Classics in the Classroom

As part of the extensive outreach and public-engagement programme of our fellow classicists in the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology of the University of Birmingham, the project aims to provide teachers with educational materials which will be closely related to the content of the OCR Classics specifications and will be freely available online. The first pack of materials presented here is dedicated to the Late Roman Republic, a subject covered in both the A-Level Classical Civilisation syllabus and the A-Level Ancient History syllabus, and has been prepared by Dr Hannah Cornwell and Ben Salisbury (PhD Candidate), both experts in the field. The pack contains a series of videos as well as notes to teachers, slides and workbooks for pupils, all of which are downloadable and ready to use in the classroom.

What is unique with this initiative is that the content of the material was not only designed for teachers, but also decided by teachers. Talking into account a large number of answers given by Ancient History and Classical Civilisation teachers to an online questionnaire, Dr Cornwell and Mr Salisbury created educational materials suited specifically to the teachers’ needs and purposes. It is with great enthusiasm therefore that we now publicly share this material. We are hopeful that it will be of use to both teachers and pupils!

Videos

Julius Caesar

[Source: BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time]

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life, work and reputation of Julius Caesar. Famously assassinated as he entered the Roman senate on the Ides of March, 44 BC, Caesar was an inspirational general who conquered much of Europe. He was a ruthless and canny politician who became dictator of Rome, and wrote The Gallic Wars, one of the most admired and studied works of Latin literature. Shakespeare is one of many later writers to have been fascinated by the figure of Julius Caesar. With Christopher Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Oxford; Catherine Steel, Professor of Classics at the University of Glasgow; and Maria Wyke, Professor of Latin at University College London.

Julius Caesar

[Source: BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Series 12 Episode 8 of 9]

Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris. 8/9. Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe nominates Julius Caesar.

A brilliant orator and military tactician, Caesar was undoubtedly talented, yet he failed to find political solutions to the problems of the late Roman Republic.

A Bullet with Your Name on

[Source: Ashmolean Latin podcast]

Jane Masséglia and Hannah Cornwell talk about a signed slingshot bullet used in 41/40 BC, during the Roman Civil War, in a battle between the young Octavian, and the family of Mark Antony.