Ancient history

Study the politics, social and cultural history of the ancient Mediterranean world. Delve into the history of the ancient Greeks and Romans, and learn about their interactions with their neighbours, such as the Persians, Carthaginians and Phoenicians.

Courses at St Andrews will teach you to draw on a wide range of evidence – such as the writings of ancient historians, art and archaeology - to study topics such as:

  • ancient urbanism
  • imperialism
  • slavery
  • gender and the family
  • religion
  • warfare
  • economics.
Ancient History lecture

Undergraduate

Postgraduate taught

Postgraduate research

The School of Classics offers PhD and MPhil research programmes and supervises on the following topics:

  • Greek and Latin literature
  • ancient history
  • art and archaeology
  • philosophy
  • reception studies

To apply, you should first identify and contact a potential supervisor you would like to work with in your intended research area. Find out how to contact a research supervisor.    

“I chose Ancient History as St Andrews offers a broad range of classes taught around the research interests of the lecturers, so going into the class you know that it is a topic being actively researched and contributed to by the people teaching you.”

George
- Texas, USA

Awards

First in the Scotland and third in the UK for classics and ancient history

Guardian University Guide 2023

First in Scotland and fourth in the UK for classics

The Complete University Guide 2023

80% of research activity rated 3* or 4*

Most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021)