MA Classics and Ancient History

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2027, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,400
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £31,400

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students.
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

Horace is one of the greatest Latin poets of any age, as well as one of the most significant Augustan poets. He is a master of the pithy expression: several quotations or part-quotations from his poems have become proverbs or mottoes which persist to this day: carpe diem, nunc est bibendum (‘now is the time to drink’), sapere aude (‘date to be wise’); the Royal Society’s motto Nullius in verba is adapted from Horace’s Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri (‘bound to swear to the words of no master’), from Epistle 1.1. Horace is also the first Roman satirist whose works are fully preserved. His satires and epistles are of profound influence on the tradition of satire, both in Rome (e.g. Juvenal, Persius) and in later European literature (e.g. Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson).

We study Horace’s hexameter poetry, beginning with his two books of Satires. Topics include Horace’s presentation of himself and his satiric voice, the relationship of his Satires to earlier satire, Horace’s portrayal of the political upheavals of the late Republic. We then examine Horace’s Epistles 1, which is the first poetry-book to take the form of a letter collection. Topics include its use of the letter-form, including philosophical letters, its portrayal of the addressees, and of Horace himself.

No prior knowledge of Latin required: all texts are studied in translation.

• To study one of the most interesting and influential poets of Latin literature.
• To develop a broad knowledge of central texts of Latin poetry.
• To increase students’ awareness of current debates on a wide variety of relevant critical and theoretical topics.

• Knowledge and critical understanding of the content, form, conventions, and background of Horace’s Satires and Epistles.
• Deeper appreciation of Horace’s place within the tradition of hexameter satire, including his relationship to Lucilius and his later influence (e.g. on Juvenal).
• Understanding of the exploitation in Horace’s hexameter poetry of models ranging from Greek iambos to philosophical epistolography.

• The ability to construct an argument in written and oral form;
• The ability to assimilate and summarise large quantities of evidence, and to engage critically and analytically with this evidence;
• The ability to conduct independent research, and to present the results in a professional manner with appropriate and detailed reference to sources and modern published scholarship.

• Time-management
• The ability to work co-operatively in small groups, and to engage in critical discussion and debate.

• The ability to analyse and examine complex information, as exemplified by the complex poems of a major Roman satirist.
• An ability to synthesise an argument in a cogent form, as exemplified by the writing of essays on Horace’s Satires and Epistles.
• The ability to retrieve information from complex sources and present it in a compelling and cogent fashion, as exemplified by engaging at a sophisticated level with difficult primary and secondary material.
• Development of presentation and discussion skills (including confidence) through face-to-face discussion of difficult topics in class. 

Braund, S. 1992. Roman Verse Satire (Greece and Rome New Survey 23). Cambridge.

Davie, J. 2011. Horace: Satires and Epistles. Oxford.

Freudenburg, K. 1993. The Walking Muse: Horace on the Theory of Satire. Princeton.

Harrison, S.J. 2012. Horace (Greece and Rome New Survey 42). Cambridge.

Harrison, S.J. (ed.) 2007. The Cambridge Companion to Horace. Cambridge.

• Seminars (14 hours)
• Introductory and essay-planning sessions (3 hours)
• 3 dedicated consultation hours.
• Independent Study: 130 hours.