The titanic struggle between Rome and Carthage sealed the fate not only of the ancient Phoenician city of Carthage, but also of the whole of the western Mediterranean. This module explores the roots of this great conflict, considering the development of both cities from c. 500 BC. It examines the course of Roman history from the fifth to the third centuries, considering such critical developments as the Struggle of the Orders, the conquest of Italy, and the emergence of the Senate as the dominant governing institution, controlled by a new mixed patrician-plebeian aristocracy. Equally, Carthage will be treated in its own right as a major Mediterranean power, and compared to Rome in terms of its political and imperial institutions and its cultural and economic life. This module will also consider how far Rome and Carthage were unique in the western Mediterranean, and how far their emergence can be explained by the ferociously competitive and anarchic interstate system of the Mediterranean world.

• demonstrate a knowledge and critical understanding of the different types of literary evidence available for this period of history, primarily the texts of Livy and Polybius.
• demonstrate a knowledge and critical understanding of the archaeological and other material evidence for Rome, Carthage and the western Mediterranean context of their expansion.
• use different sources together to assess the main issues in the interpretation of Roman and Carthaginian history.
• relate the development of Rome and Carthage to their wider Italian and Mediterranean contexts.
• demonstrate an understanding of the historiographical and analytical skills needed to handle the main historical sources, particularly when examining a society such as Carthage whose own historiography has not survived.
• discuss these issues in written work with coherent and logical arguments, clearly and correctly expressed.

20 lectures and 4 seminars; independent study; 1 coursework feedback tutorial 

The lectures provide an introduction to a particular topic, establishing the key points of major course themes, identifying important issues, and providing guidance for more in-depth reading. They aim to provide a basic framework for understanding, and should be thought of as a useful starting-point for further discussion and independent study. Slides and handouts are used, where appropriate, to illustrate the material discussed. 

The seminars provide an opportunity for students to analyse and discuss key issues and topics in the module, and to get feedback on their ideas from the tutor and their peers. Handouts with material for study and suggestions for preparatory reading will be circulated prior to the seminars. 

Independent study enables students to familiarise themselves with the primary source material and the most important modern approaches and debates on the subject. A reading list is provided, with guidance on key items of reading for major themes. 

Coursework feedback tutorials provide students with an opportunity to get feedback and guidance on all aspects of their written work.

• analysis of a variety of different types of historical evidence, such as literary texts and material evidence
• assimilating and synthesising complex information and ideas
• critical thinking skills, such as analysing and evaluating evidence, critiquing interpretations or arguments, and challenging assumptions
• constructing and defending arguments based on evidence
• clear, accurate and effective communication of ideas and arguments in writing and in debate
• employing basic skills and conventions in the presentation and use of literary and material evidence
• bibliographic and referencing skills
• contributing to group discussions
• using IT resources effectively
• independent working and time management

The module will be assessed through a 2000-word essay and an exam consisting of one essay question and one source criticism exercise, weighted 70:30. 

The essay and exam questions will require knowledge and critical deployment of evidence and critical understanding of modern scholarship to answer questions and construct arguments relating to the history of Rome and Carthage from the fifth century BC to the destruction of Carthage. 

In the source criticism exercise, specific written or material sources relating to the period will be set, and students will have to assess their significance, thus deploying their knowledge of the period and interpretations of it.

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students who fail the module will normally be expected to resit the failed component(s) in the summer resit period.

• the work of Polybius and Livy as source material for the period and as major contributions to the development of Greco-Roman historical writing
• the archaeological evidence for early and mid-Republican Rome, and early Carthage
• the early Republic, and the new constitution of Rome
• Roman relations with neighbouring peoples: the Etruscans, the Sabines, the Latins
• Rome’s evolving Republican institutions
• the Roman conquest of Italy
• the rise of Carthage, and the nature of its control over Sicily, Sardinia and Spain
• Carthaginian politics, society and religion
• the First and Second Punic Wars
• the character and development of Roman imperialism

Livy, Rome and Italy (books 6–10) (Penguin)
Livy, Hannibal’s War (books 21–30) (Oxford World’s Classics)
Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire (Penguin, or online through Lacus Curtius) 

K. Bringmann, A History of the Roman Republic (2007)
T.J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome (1995)
T. Cornell, B. Rankov and P. Sabin (eds.), The Second Punic War: a Reappraisal, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Supplement 67 (1996)
M. Crawford, The Roman Republic (second edition,1992)
G. Forsythe, A Critical History of Early Rome (2005)
A. Goldsworthy, The Punic Wars (2000), reprinted as The Fall of Carthage
W.V. Harris, War and Imperialism in Republican Rome, 327–70 BC (1979)
B.D. Hoyos, Hannibal’s Dynasty (2004)
B.D. Hoyos, The Carthaginians (2010)
B.D. Hoyos (ed.), A Companion to the Punic Wars (2011)
J.F. Lazenby, Hannibal’s War: A Military History of the Second Punic War (1978)
S. Lancel, Carthage: A History (1995)
R. Miles, Carthage Must be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilisation (2010)
N. Rosenstein and R. Morstein-Marx (eds.), A Companion to the Roman Republic (2006)
F.W. Walbank, A.E. Astin, M.W. Frederiksen and R.M. Ogilvie (eds.), The Cambridge Ancient History 7.2. The Rise of Rome to 220 BC (second edition, 1989)

See the module handout for the full reading list.