DSBcB49 Ancient Oecumene - Ancient Accounts on Asia and Africa

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Libor Pruša (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Michal Habaj, PhD. (alternate examiner)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. et Mgr. Libor Pruša
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 18:00–19:40 D33, except Mon 18. 11. to Sun 24. 11.
Prerequisites
General knowledge of ancient history.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course will focus on the reports of ancient authors about different parts of the ancient world. In this semester the main focus will be on the reports about Asia and Africa. Students will get to know the ancient sources which deal with ancient geography and ethnography and what kind of topoi appear when the sources describe these areas. Another point of interest will be the contact between Greeks and Romans and the local area and what the ancient authors generally knew about the mentioned lands.
Learning outcomes
After the successful completion of this course the student will: - be well versed in the ancient sources dealing with geography and ethnography - be able to understand the technical terms used in this area - be able to define topoi and the descriptions of ancient tribes through the eyes of Greeks and Romans - be able to describe the contacts between Greco-roman and local culture - understand the general knowledge of foreign lands by the ancient authors
Syllabus
  • General information on the course; the world, as it was known in Antiquity; terms; basic sources
  • Asia Minor
  • Syria
  • Palestine
  • Egypt
  • Africa (Egypt excluded)
  • Mesopotamia
  • Persia
  • India
  • Central Asia and China
Literature
    required literature
  • Almagor, E., & Skinner, J. (eds.). (2013). Ancient Ethnography: New Approaches. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Brill's companion to ancient geography : the inhabited world in Greek and Roman tradition. Edited by Serena Bianchetti - Michele Cataudella - Hans Joachim Gehrke. Leiden: Brill, 2016, xviii, 490. ISBN 9789004285118. info
    recommended literature
  • Morgan, J. (2016). Greek perspectives on the Achaemenid Empire: Persia through the looking glass. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  • Parker, G. (2008). The Making of Roman India. Greek Culture in the Roman World. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Roller, D.W. (2015). Ancient Geography: The Discovery of the World in Classical Greece and Rome. London; New York: I.B.Tauris.
  • Romm, J. (2019). The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought: Geography, Exploration, and Fiction. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Rutherford, I. (2015). Greco-Egyptian Interactions: Literature, Translation, and Culture 500 BCE-300 CE. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Talbert, R. (2012). Ancient Perspectives: Maps and their Place in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press.
Teaching methods
Reading of sources (in translation), lectures, discussion.
Assessment methods
A test.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2024/DSBcB49