Undergraduate Course: Money, Men and Gods in Archaic and Classical Greece (ANHI10086)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will provide an introduction to the material and social history of coinage in Archaic and Classical Greece. |
| Course description |
Money was not invented in Greece, but from the late sixth century BC onwards became more widely used here than in any other part of the world. What made money so useful for the Greeks? And what happens to agrarian societies based on honour and hierarchies when they first encounter a medium that has the potential to equalize everything and everyone? The course will introduce students to the material aspects of money (the step from bullion to coins, the process of coin production, counterfeit coins), but the main focus will be on its cultural and historical implications. Because of its material and ideological omnipresence, the medium of coinage offers a unique perspective from which to approach basic questions of Greek history - like democracy and imperialism, social hierarchies and conceptions of the divine.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics related subject matter (at least 2 of which should be in Ancient History) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
W. V. Harris (ed.), The Monetary Systems of the Greeks and Romans, Oxford 2008.
L. Kurke, Coins, Bodies, Games, and Gold. The Politics of Meaning in Archaic Greece, Princeton 1999.
W. E. Metcalf (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage, Oxford 2012.
D. M. Schaps, The Invention of Coinage and the Monetization of Ancient Greece, Ann Arbor 2004.
R. Seaford, Money and the Early Greek Mind. Homer, Philosophy, Tragedy, Cambridge 2004, 88-95.
S. von Reden, "Money, Law and Exchange: Coinage in the Greek Polis", JHS 117 (1997), 154-176.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Benedikt Eckhardt
Tel: (0131 6)50 9110
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Katy Robinson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3780
Email: |
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