The Department of Classical Studies is a research hub for a wide variety of (source-) disciplines of the classics: ancient history, epigraphy, music archaeology, numismatics, papyrology, philology, history of ancient law and history of religion. Our research takes full account of archaeological sources and centres around leading questions of our subjects, both in a disciplinary and an interdisciplinary respect. Currently, our focus is on problems of cultural history, music history, history of law and religion, as well as on social and economic history, which are being analysed on a supra-regional level. The studies are carried out by five research groups: Ancient Law and Papyrology, Ancient Music, Epigraphy, Numismatics, and Religious Studies.
The publication of corpora and editions of various classes of ancient sources (as well as material related to the history of classical studies) is a quintessential aspect of the research work carried out by the Department.
Geographically, our research covers the entire Mediterranean, the Roman provinces on the Danube and in North Western Europe, as well as Iran, Central Asia, Northern India and North Africa. Chronologically, it spans the period from the early literate cultures to the Byzantine era and beyond.