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Master of Philosophy in Greek and/or Roman History

1. Every candidate must follow, for at least six terms, a course of instruction in Greek and/or Roman History.
2. Syllabus. Candidates must offer (1) an option from List A, (2) an option from List B, (3) an option from either of Lists B and C, (4) a dissertation as described in D below, and (5) either the “Greece and the East” or the “Rome and the West” seminar as described in E below.
Not all options may be available in any given year.
3. Candidates must take one of the seminars in List E in their first year and may offer up to two further options in the first year of their course.
4. All options, including the dissertation, require the approval of the candidate's supervisor and the Graduate Studies Committee for Ancient History.
5. Unless otherwise stated below, options under Lists B, C and E will be assessed by two presubmitted essays of not more than 5,000 words in length, which between them display knowledge of more than a narrow range of the topic covered by the course.
Supervisors or others are permitted to give bibliographical help with and to discuss drafts of essays.
6. Candidates offering options from Lists B or C in their first year must upload their essays to the University approved online assessment platform by noon on the Wednesday of Week 6 of Trinity Term in the first year of the course. Candidates offering options from Lists B or in C in their second year must upload their essays to the University approved online assessment platform by noon on the Wednesday of Week 1 of Trinity Term in the second year of the course.
7. The word limits for presubmitted essays and for dissertations exclude the bibliography and certain other categories of material as described in the MSt/MPhil course handbook, which is to be consulted for further guidance.
8. Oral Examination. Candidates are required to present themselves for oral examination if summoned by the examiners.
9. If it is the opinion of the examiners that the work done by a candidate, while not of sufficient merit to qualify for the degree of M.Phil., is nevertheless of sufficient merit to qualify for the degree of Master of Studies in Greek and/or Roman History, the candidate shall be given the option of resitting the M.Phil. (as provided under the appropriate regulation) or of being granted leave to supplicate for the degree of Master of Studies.

A
Candidates must offer one of the following. They must offer either A (i) or A (ii), unless individually dispensed from this requirement by the Graduate Studies Committee in Ancient History.
Each option will be assessed in one written paper.
Any candidate taking options A (i)-(ii) whose first language is not English may bring a bilingual (first language-English) dictionary for use in the examination. Candidates taking options A (iii)-(vi) may bring a dictionary (language of examination – English) for their use in the examination.
Candidates will not normally be allowed to be examined in their first language or which they have previously studied in taught courses for more than two years.
- (i) Intermediate Greek
- (ii) Intermediate Latin
- (iii) French
- (iv) German
- (v) Italian
- (vi) Any other language which the candidate has satisfied the Graduate Studies Committee for Ancient History is relevant to any part of the work which they propose to submit.
B
- (i) Greek Numismatics
- (ii) Roman Numismatics
- (iii) Greek Epigraphy
- (iv) The Epigraphy of the Roman World
- (v) Documentary Papyrology. Candidates taking this option will produce an edition of a documentary papyrus and one essay of not more than 5,000 words in length. These should be submitted in accordance with the arrangements set out in 2(e) above.
- (vi) Roman Law
  
  (vii) One of options B1-4 and B7 in the M.St. in Greek and/or Latin Languages and Literature, subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee in Ancient History and the Graduate Studies Committee in Classical Languages and Literature. Presubmitted essays offered under this option will be subject to the normal regulations for the submission of presubmitted essays in the M.Phil. in Greek and/or Roman History.
  
  (viii) An option from Schedule B of the M.St. in Classical Archaeology, subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee in Ancient History and the Graduate Studies Committee in Archaeology. Presubmitted essays offered under this option will be subject to the normal regulations for the submission of presubmitted essays in the M.Phil. in Greek and/or Roman History.
  
  (ix) Any other subject approved by the Graduate Studies Committee for Ancient History.
C
Options on historical topics. A list of available options will appear in the Handbook issued in Week 0 of the Michaelmas Term preceding the examination.
Note: The option on “The City of Rome” is run in collaboration with the British School at Rome, and involves attendance at the residential course organised by the School; only those accepted by the School may take the option. Candidates wishing to offer this option should normally do so in their first year for timetabling reasons.
In addition to the options set out in the Handbook, candidates may offer an option on any other historical topic relating to the Ancient Greek and Roman World of their choice, subject to the approval of the Graduate Studies Committee in Ancient History.
D
A dissertation of not more than 25,000 words on a subject to be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee for Ancient History. The dissertation must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by noon on the Wednesday of Week 6 of Trinity Term in the final year of the course.
E
Candidates will be required to attend and participate in one of the following graduate seminars, and to submit two presubmitted essays on topics relating to the seminar.
- (i) Greece and the East
- (ii) Rome and the West

Each essay must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by noon on the Wednesday of Week 6 of Trinity Term in the first year of the course.