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2020/2021

Introduction to Ancient History

Code: 100334 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500501 History FB 1 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Jordi Cortadella Morral
Email:
Jordi.Cortadella@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Teachers

Borja Antela Bernardez
Isaias Arrayas Morales

Prerequisites

When dealing with a first-year subject, there is no particular requirement.

Objectives and Contextualisation

This subject will analyze the main political and social processes, and the cultural events of the civilizations of the Middle East and Europe during antiquity. It will be explained how political powers were generated and became effective from its origin, in the Middle East, to the crystallization of the city-state model (8th century BC) and the emergence of the ancient Empires, in Roman special, that achieved the political union of the Mediterranean.

Competences

  • Contextualizing the historical processes and analysing them from a critical perspective.
  • Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
  • Respecting the diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Communicating in your mother tongue or other language both in oral and written form by using specific terminology and techniques of Historiography.
  2. Critically analysing the past, the nature of the historical speech and the social function of historical science.
  3. Developing the ability of historical analysis and synthesis.
  4. Engaging in debates about historical facts respecting the other participants' opinions.
  5. Identifying the context of the historical processes.
  6. Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
  7. Identifying the specific methods of history and their relationship with the analysis of particular facts.
  8. Interpreting the plurality and heterogeneity of the cultural development of Humanity.
  9. Organising and planning the search of historical information.
  10. Solving problems autonomously.
  11. Using the characteristic computing resources of the field of History.
  12. Working in teams respecting the other's points of view.

Content

1: Presentation of the subject. Ancient History.

2: Middle East (IV-III millennium BC).

- The Fertile Crescent. The urban revolution in Mesopotamia.

- The Genesis of the State in Mesopotamia and Egypt. From the temple to the palace.

3: Middle East (II-I millennium BC).

- The empires of the Mesopotamian periphery and Egyptian expansionism.

- The universal empires: Assyrians, Neo-Babylonian and Persians.

4: Protohistoric Greece.

- The Minoan and Mycenaean world.

- The Dark Period and the Homeric society. The formation of the "polis" and archaic colonization.

5: Archaic Greece.

- Sparta and Athens.

6: Classical Greece.

- The wars against the Persians.

- Athenian imperialism. The Peloponnesian War.

7: Helenism.

- Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic kingdoms.

8: Roman monarchy.

- Origins of the city.

- The reforms of Servius Tullius.

9: The Roman Republic.

- Patricians versus Plebeians

- The Roman conquest: Rome in Italy and in the Mediterranean.

10: The crisis of the Republic.

- From Grac to civil wars.

11: The Early Roman Empire. The Principate.

- From August to the Severs.

12: The Late Roman Empire. The dominate.

- Crisis of the third century AD. Reforms and fall.

Methodology

- Assistance to lectures led by the teacher.

- Comprehensive reading of texts and interpretation of archaeological maps, graphs, tables and documents.

- Perform analyzes, reviews and reviews.

- Personal study

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Type: Directed 50 2 2, 1, 5, 7, 6, 8, 4, 11
Type: Supervised      
Type: Supervised 15 0.6 10, 3, 9, 12
Type: Autonomous      
Type: Autonomous 75 3 2, 10, 1, 3, 5, 7, 6, 8, 9, 4, 12, 11

Assessment

The evaluation of the subject will be done from 2 notes:

- CONTINUOUS EVALUATION: 2/3 practical activities (comments from primary sources) will be proposed for which a brief written commentary must be submitted.

- REVIEW: It will be done in class hours and will consist of:

a) Test 30 questions.

b) Develop 2 themes, to choose between 4 options.

The student will be classified as Non-evaluable when he has not delivered more than 30% of the evaluation activities.

At the time of completion/delivery of each assessment activity, the teacher will inform (Moodle, SIA) of the procedure and date of revision of the grades.

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

In the event that the tests cannot be done in person, their format will be adapted (maintaining their weighting) to the possibilities offered by the UAB’s virtual tools. Homework, activities and class participation will be done through forums, wikis and / or exercise discussions through Teams, ensuring that all students can access them.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Participation in seminars 10% 2 0.08 1, 4
Test 50 % 3 0.12 2, 10, 3, 5, 7, 6, 8
Written works. Comments on Texts and maps 40% 5 0.2 9, 12, 11

Bibliography

BELTRAN LLORIS, F., MARCO SIMON, F. (1987), Atlas de Historia Antigua, Zaragoza.

BRAVO, G. (1994), Història del mundo antiguo. Una introducción crítica. Alianza, Madrid.

BRODRICK, M., MORTON, A.A., 2001, Diccionario básico de la Arqueología Egipcia. Barcelona.

CHRISTOL, M., NONY, D. (1992), De los orígenes de Roma a las invasiones bárbaras. Akal, Madrid.

CORNELL, T.J. (1999), Los orígenes de Roma. C, 1000-264 a.C, Crítica. Barcelona.

DOMINGUEZ MONEDERO, A., PLÁCIDO, D., GÓMEZ ESPELOSÍN, F.J., GASCÓ, F. (1999), Historia del mundo clásico a través de sus textos. 1- Grecia, Alianza, Madrid.

FORNIS, C., (2003), Esparta. Historia, sociedad y cultura de un mito historiográfico, Crítica, Barcelona.

GARCIA MORENO, L., GASCÓ, F., ALVAR, J., LOMAS, F.J. (1999), Historia del mundo clásico a través de sus textos. 2- Roma. Alianza, Madrid.

GARNSEY, P., SALLER, R. (1991), El Imperio romano. Economía, sociedad y cultura, Crítica, Barcelona.

GIARDINA, A. (ed.) (1991), El hombre romano, Madrid.

GRIMAL, N. (1996), Historia del Antiguo Egipto, París.

KUHRT, A. (2001), El Oriente Próximo en la antigüedad (3000-300 a.C.), 2 vols., Barcelona.

LIVERANI, M. (1995), El Antiguo Oriente. Historia, sociedad, economía, Barcelona.

LÓPEZ BARJA, P., F.J. LOMAS (2004) Historia de Roma, Akal, Madrid.

SANMARTÍN, J., SERRANO, J.M. (1998), Historia antigua del Próximo Oriente: Mesopotamia y Egipto,Madrid.