Learning outcomes

- Develop critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills; - To acquire techniques of analysis and interpretation of historical sources, as well as a reflexive and critical awareness in the practice of the historical approach.

Goals

At the end of the course, the student should be able to : - master the main categories of sources relating to ancient history; - implement methods for exploiting these sources; - master the basic bibliographical references relating to ancient history; - to make good use of the working tools necessary for research in the history of Antiquity; - identify, for a given topic, useful ancient sources and relevant modern works; - be aware of the many specificities involved in the critical exploitation of Greek and Latin sources.

Content

The course is divided into two parts. The first reviews the main types of documents, as well as the methods that allow them to be used. It therefore considers literary, epigraphic, papyrological and even numismatic sources. It highlights the information that each of them can provide to the historian of Antiquity, as well as the specificities linked to their critical exploitation. The presentation takes advantage of examples carefully chosen for their demonstrative character, in parallel with the presentation of the relevant bibliographical elements. The second part consists of a methodical presentation and description of the main working tools, i.e. dictionaries, encyclopaedias, journals and other collections useful to the historian of Antiquity.

Assessment method

Written examination. In particular, the student may be required to deal with documents similar to those used during the course. - With regard to working tools (dictionaries, encyclopaedias, editions, collections, epigraphic corpora, atlases, bibliographic, onomastic and prosopographic directories, etc.), the student must be able to define the disciplines concerned, to determine the types of information contained in the various titles seen in the course, and to use them appropriately. They may be asked to choose, from a list of works, the one(s) they feel is/are most appropriate to deal with a question, or to find specific information; they will also be asked, each time, to justify their answer. - With regard to literary, epigraphic and papyrological sources, he/she must know, for each of the categories defined in the course, their main characteristics, the specific methods used, the types of information that can be found in them and the difficulties that their use may pose in the context of a historical synthesis. Questions of comparison between different categories of sources can also be asked. - With regard more specifically to authors seen in the context of literary sources, one must be able to determine for each of them the type of information that can be found in their writings (both in time and place) and the difficulties that may arise from their use in a historical synthesis. It can thus be asked, by choosing from a list of authors, which ones will be used to find this or that information, justifying this choice each time. Several questions may also be articulated around the same research theme. For example, in order to deal with the civil wars in Rome in the 1st century BC, the student may be asked to choose from a list of suitable ancient authors, the working tools that will enable him to find an edition of these texts, or those that will shed light on the realia of this period, as well as to draw up a bibliography on this subject.

Sources, references and any support material

Students are provided with course notes which include the bibliography, as well as reproductions of the ancient documents analysed in the course.

Language of instruction

Français