Short course
From Villas to Towns: Settlements in Roman Britain
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Dates and time:
01/10/2026 - 03/12/202610:30 - 12:30
Study format:
In-person weekly
Fees:
£315.00
This course provides an in-depth chronological, geographic, and thematic overview of settlement patterns in Roman Britain, with a particular focus on Roman Oxfordshire.
Over 10 weeks, you will explore how Roman and native cultures interacted at local, provincial, and wider imperial levels. Key themes include Romanization, continuity and change, and the definition of identity, including cultural and “ethnic” identities. After a brief introduction to pre-Roman Oxfordshire and Britain, the course will examine the different stages of the Roman conquest of Britain: from early contacts and trade before the conquest, to the failed expeditions of Caesar and Caligula, and finally the successful invasion under Claudius.
We will also discuss the clash of cultures and identities that culminated in the violent episode of the Boudiccan revolt, as well as the subsequent integration of the island into Roman imperial culture. Comparisons will be drawn between Oxfordshire and other regions of Britain, including the West, the Midlands, and the North, with particular attention given to the frontier zone of Hadrian’s Wall.
Field visits form an important part of the course. We will visit North Leigh Villa, one of the largest courtyard villas in Britain, and Shakenoak Farm, the only known example in Britain of an inland fish farm. We will also visit the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, where finds from Shakenoak Farm and other Roman sites are displayed.
Through these first-hand experiences, we will examine urban and civic environments, landscapes and territories, domestic life and family structures, religion and burial practices, and their associated material cultures. Finally, we will consider the environmental, socio-economic, political, and cultural factors within Roman Britain and beyond that may have contributed to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.
Overall, the course will equip you with the tools to understand and critically evaluate theories of culture and cultural change, as well as the methodologies and approaches used in the archaeology of Roman Oxfordshire and Roman Britain.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Course starts Thursday 1 October 2026
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Thursdays, 10.30am-12.30pm.
Week 1: Oxfordshire and Britain before and after Romanization: Conquest and Identity
Week 2: Cityscapes and Monumentality: urban environments across Britain
Week 3: The countryside in Roman Britain and Oxfordshire
Week 4: Visit to North Leigh Villa and Shakenoak Farm
Week 5: Religion and cult in Roman Britain
Week 6: Burial customs, status and identity in Pre-Roman and Roman Britain
Week 7: Migration and Health in Roman Britain
Week 8: Houses, Women and Children in Roman Britain
Week 9: Visit to the Ashmolean Museum
Week 10: The end of Roman rule in Britain
Please note: students will have to arrange their own transport for the field trip, and cover the cost of any entry fees.
Course aims
This course aims to enable participants to develop an understanding of Roman Oxfordshire, Roman Britain and the wider Roman Empire, and to explore the cultural, social, religious and political developments that characterised the Roman world over time.
- Introduce the study of Roman Oxfordshire, Roman Britain and the Roman Provinces as a combined creation of Roman and native people.
- Provide a general overview of the most important developments within the Roman culture over a large period of time (17th ce. B.C. to roughly the 6rd ce. A.D.) by closely examining key themes (e.g., urbanism, art and society) in the context of Roman Oxfordshire and Britain and more widely the Empire.
- Demonstrate how important phenomena such as the Roman empire and Romanization emerged and evolved.
- Show how we can understand important Roman practices, such as religion and burial through their manifestation in the archaeological record.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, participants will have been given the opportunity to:
- explore key themes in Roman history and archaeology, including urbanism, art, society, religion and burial practices, through the study of Roman Oxfordshire, Roman Britain and the wider Roman provinces
- develop an understanding of major historical processes and phenomena, including the emergence and evolution of the Roman Empire and the interactions between Roman and local cultures
- engage critically with archaeological evidence and current scholarly approaches, considering both their contributions and limitations in interpreting the Roman past
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course students should be able to:
- Demonstrate the ability to analyse material culture and associate it with major ideas and principles of the Roman and native societies
- Show, through written work, how archaeological material is used to suggest interpretations about the ancient past.
- Develop their understanding the characteristics and development of aesthetic, chronological, and socio-political phases of Roman Oxfordshire, Britain and the Roman Provinces.
Level and demands
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, ie first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
Teaching methods
The module is taught through a series of 8 lectures accompanied by 8 seminars and 2 visits to sites and Museums for a total of 20 hours of teaching sessions. Students will be encouraged to undertake set readings, complete pre-class activities and make (non-examined) short presentations of case study material in order to be able to actively participate in the discussion. The seminars will focus upon themes that the lectures cover more widely, and seminar discussions will be structured around one or two readings. Seminar presentations are not assessed and are fully voluntary.
Assessment methods
Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.
Assessment
You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Dr Francesca Fulminante
After a PhD from Cambridge University (2008) and post-doctoral positions at excellent Universities and Institutes across Europe, including a NIAS Fellowship in Holland (2009-10), a Marie Curie Sklodowska Fellowship at the University of Roma Tre in Italy (2014-2016), a DfG (Kiel 2018) Max Weber (Erfurt 2020-21) and IAS Wissenshaft Kollegen (Delmenhorst, 2022-23) in Germany , Francesca Fulminante is now Senior Researcher, Tutor and Lecturer both in the UK (University of Oxford, Bristol and Cambridge) and Italy (University Roma Tre). Most recent funding projects include a Small British Academy/Leverhulme trust Grant (2024-25) and a COST Mobility Grant. Her research investigates Mediterranean and European urbanization of classical civilizations during the first Millennium BCE and AD with a focus on Italy (Le Sepolture Principesche, L’Erma di Bretschneider 2003 and The Urbanization of Rome, CUP 2014, The Rise of Rome, CUP 2023) within the wider Roman Empire. She has contributed to many excavations (Rome, Veii, Pompeii, Crustumerium and Colle di Marzo, in Italy; Broom and Cambridgeshire, in UK). She published extensively on macro-economic, social, and productive aspects of urbanization such as social stratification, reflected in burial practices, settlement centralization, transportation networks and political agency or community practices in smelting techniques. She has also investigated and published on more intimate and individual subjects such as breastfeeding/child-rearing practices and gender issues. She is always up-to-date with most recent scholarship and advancements in the field and also working with AI in Archaeology.
Academic credit
Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS Points)
Please note, students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you wish to gain credit from completing this course you must register to do so before the course starts.
Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.
Learn more about the Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee for assessment and accreditation.
Digital certificate of completion
Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course fee (with no assessment) | £315.00 |
| Assessment and Accreditation fee | £60.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses
Recommended reading
Recommended reading is optional and you are not required to purchase these books to study this course.
Library facilities
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Library, part of the Bodleian Libraries, for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are also welcome to use the Library for reference.
- More information about the Library can be found on the Bodleian Libraries website.
- This guide for Weekly Class students also provides further information.
Preparatory reading
- SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, 2016: Profile books / Beard, M.
- Roman Britain: a very short introduction. OUP Oxford, 2015 / Salway, P.
Module code: O26P433AHW
How to enrol
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page.
How to register for accreditation and assessment
To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.