The Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Siena was established in the summer of 1970 and, from the outset, a course in Classical Studies was created within it, attracting some of the most promising young scholars in the field of Classicas and Ancient History.

It was, however, only until the 1980s and 1990s that the University of Siena began to establish itself as one of Italy’s leading centres for the study of classical disciplines, thanks in particular to the arrival of Maurizio Bettini, founder of the ‘Centre for Anthropology of the Ancient World’ (1986) – which remains active today as an inter-university centre – and the founder of the PhD programme in ‘Anthropology of the Ancient World’, which still exists as a specialisation within the ‘Philology and Criticism’ doctoral school.

The 1990s also saw the creation of the “Department of Classical Studies”, where, for the first time, scholars in ancient languages, literature and philology were brought together with Greek and Roman historians, who until then had been spread across various departments.

In 2012, pursuant to Law 240/2010, the academic staff of the Department of Classical Studies were transferred to DFCLAM, as part of a merger with colleagues specialising in classical studies and Medieval Latin who had previously been based at the Arezzo campus; this brought another internationally renowned classicist, Alessandro Barchiesi, to Siena.

Both Barchiesi and Bettini were awarded the prestigious Sather Professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2011 and 2018 respectively. Only five Italian academics have received this honour since 1913, when it was established.

The current standing of Classical Studies at the University of Siena is that of one of the finest programmes in classical studies in Italy, ranked 50th–150th globally according to the QS World University Rankings – the highest ranking of any department at the University of Siena – reflecting a department that has been awarded the title of ‘Department of Excellence’ on both occasions it has been assessed (2018-2022/2023-2027).

Furthermore, as attested by the Annual Monitoring Report (SMA) of the Ministry of Universities and Research, the Classical Studies programme is characterised by the high rate at which students complete their degrees on time, by one of the best teacher-to-student ratios in Italy (approximately one lecturer for every four students), a strong focus on internationalisation thanks to strategic agreements and specifically allocated scholarships, an excellent graduate employability rate, and a very high level of students satisfaction.