Questions of Ancient History

Teacher(s)

Latteur Olivier (compensates Van Haeperen Françoise); Van Haeperen Françoise;

Language

French

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Main themes

Attentive to spatial and temporal changes, the course will be based on a documentary corpus available in translation. It will develop, for Antiquity, the knowledge of institutional frameworks, in the sociological sense of the term: constituted by a set of tasks, beliefs, rules, practices and behaviours instituted between people, these institutional frameworks have a particular purpose and a certain stability over time. These institutions can be political, social, religious, economic, cultural and religious. Their knowledge is essential for research on Antiquity and will introduce them to recent historiographical problems and methods.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

At the end of this course, the student will be able to place an institution (considered in a broad sense) in its political, ideological, economic, social and cultural context, to analyse its skills and functioning, and to identify the actors involved, for Antiquity. It will also be able to place in their historiographical context the questions currently being debated by the research.Méthode

Content

The course will be based on the analysis of case studies illustrating current research themes relating to the history of classical antiquity. These cases will highlight the contribution of the different types of sources available (literary, legal, epigraphic, archaeological, etc.) and the importance of their cross-referencing, as well as the historiographical questions they raise. 
The first theme will look at the concepts of 'monuments', 'ruins' and 'antiquarians' in Antiquity. A second issue will deal with the question of the spread and nature of the cult of Mithras in the Roman Empire and the historiographical discussions relating to this cult and its origins. A third module will address the question of research into the reception of antiquity. 
As part of the study of these modules, students will listen to a number of speakers who will present their research, focusing on their working methods and the sources they use. These talks will be given in French or English.

Teaching methods

Lectures, conferences and individual readings

Evaluation methods

The evaluation will take the form of an oral exam comprising a commentary on texts seen in class (with preparation time) and questions on the course content (without preparation time).

Online resources

Slide shows
Individual readings (reproduced and made available to students by the lecturer)

Bibliography

Bibliographie indicative (thématique principale) :
DAVOINE, Charles, La ville défigurée. Gestion et perception des ruines dans le monde romain (Ier siècle a. C. – IVe siècle p. C.), Bordeaux, Ausonius, 2021.
SCHNAPP, Alain, Une histoire universelle des ruines. Des origines aux Lumières, Paris, Seuil, 2020.
SCHNAPP, Alain (dir.), World Antiquarianism. Comparative Perspectives, Los Angeles, Getty Institute, 2013.

Faculty or entity

EHAC