts from the set sources. You will not have a question or prompt to respond to; instead, you will be expected to comment on the full meaning of the passage, its context within the source material and historical positioning, and its place in the broader scholarship of the period. Further information about the writing of gobbets can be found on the Oxford Historians’ Hub at: https://ohh.web.ox.ac.uk/writing-advice.

The Extended Essay, by contrast, allows you to demonstrate your knowledge of an aspect of the subject in very great depth, drawing upon all of the sources and historiography at your disposal to come to your own conclusions. As a short scholarly piece of work, it also acts as a warm-up to the thesis you will write in the following term, and will allow you to gain some familiarity with academic presentation and referencing. Some subjects constitute the convenor’s current research project, and in discussion and through your writing you may be able to contribute to their work.

Teaching of Special Subjects is divided into six tutorials and eight classes. You will be expected to study a minimum of 12 gobbets over the course of term, and should have no more than two hours of contact time for your Extended Essay. The tutor or class teacher is permitted to read and comment on a plan, but not a complete draft, of the essay.

Ballot:

The ballot for Special Subjects is held at the beginning of Trinity Term of year 2.

See 1.2.3 | Balloting for further details on the ballot process.

Teaching:

6 tutorials and 8 classes, held over Michaelmas Term of year 3.

Students are permitted no more than 2 contact hours for their Extended Essay.

Assessment:

Paper 1 (Gobbets): A 3-hour written examination during the Trinity Term of year 3. This paper accounts for one seventh of the overall mark.
Paper 2 (Extended Essay): an extended essay of not more than 6,000 words, to be submitted by Thursday of week 0 of the Hilary Term of year 3. This paper accounts for one seventh of the overall mark.

 

Course information for each of the options available can be found at: https://canvas.ox.ac.uk/courses/22234/pages/special-subject-paper- options?module_item_id=209553

Disciplines of History, considered the ‘general’ paper in Finals, allows you to draw together and reflect upon all the work you have done across the three years of your degree. You will be asked to use examples drawn from your other papers – including the thesis – to examine two strands of enquiry: Making Historical Comparisons and Making Historical Arguments.

This section of the paper requires you to make meaningful comparisons and contrasts across historically-distinct periods, societies, and experiences, to explore in detail how and why societies differ, especially when in many ways they appear similar. You are encouraged to set case-studies from your other papers in contradistinction to each other, to draw creative and significant parallels between them, and to allow interesting conclusions to emerge from the comparison. Choosing your examples carefully is therefore crucial, and the logic behind this is something that is worth being explicit about in your essays.

This section of the paper is historiographical, and requires you to reflect on the question of how historians make history. This question requires you to consider the ways in which sources are used in historical writing, and the views that historians have held which privilege the reading of particular sources. The focus of this section is therefore on the variety of ways in which history has been and is written, in terms of different subject-matter, sources, genre, motivation and historical context. Moreover, you will be asked to familiarise yourself with particular schools of history, and consider the influences on history from other disciplines and theories, including (but not limited to) sociology, literature, and economics.

The standard rules against overlap do not apply to either section of Disciplines of History. You may use any work you have done, including in your thesis, as sources for your arguments in the examination.

 

Teaching

14 lectures in Hilary and Trinity terms; up to 10 classes, organised by Colleges according to their own timetable.

Assessment

A 3-hour written examination takes place during the Trinity Term of year 3. Candidates must answer two questions, one from each section of the paper. The paper accounts for one seventh of the overall mark.

The thesis – a research project of 12,000 words on a topic of your own devising – is the largest piece of coursework in the Final Honour School. It offers you the opportunity to engage in extensive primary research, and to work out arguments which are entirely your own, not a synthesis of the conclusions of others. It enables you to work as a historical scholar in your own right and to experience the kind of academic work undertaken professionally by your tutors.

 

For those who continue as graduate historians, the thesis will represent a first opportunity to test your abilities as creative and independent researchers, able to define and explore a historical problem on a large scale. For others a successfully accomplished thesis is a clear indication to employers and the outside world that they possess a capacity for organization, self- discipline and the ability to structure a substantial and complex piece of research on their own initiative.

Teaching

The Faculty provides an initial lecture on framing a topic in Hilary Term of the second year, and the Thesis Fair early in Trinity Term to help suggest sources from a wide range of fields. A total of five hours of advice from college tutors and a specialist supervisor are permitted across the second and third years.

Practical Information

Information about writing your thesis, including a timetable of major deadlines and details about presentation and formatting, can be found at https://ohh.web.ox.ac.uk/thesis-presentation-advice.

Assessment

The 12,000-word thesis is submitted by noon on Friday of 8th week of Hilary Term of the final year. The thesis counts for one of seven units in Finals.
Optional Additional Thesis

In addition, you may also choose to submit a second, Optional Additional Thesis, on another subject of your choice (as long as it does not overlap in any substantive way with the compulsory thesis). The Optional Additional Thesis will be completed alongside, not instead of, your other papers; the mark you receive will replace your lowest mark in Finals (provided that it is not the lowest mark itself, and that no mark is below 50).

Writing an Optional Additional Thesis is a serious addition to your workload, and should not be undertaken without careful consideration. It must be written in your own time, and you may end up using up valuable revision time in the Easter vacation before Finals. If you are planning to submit an Optional Additional Thesis, you should discuss this with your college tutors in the first instance.

Teaching

The Faculty provides an initial lecture on framing a topic in Hilary Term of the second year, and the Thesis Fair early in Trinity Term to help suggest sources from a wide range of fields. A total of five hours of advice from college tutors and a specialist supervisor are permitted across the second and third years.

Practical Information

Information about writing your thesis, including a timetable of major deadlines and details about presentation and formatting, can be found at https://ohh.web.ox.ac.uk/thesis-presentation-advice.

Assessment

The 12,000-word thesis is submitted by noon on Monday of 1st week of Trinity Term of the final year. The Optional Additional Thesis will replace your lowest mark in Finals (provided that it is not the lowest mark itself, and that no mark is below 50).

The ability to engage with the primary sources in the original language is a valuable skill in the study of ancient history (and essential in the study of the subject beyond undergraduate degree level). If you have previously studied either Latin or Ancient Greek, whether at school or for Prelims, you now have the opportunity to deepen that knowledge in order to complement your study of the ancient world. These papers are optional and are studied through university classes alongside your regular papers. Classes run annually, from Michaelmas term. If you choose to sit one of these papers at Finals, then the mark will replace your lowest mark across your other papers. If you are interested in taking one of these papers you should discuss it with your college Director of Studies / Personal Tutor at the earliest opportunity.

(This paper is available only to those undergraduates who offered Beginning Ancient Greek at Prelims, and with the permission of the Joint Standing Committee, to others with equivalent knowledge of Ancient Greek. It is not normally available to candidates with a qualification in Ancient Greek above AS-level or equivalent, nor to those who took Intermediate or Advanced Greek in Prelims.)

This course is designed to continue study of the language from Beginning Ancient Greek in Prelims and to bring students to a more advanced knowledge of ancient Greek grammar and vocabulary. Candidates will be required to show an intermediate level knowledge of Greek grammar and vocabulary (including all syntax and morphology).

The set texts for the course are: Xenophon, Hellenica I-II.3.10 (Oxford Classical Text) and Lysias I (Oxford Classical Text). The paper will consist of a passage of unseen prose translation, three further passages for translation from the two prescribed texts, and grammatical questions on the prescribed texts.

(This paper is available only to those undergraduates who offered Beginning Latin at Prelims and, with the permission of the Joint Standing Committee, to others with equivalent knowledge of Latin. It is not normally available to candidates with a qualification in Latin above AS-level or equivalent, nor to those who took Intermediate or Advanced Latin in Prelims.)

This course is designed to continue study of the language from Beginning Latin in Prelims and to bring students to a more advanced knowledge of Latin grammar and vocabulary. Candidates will be required to show an intermediate level knowledge of Latin grammar and vocabulary (including all syntax and morphology).

The set texts for the course are:

Cicero, letters in D. R. Shackleton-Bailey, Cicero: Select Letters (Cambridge 1980), nos. 9, 17, 23, 27, 39. 42-3, 45, 48, 58, 63-4;

Tacitus, Agricola (Oxford Classical Text) 16-43;

Pliny, letters in A. N. Sherwin-White, Fifty Letters of Pliny, second edn. (Oxford, 1969), nos. 1-3, 6-7, 9, 15-20, 25, 27, 29, 33-4, 36, 38-40, 47-48.

(This subject is available to candidates with a qualification in Ancient Greek above AS-level or equivalent or those who took Intermediate Ancient Greek at Prelims. It is not normally available to candidates with a qualification in Ancient Greek above A-level or equivalent, nor to those who took Advanced Greek in Prelims.)

Candidates will be expected to be familiar with An Anthology of Greek Prose ed. D.A. Russell (Oxford University Press 1991), Nos. 17, 18, 23, 24, 33, 40, 44, 66, 78, from which a selection of passages will be set for translation, in addition to a passage for unseen translation.

Candidates will also be expected to translate from TWO of the following texts:

(i) Herodotus I.1-94 [ed. Wilson, OCT];

(ii) Plutarch, Life of Antony 1-9, 23-36, 71-87 [ed. Pelling, Cambridge University Press, 1988];

(iii) Euripides, Bacchae [ed. Diggle, OCT].

(This subject is available to candidates with a qualification in Latin above AS-level or equivalent or those who took Intermediate Latin at Prelims. It is not normally available to candidates with a qualification in Latin above A-level or equivalent, nor to those who took Advanced Latin in Prelims.)

Candidates will be expected to be familiar with An Anthology of Latin Prose ed. D.A. Russell (OUP 1990), nos. 7, 12, 22, 23, 34, 52 and 63, from which a selection of passages will be set for translation, in addition to a passage for unseen translation.

Candidates will also be expected to translate from TWO of the following texts:

 

Cicero, Pro Caelio [ed. OCT].

Pliny, Letters 1.6, 9, 13, 19; VII.21, 24, 26, 29; VIII.16, 17; IX.6, 12, 15, 27, 33, 39; X.31, 32, 96, 97 (ed. M.B. Fisher and M.R. Griffin, CUP 1973)

 

Ovid, Metamorphoses 8 (ed. A.S. Hollis, OUP 1970)

These courses will be taught by Faculty classes, for three hours per week during Michaelmas and Hilary Terms.

(Convenor for Ancient Language Courses: Dr Juliane Kerkhecker, Oriel).

Those taking a language option are expected to do some preparatory work for the faculty classes; materials will be sent to students. Students may want to consider attending a Summer School in the summer before starting the course (for details see e.g. www.jact.org/events/summerschools.htm - there are also of course other summer courses available). Financial support is often available to help with the cost of these courses. Note: attending a summer school is not expected or necessary for being able to do the preparatory work.

The Faculty provides various sources of support for developing your skills in academic writing and research. Second-Years in particular are encouraged to attend the DUS Lecture on ‘Framing an Undergraduate Thesis’ in Hilary Term, as well as the Thesis Fair, held in Trinity Term.

For further advice on writing tutorial essays, gobbets, Extended Essays and theses, see the Writing Advice section of the Oxford Historians’ Hub:

The formal assessment of the Honour School of Ancient and Modern History, the Final Honour School takes place at the end of the third year.

For most students, five papers will be assessed by unseen three-hour written examinations in Trinity Term of year 3, and two papers by written submissions during Hilary Term of year 3. The History of the British Isles, European and World History, Ancient History and Further Subject papers require answers to three questions, which are normally essays, while Disciplines of History requires answers to two questions in three hours, and the Special Subjects Gobbet papers require commentary on a total of 12 extracts from set texts, chosen from 24.

Each paper is weighted equally in the overall assessment. This means that the Special Subject (gobbets and Extended Essay) counts for two of the seven elements in the final mark.

The Final Honour School is examined by a Board of Examiners nominated from among the members of the History Faculty; the Board also draws on other specialist markers as Assessors, normally also members of the Faculty.

Information about the classification conventions applied by the Board of Examiners, as well as practical information about mitigating circumstances and the timetabling of examinations, can be found in 3 | Examination and Assessment.

BA in History Year 2

Paper

Term

Dept/Faculty

College

Comments

Lectures

Classes

Tutorials

Classes

[1.] History of the British Isles 1- 7, and Theme Papers A and B

MT

16

 

8*

 

16 lectures in MT and 8 tutorials in either* MT or TT, can be flexible for Joint School students. In TT, there will be 4 lectures for BIF 1-6, 8 for BIF 7 and 8 for Theme Paper B

HT

 

 

 

 

TT

 

 

8*

 

[2.] European and World History 9 and 11, Theme Papers A and C

MT

16

 

8*

 

8-16 lectures in MT and 8 tutorials in either* MT or TT for these papers, can be flexible for Joint School students.

HT

 

 

 

 

TT

 

 

8*

 

[3.] European and World History 4-7, 8 and 10, 12

MT

 

 

8*

 

16 lectures in HT and 8 tutorials in either* MT or TT for these papers, can be flexible for Joint School students.

HT

16

 

 

 

TT

 

 

8*

 

[4.] European and World History 1-8, 13 and 14, Theme Papers B and D

MT

 

 

8*

 

8-16 lectures in TT and 8 tutorials in either* MT or TT for these papers, can be flexible for Joint School students.

HT

 

 

 

 

TT

16

 

8*

 

[5.] Further Subjects

MT

 

 

 

 

Taught via 6 classes and 6 tutorials, which take place in HT. (Some tutors have asked to deliver their subject in 7 classes and 5 tutorials.)

HT

 

6

6

 

TT

 

 

 

 

[6.] Compulsory Undergraduate Thesis

MT

 

 

 

 

Introductory lectures and workshops in HT and TT of year 2; at least one session with college tutor or external supervisor in TT.

HT

2

 

 

 

TT

2

 

1

 

BA in History Year 3

Paper

Term

Dept/Faculty

College

Comments

Figures in this table are in hours unless otherwise stated.

Lectures

Classes

Tutorials

Classes

[1.] Special Subjects 1-31

MT

 

8

4-6

 

Submission of Special Subject Extended Essay at start of HT.

HT

 

 

 

 

TT

 

 

 

 

[2.] Compulsory Undergraduate Thesis

MT

 

 

4

 

Maximum of 4 hours advice from supervisor/s during MT and HT. Timing is flexible. Submission at end of HT.

HT

 

 

 

TT

 

 

 

 

[3.] Disciplines of History

MT

 

 

 

 

Lectures may be attended in either 2nd or 3rd year.ª

College teaching in 10 sessions, usually (but not necessarily) 8 classes and 2 tutorials, across years 2 and 3.†

HT

8ª

 

2†

8†

TT

6ª

 

[4.] Revision

MT

 

 

 

 

One revision class may be offered at some time in TT for the Further Subject.

One revision class or tutorial may be offered at some time in TT for the EWF paper.

Three revision workshops may be offered at the start of TT for the BIF paper.

HT

 

 

 

 

TT

 

1

1

 

For full details of the examined elements of your course, including particular course requirements, progression requirements, combinations of course options, deadlines and submission modes, you should consult the Exam Regulations at the below link. It is your responsibility to read and adhere to the Examination Regulations.

Searching for Exam Regulations

When searching for the Exam Regulations relevant to your course, please use the following parameters:

Search Type: Undergraduate

Regulation Title: Honour School of Ancient and Modern History

Student Start Date: The term in which you matriculated

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Contacts

The main office contact for all undergraduate matters is: undergraduate.office@history.ox.ac.uk

History

Directors of Undergraduate Studies: Prof. Catherine Holmes and Prof. Giuseppe Marcocci

Undergraduate Officer: Dr. Callum Kelly

Undergraduate Assistant:  Mrs. Eesha Salman

Examinations Officer: Ms. Isabelle Moriceau

Academic Office Assistant: Mr. Rowan Ritchie

Admissions Officer: Ms. Liz Owen

 

Classics

Chair of the Sub-Faculty of Ancient History: Prof. Peter Thonemann (Classics)

Academic Administrative Officer: Mr. Andrew Dixon

Academic Support Officer: Ms. Erica Clarke

Chair of the Ancient and Modern History Joint School: To Be Confirmed

Useful Links

History Faculty Website

Classics Faculty Website

History Lecture List

Classics Lecture List

Canvas

History Faculty Library

Classics Faculty Library

Examination Regulations

Oxford Students Website

Student Self Service

Guidance for using Self Service