A round up.

As the Christmas break looms, it's probably quite important for me to discuss the last two and a half months, as they have been the first ones of the Undergraduate time at Bristol University.

While my previous blog posts have been topic-based and reflect a few essays that I have written, this post will basically round up the last two and a half months, looking back over the three units that have consisted of my course so far.

Introduction to Ancient History

Although difficult to explain what this unit actually involves, it does provide invaluable knowledge and skills, re-caps essay writing (that many of us have long-forgotten over the extended summer) as well as allowing us to write various short essays on a wide range of ancient issues: for example, one title included "The Scope of Ancient History." While one might think that this is an 'easy' essay as 'you can write about whatever you want', writing about whatever you want is not always the easiest thing to do in the world. However, choosing the topic of imperialism, it was a great way to get back into essay writing and the feedback provided was of great use, and various essay deadlines were looming for both of my other modules, of which I will mention in greater detail further down. The unit also focused on how to deal with sources, both primary, secondary and archeaological. Although, of course, any one who took A-level Classics or History would have touched upon these skills, the way in which you are taught to look at these sources requires a different perspective from a university-standard angle. In other words, Introduction to Ancient History made all of us realise that we had to do things properly now, not just what we were taught at A-level (which, while interesting and difficult, is nothing quite like the depth of thought needed at university.)

Viewing the City of Rome

This section will undoubtedly have a certain amount of bias within it, as Ancient Rome is a topic that I am extremely passionate about. In fact, a visit to Rome actually swayed my decision between studying History and Ancient History. It is by far, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating social, political and economic establishments that the world has ever seen. I thouroughly enjoyed looking at the city of Rome thematically, for example with lecture titles as 'Amphitheatres' and 'Trade'. The title of the unit does exactly what it says on the tin - it gives you a wide range of Roman history. A special interest of mine became the cultural aspects of Rome, for example the leisure tendancies as well as the religious divinities that existed. This preference for the Roman culture aided my essay, which was on the subject of the physical nature of foreign cults in Rome and a Roman's attitude towards them. I thouroughly enjoyed the research for this essay, as I gained more of an understanding of how foreign Rome actually was - something that I had not really considered in much detail previously. Although some topics within this unit were not the most elaborate (for example, the sewage system), it did not leave any aspect just because it was undesirable. The unit gives an unbiased account of what Roman life really was like.

The Hellenistic World

Although it took me a few lectures to get involved in this topic, I grew to thouroughly enjoy the content. Alexander the Great is often deemed as a 'primary school history lesson' - however, it is far from it. Having not really studied the topic before (apart from, admittedly, in primary school...) I was intrigued to realise that what I thought was what occurred in the period was not true: in other words, I learnt something new - some would say £9000 well spent. However again, this unit allowed me to view the Hellenistic empire through a different perspective and putting it into the content of the world at the time, linking it to the Persian Empire. It was also refreshing to not simply study the reign of Alexander the Great, but also include his ancestry and Phillip II, as well as the diadochoi rulers that followed him and eventually doomed Alexander's empire as he knew it (an essay on whether or not Alexander's empire will follow this post). Therefore in all, this unit gave a fantastic overview of the period, giving insight into context that is not commonly found in lower sections of education.