HIST 201: Europe: Prehistory to the 1700s Report a Broken Link

HIST 201 introduces students to the study of European history by surveying the long history of pre-Industrial, from prehistory to the late 1700s. It follows the developments that have shaped the major political, social, and cultural features of Europeans and their colonies and are still felt in the world today.

Unit 4: Classical Greece I: The Polis


Krentz, Peter. “Hoplite Hell: How Hoplites Fought.” In Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece. Edited by Donald Kagan and Gregory F. Viggiano. 134-157. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013 [repr. 2016].

Unit 5: Classical Greece II: Origins of Greek Philosophy


Plato. The Republic. Translated by Raymond Larson. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 1979. Ebook Central. Read pages 41–55. [according to the standard divisions of Plato’s works, passage corresponds to Book 2: 359b to 383c]

Unit 10: Early Modern Exploration and Expansion


Spielvogel, Jackson J. “Chapter 14: Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500-1800.” In Western Civilization: A Brief History. Volume I: To 1715. 10/ed. United States: Cengage, 2020.
Christopher Columbus, Extracts from Journal (1492). Translated by Clements R. Markham, with modification. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Paul Halsal: 1996, updated 21 Jan 2020.  . Fordham University. (Read the entries for Sept. 19 to 23 and October 10 to 15.)

Unit 12: The Early Modern State


Table 12: Comparing and Contrasting Early Modern European Experiments in Absolute Monarchy

Unit 13: The Scientific Revolution: Rethinking the Cosmos and Society


Table 13: Pioneers of the Scientific Revolution

Assignment 2 Readings


Anson, Edward M. “‘Shock and Awe’ à la Alexander the Great.” [Chapter 7] In The Many Faces of War in the Ancient War, edited by Waldemar Heckel, Sabine Müller, and Graham Wrightson. 214-232. Newcaslte upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.
Sharples, Robert W. “Philosophy for Life.” In The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Edited by Glenn R. Bugh. 223-240. Cambridge: CUP, 2006.
Shipley, Graham. “Religious Change.” In The Greek World after Alexander, 323-30 BC. Routledge History of the Ancient World. 153-176. London: Routledge, 2000. Citations are in endnotes on pages 441-44.
Thonemann, Peter. “Eratosthenes and the System of the World.” In The Hellenistic Age. Havertown, UK: Classical Press of Wales, 2003 [OUP 2016]. pp: 69-88.
Vester, Christina. “Women and the Greek Household.” In Themes in Greek Society and Culture: An Introduction to Ancient Greece. Edited by Allison Glazebrook and Christina Vester. 291-312. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Films for Viewing Assignments


“First Britons.” Horizon. [TV series.] UK: BBC Worldwide Learning, 2015. 53 min.
“John Locke.” Words of Change. USA: Films for the Humanities, 2003. 21 min.
“The Frontiers of Space: mathematics During the Scientific Revolution.” The Story of Math. UK: BBC, 2008. 60 min
Galileo, the Birth of a Star. France: CINEFETE, 2006. 53 min.
Isaac Newton: The Last Magician. UK: BBC Worldwide Learning, 2013. 50 min.
Scientific Revolution. Cerebellum Corporation: 2003. Part 1.
Scientific Revolution. Cerebellum Corporation: 2003. Part 2.
“The Court of Louis XIV.” How to Get Ahead. BBC: 2013. 60 min.
“Kings of Europe: France, the Habsburgs, & the Russian Tsars.” [TV episode] Empire Builders. 2018. 50 min.
Carruthers, Bob, Writer. Oliver Cromwell. UK: Eagle Rock Entertainment, 1998.
Guy Evans, Dir. “Come Together.” [Episode 1] Ancient Worlds. UK: BBC, 2010. 52 min.