Undergraduate award: Certificate in Classical Studies

(469–399 BC), ancient Athenian philosopher. This is his statue, located before the Academy of Athens, Greece.

Join us this year to explore the writings of the ancient Mediterranean, spanning Greek and Latin literature in translation and the evolution of Athenian democracy. With plenty of opportunity for peer discussion and debate, we’ll draw on a wide range of sources and ask how they continue to challenge and find relevance in our modern world.

Why choose this course with us?

Learn at Cambridge, whatever your experience: this is an open-entry course
Access Cambridge teaching in a flexible format: part-time and online
Gain a credited, Cambridge award: boost your learning and career opportunities
Join our peer-learning and Cambridge alumni communities: connection and support, for life

Course Dates

Our learners

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Jack, Certificate in Classical Studies

“I wanted to up-level my subject knowledge around the Greco-Romans and Classical Civilisations to ensure a substantive knowledge across the curriculum.”

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Miranda, Certificate in Archaeology of Ancient Britain

“As a mature student, I was able to apply and take part in a programme despite being based overseas and lacking the time and money for a full-time undergraduate programme.”

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Our learners

Course information

Course highlights

During this part-time online certificate course, you will:

study Greek and Roman literary texts in English translation
gain an appreciation of ancient cultures and learn how modern political contexts make us understand them anew
develop key study and writing skills.

During the course, we will examine the enduring power of literary masterpieces from the golden age of Greek theatre and the Latin epic tradition. Within this cultural context, we’ll also explore the birth of Athenian democracy and how it evolved in the age of empire.

As part of our learning community, you will:

discuss works by Greek playwrights including Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes
consider what these plays tell us about ancient Greek culture and the city-state of Athens
explore famous and lesser-known works of Latin epic literature while considering questions of historical context, interpretation and influence
examine the enduring power of the Aeneid, its role within the epic tradition, and Virgil’s own influence on Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy
learn about the birth of Athenian democracy and its relationship with leadership and the growing empire.

Course breakdown

The course will run from 9 October 2026 to 9 June 2027.

Most of the teaching for each term will usually take place on Tuesday evenings, with occasional social sessions taking place on Saturdays. Exact teaching dates and times will be confirmed in the course guide upon enrolment.

Michaelmas term: Greek Literature: The worlds of ancient Greek drama

Unit 1 start date: 9 October 2026
Unit 1 end date: 6 January 2027

For nearly two and a half thousand years, ancient Greek drama has been inspiring, moving, and challenging audiences. From the stately tragedies of Aeschylus to the raucous comedies of Aristophanes, ancient dramatists confronted questions of love, war, politics, justice, and family that still resonate today. Coming of age in democratic Athens in the fifth century BCE, ancient Greek drama was seen as an integral part of civic life and education, helping define the terms in which Athenians thought about key issues of their time. In this course, students will explore the varied worlds of ancient tragedy and comedy, not only engaging in close reading of dramatic texts, but learning about the political, cultural, and historical context in which these plays were conceived. We will also pay special attention to the plays as performance texts, discussing both the original performance context and the ways in which these plays have been adapted and re-imagined for the modern stage.

Lent term: Latin Literature: Power and poetry in Latin epic

Unit 2 starts: week commencing 4 January 2027
Unit 2 end date: 24 March 2027

This unit will explore three Roman epic poems: Vergil’s Aeneid, Lucan’s Bellum Civile, and Statius’ Thebaid. For the Romans, epic was the genre of national poetry, a means by which matters of state were celebrated, but also concerns revealed. The course of this unit will track how changing societal and political pressures in the early days of the Roman empire manifest in these monumental poems, each of which was written at key moments of national change. We will further explore the artistry of these three poets as they combine complex and ancient literary traditions with contemporary political concerns.

Easter term: Athenian Democracy in the Age of Athens’ Empire

Unit 3 starts: week commencing 29 March 2027
Unit 3 end date: 9 June 2027

At the end of the sixth century BCE, the Greek city-state of Athens embarked on a political experiment. Political power, once the domain of a few wealthy families, was thrown open to the entire citizen population – that is, those who were free, male, and native born. This new system was given the name demokratia – “strength of the people” – and has gone down in history as the first clearly-documented democracy. At the same time as Athenian democracy was being built, Athens was also obtaining an overseas empire that would grow to encompass most of the islands and coastline of the Aegean Sea. This course will explore the tensions and complications of Athens in the fifth century BCE between democracy at home and imperialism overseas. Attention will also be paid to those who did not have a place in the demos, the Athenian citizen-body: free women, enslaved people of all genders, and resident foreigners who lived and worked in Athens without enjoying the benefits of citizenship.

After the course

Do you have a passion for the ancient world? Having focused on its literature, why not look at the subject through the lens of landscape and archaeology, and consider studying one of our other certificates, such as: