course description and requirements

Description: Although arguably one of the most powerful and influential people to ever live, Augustus is less of a household name today than many of his contemporaries—among them Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Cleopatra, and Jesus Christ. Although he wasn’t written about by Shakespeare or immortalized in the Bible, the legacy of Augustus was strongly felt for centuries and continues today, informing our own society’s ideas about power and empire, fairness and good government, even morality and beauty.

From the bloody mess of late Republican Rome to the shockingly peaceful and enormous empire that he left behind, this course will explore the world that Augustus both inhabited and created. Much of what we know about Augustus comes from written sources—poets, historians, even Augustus himself—but his legacy lies as much in the physical world as in politics and poetry. In this course we will ask how archaeology can help us create a fuller picture of the Augustan age and how the study of the physical remains of that world does or doesn’t allow us to separate truth from fiction as we reconstruct its history.

We will look closely at the transformation of the Roman Republic into an Empire and the impact of that transformation on both Romans and non-Romans, asking a number of questions as we go. Was this transformation a birth or a death? Or both? How did it happen? How can we see this transformation in the things that are left behind? Is it visible in the city of Rome that Augustus says he found in brick and left clothed in marble? In the changed faces of portraits? The living rooms of houses? We will also examine the man himself, his friends, and his family—was he a wise elder statesman or a power-grabbing murderer? A puppet for a scheming wife? A visionary? A king?

While students will be reading work by modern scholars throughout the course, our emphasis will be on direct interaction with the primary sources—objects as well as writing (in translation) from the period. Students will be encouraged to formulate and discuss their own ideas and interpretations of that material.

Prerequisties: None, but additional background material can be provided for students with no prior background in Roman art or archaeology if requested.

Course requirements: Midterm examination (in class, Oct. 16) = 20%; Final examination (Dec. 17, 9am) = 30%; Writing assignments (Three short writing assigments, 15% each) Total = 45% (Assignment 1, due in class, Sept. 25 Assignment 2, due in class, Nov. 6 Assignment 3, due in class, Nov. 25); Class participation = 5%

Required texts:

Zanker, P. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus.
Favro, D. The Urban Image of Augustan Rome.
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars.

Additional readings are listed in the class calendar and will be available for dowload from the wiki page.