Classics

From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

Classics or Classical Studies is a branch of the Humanities dealing with language, literature, history, art, and other aspects of the ancient Mediterranean world; particularly Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during the time frame known as classical antiquity which spans roughly from the Ancient Greek Bronze Age in 1000 BCE to the period known as Late Antiquity circa 500 CE. The study of classics was the initial field in the humanities. The word "Classics" is also used to refer to the literature of the period.

Traditionally, the focus of classics was tightly centered around ancient Greece and Rome: for example, ancient Egypt was outside of the discipline. Today, classicists study a subject more broadly defined as that which pertains to the Ancient Mediterranean World. Those scholars who focus on the more landward side of the eastern Mediterranean - for example, the ancient Persian Empire - are described as Orientalists.

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