Ancient History is the history of the Mediterranean, considered as the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome, in a broad sense also of the entire ancient Mediterranean region, including its outlying areas in the Near East and western and north-western Europe.

Ancient History in Oldenburg is interested in the whole range of historical events in ancient times and its dynamics, by which the initially politically, culturally, linguistically and economically fragmented Mediterranean basin grew into Oikumene: for the rule and experience area in the Roman world, which laid the foundations of modern Europe.

Ancient History in Oldenburg specifically investigates universal historical approaches to ancient history, that teaches to comprehend the “nearest stranger” (Uvo Hölscher) as an era of experimentation and diversity, without its knowledge any European history would remain incomprehensible.