PhD Classics

University of Reading

The Department of Classics has been undertaking pioneering research for over 100 years. We are renowned for our insights into the cultures, histories, societies, languages and religions of classical civilisation, and their relevance to the modern world.

At Reading we're working to extend the boundaries of the subject. We're developing new approaches that explore previously understudied areas across a range of ancient societies and cultures. Our research embraces a wide variety of cutting-edge methodologies and disciplines.

Our expertise

Our core areas of expertise include ancient history, Greek and Latin language and linguistics, literature, archaeology, philosophy, art, and culture. Within these areas, we have particular strengths in:

• ancient languages – Latin and Greek of all periods, Middle Egyptian, Coptic, Luwian – and ancient linguistics
• ancient oratory and rhetoric
• digital approaches to antiquity
• early Christian literature
• Egypt from the Bronze Age to early Islam
• Greek art and archaeology
• Greek history
• Greek literature from the Archaic period to the Roman Empire – especially Archaic poetry, tragedy, comedy, historiography, biography, and Plutarch
• Latin language and literature
• Middle Eastern history and archaeology
• papyrology, textual criticism and epigraphy
• Religions of Greece, Rome and other parts of the ancient Mediterranean
• the reception of antiquity