This course investigates the foundations of Western civilisation through a study of the history of one of the great ancient societies — Classical Greece. In Classical Greece students explore the major city-states of Athens and Sparta with a particular focus on the everyday lives of inhabitants, architecture and warfare. They also investigate the concepts and achievements that made Athens the cultural empire that it was in the 5th century BCE. The course concludes with an investigation of the decline of Athens as a power but with respect to the legacy it has provided the Western world – this will include a short unit on the Great Philosophers of Ancient Greece.
