Courses about Ancient Civilisations

In 120 BC, Rome was a city-state with functioning republican institutions that made room for a substantial element of democracy. It was also the dominant power in the Mediterranean World. By 20 AD, Rome was the capital of an autocratic empire that covered virtually the whole of the Mediterranean World and most of its surrounding territories. Between these dates, Rome saw the collapse of its ancient governing institutions in an orgy of political assassination, civil wars, purges, and military dictatorships.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.

The Crusades are the defining event of the Middle Ages. They brought the very different civilisations of Western Europe, Byzantium and Islam into an extended period of both conflict and peaceful co-existence. The biggest loser was the Byzantine Empire, which emerged shattered and doomed from the encounter. The biggest winner was Western Europe, which was brought in close contact with the older and more sophisticated civilisations of the East, and which found its own progress greatly hastened. As for Islam, the Crusades ensured that the Near East would be gradually brought under the long hegemony of the Ottomans.







This was an age of striking individuals – Alexius, Bohemond, Enrico Dandolo, Saladin, Richard the Lion Heart, and many others. It is an age filled with unforgettable – and possibly true – stories of heroism and atrocity.



This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.