Module manager: Dr Henry Clarke
Email: H.H.B.Clarke@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module will provide students with an overview of the hegemonic and imperial regimes of the classical world (covering Greece, Rome and Persia) and focussing, for example, on the hegemonic leagues of Sparta and Athens, the Achaemenid empire and the rise of Rome as an imperial power. Students will explore the growth and development of these regimes and the underlying reasons in each case, the diverse range of administrative structures and mechanisms of control which they employed and the reasons for their success and, in each case, eventual failure. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
On completion of this module, students will be able to reflect on the diversity of ways in which imperial powers came into being and of the various underlying causes and motivations underpinning them. The module will also help students to develop a strong understanding of the wide variety of administrative structures and mechanisms of control which they made use of, and the reasons for success and failure in each case. Through a variety of lecture and seminar activities, the module will equip students with the analytical tools required to understand and analyse effectively the surviving evidence for the imperial regimes of the classical world (including written texts, inscriptions, coinage, material culture and archaeological remains) and to engage critically with the major scholarship on the subject.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Describe and interpret the hegemonic and imperial regimes which exercised power in classical antiquity, and the range of administrative structures and mechanisms of control which they employed
2. Critically analyse the nature of ancient empires, the circumstances in which they developed or broke apart, including the wider developmental context of their rise, heyday, and fall
3. Compare ancient empires critically
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. identify and critically analyse the different kinds of evidence normally used in the study of ancient empires
5. engage critically with the major secondary literature relevant to the subject
6. communicate the results of your work effectively
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| Seminar | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Private study hours | 179 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 21 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students will have the opportunity to receive formative feedback during module contact hours, both at lectures and especially in seminar classes via feedback on contributions to discussions with their peers and the seminar tutor. Formative work designed to help students prepare for the module assessments will also be available during class time, with a dedicated seminar on the final assessment at the end of the module. The first assessment provides summative feedback part-way through the module, offering a clear formal assessment of progress at a point well in advance of the final assessment. The final assessment ultimately monitors student progress and the level of attainment at the point when students have completed the module.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Presentation | 50 |
| Coursework | Written Assignment | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 09/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team