COMPETENCIES:
GENERAL: The students will learn more about the period under investigation, i.e., Late Antiquity, with regard to its political and social history as well as the history of ideas relevant to the era. They will furthermore learn more about the growth and gradual establishment of Christianity in the Roman Em-pire. This will be done via a critical lecture of different source texts, student presentations and working on a prosopographical database to reconstruct and study socio-political and intellectual networks.

TRANSVERSAL: 1) Critical and innovative thinking, 2) interpersonal skills, 3) intrapersonal skills, 4) global citizenship, 5) literacy in modern media and AI and their use for the study of history and philosophy.

SPECIFIC: 1) Critical engagement with different source texts, 2) Learning to interact with students from home universities and from other universities in Europe, thus introduction into a new academic environment and tradition, 3) introduction into the use modern tools of digital history (Geovistory) for the presentation of study results for an interested public, 4) honing of presentation-skills.

OTHERS: 1) Introduction into academic schools and networks, 2) digital and (self-)organizational skills to pass the course.

HOW: The class dynamic will be heterogeneous with a focus on participation between the Universities of Zurich and Complutense of Madrid. The class will have online and offline segments to facilitate collaborative endeavors and interactive work between students of both universities.
The course is divided into two parts: (1.) theory and analysis of text and (2.) team working and a final workshop to present the outcomes.

TEAMWORK: Collaboration regarding the study of intellectual networks based on a dossier (prepared by the profs.), followed by presentations in a workshop and inclusion of data in Geovistory, and publication in a website at the end of the course.
TEAMS: The groups will be formed during the first week of class. Each team will have members from Madrid and Zurich, will be registered (name of the team, first and last names of its members, e-mail-addresses) and the prepared dossiers will be distributed among the individual groups.

PERSONAL WORK: Preparation of texts and sources of prosopographical dossiers and selected philosophical texts.

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REQUIREMENTS:
The students are expected to know how to critically engage with historical source texts. Additionally, communication between members of the Universities of Zurich and Complutense of Madrid will happen in English so that a firm knowledge of spoken and written English will be helpful. Knowledge in Latin or Greek is helpful but not necessary to participate in the planned course.

EVALUATION:
- Active participation during the semester (10%)
- Critical analysis of philosophical texts and careful input of prosopographical data (60%)
- Presentation during workshop in Zurich (30%)

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
BROWN, P. (1992). Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire. The Classical World. The University of Wisconsin Press: Vol. 87.
CAMERON, A. (1993). The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity AD 395–600. London, Routledge.
COSTERO QUIROGA, S. (2024). «Introducción». In Plotino. Enéadas I. Libros I-II. Madrid, Gredos: 5–27.
EDWARDS, M. J. (2006). Culture and Philosophy in the Age of Plotinus. London, Duckworth.
GERSON, L. P., & DILLON, J. (2015). Neoplatonic Philosophy: Introductory Readings. Vancouver, BC Crane Library.
HÄCHLER, N. (2023b). «The “Hammer of the Aristocracy”? Diocletian’s Reign and Its Consequences for the Amplissimus Ordo». In F. Carlà-Uhink & C. Rollinger (Eds.), The Tetrarchy as Ideology Reconfigurations and Representations. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag: 179–220.
HARPER, K. (2017). The Fate of Rome. Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire. Princeton - Oxford, Princeton University Press.
HARPER, K. (2021). Plagues upon the Earth. Disease and the Course of Human History. Princeton - Oxford, Princeton University Press.
O’MEARA, D. J. (2003). Platonopolis: Platonic Political Philosophy in Late Antiquity. Oxford, Clarendon Press.
STENGER, J. R. (2018). «Learning cities: A novel approach to ancient paideia». Learning Cities in Late Antiquity: The Local Dimension of Education, 1–23.
VIDAL, J. L. (2012). «Libros, Libreros y Librerías en la Roma Antigua». Myrtia, 27: 57–71.
WATTS, E. J. (2006). City and School in Late Antique Athens and Alexandria. (P. Brown, Ed.), The Transformation of the Classical Heritage. Berkeley, University of California Press: Vol. XLI.

PROFESSOR:

Dr. Sonsoles Costero-Quiroga
E-mail: s.costero.quiroga@ucm.es
Appointment: Tuesday and Wednesday *Send an e-mail in advance.


SEMESTER CALENDAR 2025
Classes: from 20 January to 9 May 2025 inclusive.
Easter holidays: from 11 to 21 April 2025, both inclusive.
Ordinary examination period: from 12 to 30 May 2025 inclusive.
Extraordinary examination period: from 12 June to 27 June 2025, inclusive.