Disciplines of Classics, Archaeology and ancient history

Study with us, and gain all the fundamentals you need to understand the history of the classical world (ancient Greece and Rome), their languages, literature, art and architecture, religions and ideas. 

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We focus on developing your skills in building evidence-based arguments (in ancient history and archaeology),  understanding and unpacking ancient texts in translation, and developing your own linguistic skills through learning Latin.

We begin with two courses introducing you to the basics of ancient history and of Greek and Roman literature. Continue with more specialised historical courses about democratic Athens, Republican and Imperial Rome. Trace the evolution of Roman identity and culture through archaeology - including an opportunity to visit Rome and Pompeii. Learn some Latin; or study how Latin and Greek still influence scientific language. Explore  how literature expressed emotions in Greece and Rome. Broaden your interests by exploring the role and meanings of classical myths,  how the ancient Mediterranean world viewed death and afterlife, and the impact of Christianity upon the Roman empire.

  • Our teaching

    We begin with two courses introducing you to the basics of ancient history and of Greek and Roman literature. Continue with more specialised historical courses about democratic Athens, Republican and Imperial Rome. Trace the evolution of Roman identity and culture through archaeology - including an opportunity to visit Rome and Pompeii. Learn some Latin; or study how Latin and Greek still influence scientific language. Explore  how literature expressed emotions in Greece and Rome. Broaden your interests by exploring the role and meanings of classical myths,  how the ancient Mediterranean world viewed death and afterlife, and the impact of Christianity upon the Roman empire.

  • Our people

    Academic Staff

    Name

    Role

    Dr Gareth Pritchard Acting Head of Department of Historical and Classical Studies

    Professor Han Baltussen

    Hughes Professor of Classics

    Dr Jacqueline Clarke

    Senior Lecturer

    Dr Margaret O’Hea

    Senior Lecturer

    Associate Professor Sally May

    Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow

    Titleholders/Research Associates/Emeritus
    Name Role

    Associate Professor Peter Davis

    Adjunct Research Fellow

    Professor Emeritus Richard Green

     Adjunct Professor

    Professor Emeritus Graham Zanker

    Adjunct Professor

    Dr David Rafferty ARC DECRA Fellow

     

  • Our research

    The Department of Classics produces publications ranging from emotions and the representation of pain in Late Latin poetry, to Graeco-Roman attitudes to body, mind, and health, to the archaeology of the Late Antique Near East.

    Each of our academics focus on different areas of research.

    Professor Han Baltussen

    Greek and Roman philosophy; Aristotle’s school; philosophical commentary; consolations; censorship

    Dr Jacqueline Clarke

    Latin poetry, especially lyric and elegiac; Reception of mythology

    Dr Margaret O’Hea

    Ancient glass; Late Hellenistic and Roman archaeology in the Near East; Late Antiquity

    Associate Professor Peter Davis

    Flavian epic; Seneca’s tragedies; Ovid

    Professor Richard Green

    Greek and Roman drama; Greek pottery

    Professor Graham Zanker

    Hellenistic poetry and visual art; Virgil; Stoicism

     

    Higher degrees by research

Museum of Classical Archaeology

The Museum of Classical Archaeology is the largest collection of artefacts from ancient Greece and Rome on display in South Australia.

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