Honour School of Ancient and Modern History

Differences from 2015/16 to 2021/22

.A

A

  • 1. The examination in the Honour School of Ancient and Modern History shall consist of such subjects in Ancient and Modern History as the Boards of the Faculties of Classics and History from time to time shall in consultation prescribe by regulation.

  • 2. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination in this school unless he or she has either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination.

  • 3. The examination shall be under the joint supervision of the Boards of the Faculties of Classics and History. They shall appoint a standing joint committee to consider any matters concerning the examination which cannot expeditiously be settled by direct consultation between them. Whenever any matter cannot otherwise be resolved they shall themselves hold a joint meeting and resolve it by majority vote.

  • 4. The lists of papers specific to the Honour School of Ancient and Modern History will be published by the Faculty Boards of Classics and History in the fourth week of Hilary Term prior to candidates beginning their studies for the School.  Papers available in this School from the Honour Schools of History and of Literae Humaniores will be published, with their specifications and any prescribed texts, by the relevant Faculty Boards at the dates defined in the regulations for those Schools.

B

Each candidate shall offer the following subjects:.  Candidates must offer at least one of B3(b) or B4(b).

  • IB1. A PERIOD OF ANCIENT HISTORY (ONE PAPER).

    OnePeriod of the following:

    452: GreekAncient History 478-403(one BCpaper)

  • 453:One Greekfrom Historya 403-336list BC

  • 455:defined Romanby Historythe 146-46Faculty BC

  • 456:Board Romanof History 46 BC-AD 54

  •  II. A PERIOD OF MODERN HISTORY (ONE PAPER)Classics.

  • Either

    (a)B2. AnyA onePeriod of the periods of GeneralModern History specified(one forpaper)

  • An theOutline Honouror SchoolTheme ofpaper in either European & World History;

     or:

    (b) Any one of the periods of the History of the British Isles specified for the Honour School of History.  No exceptcandidate anymay suchoffer a period thatsimilar hasto already beenone offered onwhen passing the First PublicPreliminary Examination.
 Illegal combinations will be specified by the Board.

  • StudentsB3. participatingFurther in the academic exchange scheme with Princeton University will substitute the courses taken at Princeton for either a General History or History of the British Isles paper. The Princeton courses will be examined at Princeton, and the grades awarded will be reviewed and moderated by the Examiners to produce a single University standard mark, according to procedures laid down in the Handbook and Examining Conventions.Subjects

    • Either

      III.(a) FURTHER SUBJECTS

      Either, (a) (i) any one of the Further Subjects as specified for the Honour School of History (one paper);

      or, 

      (b) any one from an approved list of the following Further Subjects in Ancient History (one paper)

      provided that any candidate who offers alternative IV (a) below may only offer alternative III (b):

    • 409: The Hellenistic World: societies and cultures, c.300 BC–100 BC

    • 411: Politics, Society and Culture from Nero to Hadrian

      412: Religions in the Greek and Roman World, c.31 BC-AD 312

      457: Athenian democracy in the Classical Age 

      601: The Greeks and the Mediterranean World c.950-500 BC

      603: Hellenistic Art and Archaeology, 330-30 BC

      604: Art under the Roman Empire, AD 14-337

      The individual specification and prescribed texts for subject 457 will be published for candidates in the Ancient and Modern History Handbook by Monday of Week 0 of Michaelmas Term each year for the academic year ahead. All other subjects under III(b) will be as specified for the Honour School of Literae Humaniores.

    IVB4. SPECIALSpecial SUBJECTSSubjects

    • Either, 

      (a) any one of the Special Subjects as specified for the Honour School of History (one paper and one extended essay);

      or, 

      (b) any one from an approved list of the following Special Subjects in Ancient History, provided that any candidate who offers alternative III (a) above may only offer alternative IV (b)

      458: Alexander the Great and his Early Successors (336-302 bc) (two papers)

      460: Cicero: Politics and Thought in the Late Republic (two papers)

      461: The Greek City in the Roman World from Dio Chrysostom to John Chrysostom. This option will be examined by a 3-hour commentary paper and an extended essay of between 5,000 and 6,000 words (including footnotes but excluding bibliography). The essay shall be on a topic or theme selected by the candidate from a question paper published by the examiners on Friday of Week 4 of Michaelmas Term in the year of examination. The candidate must deliver two copies of the essay by hand to the Examination Schools (addressed to the Chair of Examiners, Honour School of Ancient and Modern History, Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford) not later than 12 noon on Friday of Week 0 of Hilary Term of the year of examination. A certificate, signed by the candidate to the effect that each essay is the candidate’s own work, and that the candidate has read the Faculty’s guidelines on plagiarism, must be presented together with the submission. The University’s regulations on Late Submission of Work will apply.

    DetailedB5. specifications and prescribed texts for subjects 458, 460, and 461 above will be given in the Handbook for the Honour School of Ancient and Modern History. The individual detailed specifications and prescribed texts for the Further and Special subjects as specified for the Honour SchoolDisciplines of History will be given in the Handbook for the Honour School of History. Both handbooks will be published by the History Board by Monday of Week 1 of the first Michaelmas Full Term of candidates' work for the Honour School.

    Depending on the availability of teaching resources, not all Further and Special Subjects will be available to all candidates in every year. Candidates and Ancient and Modern History tutors will be circulated by the beginning of the fourth week of the first Hilary Full Term of their work for the Honour School with (i) details of any Further and Special Subjects which will not be available for the following year, (ii) the supplement to the Handbook for the Honour School of History. This book will contain full specifications and prescribed texts for any Further or Special Subjects specified for Modern History introduced for the following year, and any amendments to the specifications and prescribed texts for existing Further and Special Subjects approved by the History Board by its first meeting of the preceding Hilary Term.

    • V. DISCIPLINES OF HISTORY

      Each candidate shall be examined in the Disciplines of History in accordance with regulationRegulation VB5 of the Honour School of History.

    • VIB6. A THESISThesis FROMfrom ORIGINALOriginal RESEARCHResearch

      Regulation VIB6 of the Honour School of History applies with the following modifications:

      • Cl.Sub-clause 3.(a) (For the avoidance of doubt) the Arnold Ancient History Prize and the Barclay Head Prize in Numismatics are to be read with the schedule.

      • Cl.Sub-clause 5. For ‘Honour School of History’ read ‘Honour School of Ancient and Modern History’. For theses concerning the years before adAD 285 read ‘Chair of Examiners, Honour School of Ancient and Modern History’ for ‘Chair of the Examiners, Honour School of History’.

      • Cl.Sub-clause 8. For ‘Chair of Examiners, Honour School of History’ read ‘Chair of Examiners, Honour School of Ancient and Modern History’.

    • VIIB7. AN OPTIONAL ADDITIONAL THESIS

      Regulation VII An Optional Additional Thesis

      Regulation B7 An Optional Additional Thesis of the Honour School of History shall apply with the following modifications:

      • Cl.Sub-clause 4. For dissertations concerning the years before adAD 285 read ‘Chair of Examiners, Honour School of Ancient and Modern History’ for ‘Chair of the Examiners, Honour School of History’.

      • Cl.Sub-clause 7. For ‘Chair of Examiners, Honour School of History’ read ‘Chair of Examiners, Honours School of Ancient and Modern History’.

      • VIII. AN OPTIONAL LANGUAGE PAPER

    • 571:B8.An Optional Language Paper

      Intermediate Ancient Greek or 572: Intermediate Latin or 573: Advanced Ancient Greek or 574: Advanced Latin.

      The individual specifications and prescribed texts for subjects 571-574 will be published for candidates in the Ancient and Modern History Handbook by Monday of Week 0 of Michaelmas Term each year for the academic year ahead.

    Any candidate whose native language is not English may bring a bilingual (native language to English) dictionary for use in any of the language papers offered under regulationRegulation VIIIB8.