Studying the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds at Berkeley
The department teaches and studies the languages, cultures, histories, philosophies, literatures, art, and material culture of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. It is home to exciting and welcoming undergraduate major programs and maintains a rich and varied schedule of undergraduate courses, including a full curriculum of ancient Greek and Latin language instruction. Its PhD programs in Classics and Classical Archaeology are enriched every year by the arrival of new future leaders in the study of the ancient world, and for generations their graduates have gone on to renew or remake their fields. Itself a teeming center of intellectual vitality on campus, the department is affiliated with internationally important research units directed by its faculty, including the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri, the Sara B. Aleshire Center for Greek Epigraphy, and the Nemea Center for Classical Archaeology. The department organizes many events of interest and hosts many visits, most notably the storied annual Jane K. Sather Professorship of Classical Literature.
Featured Courses
Homeric and Classical Greece, Rome in its transition from republic to empire, and the world of the Old Testament. Lectures, discussions, and reading assignments will involve interdisciplinary approaches with an emphasis on the development of skill in writing.
This course addresses the lyric poetry of Catullus and Horace. Readings are in Latin. The course fulfills the L&S Breadth requirement in Arts & Literature.
News
The Department is delighted to announce that Grace Erny has just been honored with an Early Career Faculty Research Excellence Award. This award, following on the Faculty Mentorship and Prytanean awards she received earlier this spring, completes an extraordinary trifecta of honors. Warm congratulations to Professor Erny!
Congratulations to Classical Archaeology graduate student Francesca (Cesca) LaPasta, who has just been awarded the 20226/27 Emeline Hill Richardson/Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Rome Prize. Cesca will spend the year pursuing her research in Roman social history and material culture at the American Academy in Rome.
Congratulations to Grace Erny, who has received the Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentorship of GSIs. This award, based on GSI nominations, recognizes faculty who provide outstanding mentorship to prepare their students for a future career in teaching.
Events
May
14
2026
Explore Ancient Greek & Roman Studies in summer 2026!
Courses offered (sadly, not open to cats):
AGRS 10A: Introduction to Ancient Greece • May 26 - July 2 • MTWThF 10am- 12pm
AGRS 10B: Introduction to Ancient Rome • July 6 - Aug. 14 • MTWThF 10am-12pm
AGRS N28: Greek and Roman Myths • July 6 - Aug. 14 • MTWTh 2-4
AGRS 150 Medical Terminology • July 6 - Aug. 14 • offered online