ANCS 2454

Students are introduced to the history of the Roman world from the establishment of the Principate under Octavian/Augustus to the decline of the Roman empire in the western Mediterranean and Europe. Students explore the evolution of the Principate and its eventual replacement by the Dominate, the nature of Roman imperialism, the role of the emperor as a political and religious figure, the interaction among the Romans and their neighbours in central Europe and the Near East, and the eventual political and economic disintegration of the imperial system. Students consider such topics as different models of Roman economic, social, and political organization, the role and status of women in the Roman world, the codification of the Roman legal system, and the intellectual and religious developments that laid the foundations for subsequent historical periods in Western Europe and the Mediterranean. Students read the works of various ancient authors and to consider archaeological and epigraphic evidence relevant to the history of the Roman imperial period. Content will vary from year to year.