FAQs zum Studium am Lehrstuhl für Alte Geschichte

Classical Ancient History covers the history of the Greeks and Romans in the Mediterranean region from around 1200 BC to around 600 AD and is divided into six epochs. ARCHAIC GREECE includes the epics of Homer and Hesiod, the poetry of Sappho, early Sparta, the first great inscriptions and the development of the polis in general. CLASSICAL GREECE covers Athenian democracy and the heyday of art and culture, historiography, rhetoric and philosophy - but also the Persian Wars, the conflict between Athens and Sparta and thus questions of power and rule, including the phenomenon of slavery. The HELLENISTIC PERIOD is about the conquests of Alexander the Great and then his successors, the so-called Diadochi, in whose empires the Greek-Hellenistic culture spread from Alexandria to Kandajar despite all the conflicts. The ROMAN REPUBLIC begins with the expulsion of the kings, is characterized by long wars against Pyrrhos, then Carthage and finally conquests in the Hellenistic East, spectacular triumphal processions, power politics in the Senate and finally famous stakeholders such as Cicero, Pompey and Caesar. The ROMAN EMPIRE encompasses everything from the Principate of Augustus to Diocletian, an era of wars on the borders but peace and prosperity at home (despite the eruption of Vesuvius in 79). Then came the rise of the Christians - and the persecution of their followers. Finally, LATE ANTIQUITY is characterized by only one god - but many variants of his worship -, University Assemblies and religious conflicts, some of which still have an impact today. Politically, the focus shifts to the East, to Constantinople, at the latest with the deposition of the Western Roman Emperor in 476, while the entire Mediterranean region and Europe are characterized by climate change and migration movements. Where and when exactly antiquity ends is controversial - unlike the important and often formative heritage, whereby the RECEPTION of antiquity is once again a completely separate field, apart from the history of its respective disciplines of archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, papyrology, classical philology and ancient history.

More or less... Of course, we can't cover everything, but we do try to offer a certain range in our teaching, focusing on classic topics that are standard in ancient history education (democracy in Athens, the transition from the Roman Republic to the Principate, gender aspects in myth and tragedy), as well as on our respective areas of focus in order to really combine research and teaching. In terms of content, a fundamental focus is on political cultural history and methodologically on the combination of source work with modern, theory-open questions. Both benefit enormously from the interdisciplinary collaboration with colleagues - from Classical Studies, but also from other eras and other Institutes at the TUD. If you add the regular events on numismatics and ancient art history offered by our cooperation partners, the Dresden Coin Cabinet and the SKD's Ancient Collections, there is a really wide and varied range of events to choose from in Dresden. There are also public conferences, lecture series and discussions in the city, where we present and discuss the results of our research with a broad public.

Every winter semester there is a very general lecture (VL), which gives a broad overview of the whole of antiquity (and even more) under changing titles. This lecture can be combined well with a Lektürekurs in which sources and literature are discussed together for the respective session of the lecture. If you add a proseminar (PS) with a focus on literature, you would already have a very good start to Ancient History with six semester hours per week.

In the following summer semester, in addition to the upcoming PS with a focus on sources, you could attend any reading courses, tutorials or another Lektürekurs - which always focuses on a much more specific topic in the summer - including source problems, research controversies and open questions.

And if you are planning your final thesis: A colloquium (CO) is always offered in the summer semester; this is aimed at students who have completed the seminar and main seminar and are now presenting initial ideas or finished parts for their final thesis in the field of Ancient History.

Take a look at our homepage and the Classical Studies pages: We organize the Dresden Classical Studies Lectures together every semester - where students are very welcome! These pages also provide information about other joint activities, such as excursions, the international master class and other formats and events, such as the Thesis Day.

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