Term 1 – Autumn 2022

Week 1

• No class in week 1

Week 2

• The Near East: geography, prelude to the Roman annexation
• Power Point: Introduction
• Power Point: the annexation

• Historical narratives: the province(s) from Pompey to Severus Alexander

• Power Point: Rome, Syria, Parthians and Persians

Week 3

• Historical narratives: the Sasanian revolution, Palmyra

• Power Point: Rome, Syria, Parthians and Persians 2
• Power Point: Rome on the Middle Euphrates
• Power Point: The rise and fall of Palmyra

Week 4

• Historical narratives: the struggle for Mesopotamia, the rise of the federate Arabs

• Power Point: Fourth Century
• Power Point: Fifth Sixth Century

Week 5

• Seminar: Why did the Romans lose Syria?

• Political structures: Governors and provinces

Week 6

• No classes: Reading week

Week 7

• Political structures: ‘Client’ kings

• Power Point: Governors and Provinces
• Power Point: 'Client' kings

Week 8

• Political structures: the civic hierarchy and the progress of urbanism

• Power Point: Cities

Week 9

• Time and motion: marking time and travel

• A World of Villages: the countryside and land use

• Power Point: Eras and calendars
• Power Point: Travel
• Peutinger Table

Week 10

• The ‘Dead Cities’ (not really cities)

• Power Point: The Dead Cities and the eastern steppe
• Power Point: The Hauran

• Seminar: Consumers and producers: city versus country

Term 2 – Spring 2023

Week 11

• The economy: water and irrigation, agricultural production

• Power Point: Water, agriculture

Week 12

• The economy: special products, building materials, long distance trade

• Power Point: Long distance trade
• Power Point: Material evidence for trade

Week 13

• The economy: taxes and state burdens, pottery, coinage

• Power Point: Coinage

Week 14

• Civic politics, the monumental city

Week 15

• Hellenism and identity

• Seminar: Palmyrene portrait sculpture

Week 16

• No classes: Reading week

Week 17

• Material manifestations of identity

Week 18

• Religious life 1

Week 19

• Religious life 2

Week 20

• The military presence

• Seminar: Handling session with coins

Term 3 – Summer Term 2023

Week 21

• Revision: gobbets

• Revision: essays

Week 22

• Revision: general

Week 23

• Revision: general