This course will examine the history of ancient Greece and Rome from the earliest Greek civilizations to Rome?s transformation into a Christian state in the 4th c CE. Students will examine the political, social, and economic structures allowing for the growth of city-states and empires, and the implications of such transformations for the wider world. Among the specific topics that will be discussed are the Spartan military society, the Athenian democracy, Alexander the Great?s kingdom, the cosmopolitan Roman Empire, and the development of Christianity.