Introducing Classics at Edinburgh

Welcome from Professor Gaul

Welcome to Classics in Edinburgh, ‘the Athens of the North’! We are a strong and energetic team of over forty academic staff located within the School of History, Classics and Archaeology. Our teaching and research interests range from the cultures, literatures and histories of ancient Greece, Italy, and the Near East to the archaeology of Roman Britain, the Athenian acropolis and late antique Rome – to name but a few.

Classics at Edinburgh continues its long and proud tradition of offering the widest choice of subjects and approaches in Classics of any university in Scotland: you can study all aspects of traditional and modern Classics, at both undergraduate and graduate levels, including Greek and Latin language, literature and thought, ancient history as well as classical art and archaeology. Additionally, we come with vast expertise in late antique and Byzantine history and culture, medieval and Renaissance Latin, and, as of 2024, are one of the very few universities in the UK with resident experts in Modern Greek Studies.

For living as well as for studying, Edinburgh is one of the world's most vibrant, beautiful, and fascinating cities. It has deserved its reputation as a cultural and academic capital. As a student at Edinburgh, you'd be part of both a captivating city and a thriving Classics community.

Classics at Edinburgh offers teaching across all the main areas of classical studies – Greek, Latin, Ancient History and Classical Art & Archaeology – as well as less common fields such Late Antique Studies, Medieval Latin, Byzantine Studies and Modern Greek Studies. All the academic staff teach at all levels of the curriculum, and teaching is taken extremely seriously. Classics was recently voted the best department for teaching in a university-wide poll organised by the students’ union.

Staff research activities are wide and varied, and teaching is informed by staff research interests, many of whom return in September bronzed from a summer of excavating in Italy and Greece or pale from the leading research libraries in Europe or North America. If you study with us, you’ll be immersed in the excitement that we bring from our research into the classroom.

Welcome from Dr Trépanier

Classics at Edinburgh provides the ideal environment for postgraduate study: academic staff with wide-ranging interests and expertise, with taught programmes and research supervision in all aspects of the ancient world: Latin and Greek language and literature as well ancient philosophy; ancient history in all its aspects including the Hellenistic and later Roman/late antique worlds; classical art and archaeology; medieval and Renaissance Latin; Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, and more besides. We attract and welcome students both from near and far: our vibrant postgraduate community is truly international, and the topics they research reflect their wide diversity of interests. And if you come to study with us, you will be coming to one of the best Universities, in one of the pleasantest and most beautiful cities in the world (though the weather can be a bit chilly at times!)