Summary of course content

The course is an introduction to urban living in the ancient world that will provide students with an appreciation of the multifaceted character of urban spaces, monuments and artworks in their historical context.

The course will investigate three diverse urban centers in order to consider their particular characteristics and developments, as well as their place in a composite and vast empire. In particular, it will explore urban living as a stage for social relationships and civic status, and consider the importance of public patronage.

Investigations of the agency of individuals and cities in the cultural discourse of Roman identity will form the framework for the course. These include: civic and domestic space as areas for the performance of status and social exchange; gift giving and benefaction as political currency and engagement; and cultural interaction as a dynamic relationship, not the least across a vast and cosmopolitan empire.

Classes are taught entirely on site at archaeological sites and in museums in a first-hand encounter with the monuments, spaces and artworks discussed. Historically it focuses primarily on the period from c. 100 BC-AD 300, the late Republic and Empire.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Proficiencies

Ability to analyze – and contextualize – characteristics of ancient cultures over time

         •    Ability to identify trends and long-term developmental aspects, as well as to follow the complex reasoning inherent in their particular discourses

         •    Awareness of cultural individuality and cross-cultural inspirations – within and between cultural and social groups

Ability to analyze art, architecture and material culture as primary sources

         •    Familiarity with relevant historical, art historical and architectural terminology and ability to deploy these with precision and to effect

         •    Understanding of the context of public and private art and architecture – and the ability for comparative analyses of these as expressions of culture and acculturation

Ability to articulate interests and developments as affected by cultural factors

         •    Awareness of avenues of engagement with new forms and the motivations for doing so among diverse social groupings and communities

         •    Appreciation of directions of artistic inspiration – and of the expression of provincial and non-elite participation in a dominant culture

Ability to analyze the construction and articulation of cultural identities

         •    Ability for analyzing material culture as dynamic interactions of inspiration, response and emulation – not simply imperialism or control

         •    Awareness of how the image of cultural identity is changeable and shaped by a perception of ‘self’ and sense of position within a wider world

Skills

Communicative skills – writing and oral competence

         Term paper: Skills of organization of material, focus on topic, and nuance in discussion

         Exams: Aptitudes for contextualization and nuanced discussion of works, as well as for focused presentation of data

         Class presentations: Skills of public speaking (presentation of material, development of argument, illustration of evidence) and didactic methods (engaging audience through description, posing questions, responding to answers)

         Participation: Skills of formulating reviews and analytical responses; participating in debates; posing questions

Cognitive skills – critical thinking and interpretation

         Class presentation: Skills of evaluation and consideration of evidence; analysis of information gathered from observation; and skillful reflection on significance

         Participation: Skills of reasoned consideration of evidence and methods; willingness to adapt/revise ways of thinking; and openness to alternative perspectives

         Term paper and exams: Development of subtlety, nuance and engagement in the approach to the topic at hand

         Lectures and class presentations: Adeptness at contextualization and interpretation of objects, including observations on cultural norms that inform them

Collaborative and shared inquiry skills

         Lectures and participation: Development of investigative response-skills; collaborative contributions; and open debate – ability to test, explore and communicate complex ideas

         Class presentations: Skills of thoughtful dialogue; sharing of observations; and active contribution to an academic milieu

Investigative skills and evaluation of data

         Term paper and class presentations: Skills of using and evaluating secondary texts of diverse focus, specialism and target audience; as well as of interpreting both the inherent interests of these and the arguments presented

         Lectures and participation: Skills of evaluation of context, impact and patronage of objects and spaces

Attendance requirements

·    All scheduled classes are mandatory. Absences will be noted and may affect your final grade. Please see the university catalogue for the attendance and absence policy.

·    You must always be punctual; late arrival will be noted and may affect your final grade.

·    You are responsible for identifying the location of, and route to, the meeting points of the classes. You should calculate around 40-50 minutes travel time to our meeting points. Most classes will end at on-site locations different from the meeting point. For bus/subway route planner see www.atac.it. 

·    Class will take place no matter the weather. Please dress accordingly and appropriately for visiting public sites and museums in the city. 

·    No recording (of any type) of the class is permitted.

Changes to / cancellation of class

·     For specific inquiries or to set up an appointment please contact me via email on [email protected]

·     Changes, additional course information, etc will be posted on MyJCU. Please check this regularly and, certainly, in advance of each class. 

·     In case of unavoidable cancellations of class, notification will be posted at the front desk at both Tiber and Guarini campuses. A suitable date and time for a make-up class will subsequently be established.

·     Following university regulations, no occasional visitors are permitted to attend classes unless with specific and advance permit by me.

1. Tues. Sept. 4            Introduction to the Course, and to Rome.

Themes/Works:             

Course requirements and logistics. Mythological and Topographical Origins of Rome. Greek and Etruscan influences. Tiber Island, the Cloaca Massima, Forum Boarium, the great altar of Heracles Invictus, S. Omobono area, Capitoline hill.

Meet:                                     JCU classroom.

Assigned reading:             None.

2. Tues. Sept. 11.             From Romulus to Caesar, the Roman Forum

Themes/Works:             

City foundation; survival of Regal period monuments; Republican period temples, and imperial period palaces. Forum: Lapis Niger, Curia/Comitia, Basilica Aemilia, the Temple of Saturn, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, Temple Concordia, Temple of Vesta, 

Meet:                                     Campidoglio (next to the statue of Marcus Aurelius)

Assigned reading:             

Claridge: history: 4-9; materials and orders: 39-41, Roman forum: 63-67, 75-77, 83-84, 105-11; Tuck: Chapter 3: ‘The Early Republic’: Introduction, Brief Historical Survey: 49-50.

3. Tues. Sept. 18             The Republic – Triumphs and Temples

Themes/Works:             

The Roman military triumph; victory temples. Theatre of Pompeii, Largo Argentina temples, Circus Flaminius, Porticus of             Octavia, Forum Holitarium, Forum Boarium temples, Circus Maximus.

Meet:                                     Tiber Island.

Assigned reading:             

Claridge: history: 9-10; Theatre of Pompey: 239-41; Largo Argentina temples: 241-6; Circus Flaminius 250-1; Porticus of Octavia 253-6; Forum Holitarium 279-82; Forum Boarium temples 285-88; Circus Maximus 299-300. Tuck: The Role of Elites 4-5, Italic versus Classical Styles and Forms I: Temples 5-6; Chapter 3: ‘The Early Republic’: Roman tomb painting of the early Republic: 63-65, including art and literature box text; Chapter 4: ‘The Later Republic’: Introduction 78, Architecture and Urban Planning 78-83, including Art and Literature text box 79. 

4. Tues. Sept. 25             No class (used for Pompeii trip)

5. Tues. Oct. 2            Late Republic to Imperial Rome: Portraits and Painting

Themes/Works:             

Portraits and identity, portraits and politics. Veristic and Augustan portraiture: statue of general from Tivoli, statue of Augustus from Via Labicana. Augustan painted interiors: Livia’s dining room from Prima Porta, Villa Farnesina paintings. Hellenistic sculpture: the Boxer. The Portonaccio Sarcophagus.

Meet:                                     Entrance to Palazzo Massimo, Piazza dei Cinquecento.

Assigned reading:             Claridge: history: 15-18. Tuck:Cultural Property Controversies, 2- 3, Dating Dilemmas, 3, Restoration Issues, 4, Italic versus                                                 Classical Styles and Forms II: portraiture, 7-9, Narrative Moment,                                     16-17, Roman Wall Painting in the Late Republic, 94-100,                                                 including Scholarly Perspective text box, 99, Late Republican                                                 Sculpture, 108-11, Third Style Wall painting, 132-3. Portraits of                                     Augustus 115-117, including text boxes. Chapter 6: ‘The Julio-                                    Claudians’: Portraiture, 147. 

Fri. Oct. 5 Pompeii: Civic identity, the Roman house

*Mandatory Field Trip* *Note Early Start Time*

Themes/works:            

Pompeii from early times to the eruption of Vesuvius. Roman domestic life and visual environment, public spaces and interactions. Forum, basilica, Building of Eumachia, Stabian/Forum baths, Odeon theatre, Amphitheatre. House of the Faun; House the Menander; House of the Vetti; Villa of the Mysteries.

Meet: Piazza Trilussa – 6.50 am

Assigned reading:            

Tuck:Chapter 4: ‘The Late Republic’: Basilica, 81-3, amphitheatre and urban planning, 88-90, Roman Wall Painting in the Late Republic, 94-106; Chapter 5: ‘The Age of Augustus’: Third Style Wall Painting, 132-135; Chapter 6: ‘The Julio-Claudians: Public Buildings and Interior Decoration, Pompeii, 171-7, including Art and Literature text box 175-6; Chapter 7: ‘The Flavians’, Pompeii and Herculaneum, 187-96, including Historical Context text box, 190.

6. Tues. Oct. 9              Pax Augusta

Themes/Works:             

The creation of a new Augustan order and iconography; the princepsas role model. The Ara Pacis, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Horologium. Early Pantheon and baths of Agrippa.

Meet:                                     Entrance to the Ara Pacis Museum.

Assigned reading:             

Claridge: history: 12-15; materials: 40-44; Campus Martius and Augustan monuments: 197-216, 232-3. Tuck: Chapter 5: ‘The Age of Augustus’: Intro, Augustus: 114-5, Augustus and the city of Rome 118-24, Conclusion 141-3. 

7. Tues. Oct. 16            *Mid-term Exam* and Discussion of Term Paper

Themes/Works:            

Aspects related to completion of the Term Paper: Source evaluation, reference use, bibliographic formatting.

Meet:                                     tba.

Assigned reading:             tba.

8. Tues. Oct. 23            Palaces, Nero and the Flavians

Themes/Works:             

Articulating imperial status in Rome; Hellenism and Italic traditions;  Palatine: the hut of Romulus, the house of ‘Augustus,’ the Temple of Apollo, the Domus Transitoria, the Palace of Domitian. The Domus Aurea, xxthe Temple of Peace, the Flavian Amphitheatre, the Arch of Titus, the Forum Transistorium [Forum of Nerva].

Meet:                                     Metro Colosseo.

Assigned reading:             

Claridge: Palatine hill, 125-8, hut of Romulus (‘victory precinct’ section): 131-2, Temple of Apollo, 142-144, Domitian’s Palace: 145-55; Arch of Titus, 121-2, Temple of Peace and Forum of Nerva, 169-76, Domus Aurea, 301-6, Colosseum, 312-9, Ludus Magnus, 319. Tuck: Chapter 4: ‘The Later Republic’:Historical Context text box on amphitheatres, 90; Chapter 5: ‘The Age of Augustus’: The Palatine Hill 128-132; Chapter 6: ‘The Julio-Claudians’: Intro 146, Nero, 163-4, Palace Architecture, 167-168, Domus Aurea: Nero’s Golden House, 168-71, Conclusion, 177; Chapter 7: ‘The Flavians’, 179-181, Architecture 182-186, Domitian, 197, Historical reliefs: Arch of Titus 201-3, Architecture 205-209, Conclusion, 209.

9. Tues. Oct. 30             No class (used for Ostia trip) 

10. Tues. Nov. 6  The High Empire: Imperial Fora and the Campus Martius

Themes/Works:             

The emperor and the gods; depictions of war and non-Romans; commerce and cosmopolitanism; architectural innovation and continuity. Trajan’s column, Trajan’s markets, the imperial fora, the Temple of Venus and Rome, the column of Marcus Aurelius, the Pantheon, the Stadium and Odeon of Domitian.

Meet:                                     Trajan’s column.

Assigned reading:             

Claridge:history 18-21, Forum and Markets of Trajan, 180-96, Campus Martius, 197-204, Columns of A. Pius & M. Aurelius, 216-21,  Pantheon, 226-34, Stadium and Odeon of Domitian, 234-8. Tuck: Tools and Techniques textbox on concrete 85, also Concrete Architecture 141-2; Chapter 8: ‘Trajan and Hadrian’, 212-14, Architecture 215-24, Sculpture, 225-230, including View from the Provinces textbox, 229-30, Scholarly Perspective textbox, 234, Conclusion, 244; Chapter 9: ‘Antonine Emperors’ Intro, 246-7, Architectural sculpture 253-5, Reliefs from the Victory Monuments of Marcus Aurelius, 257, Conclusion, 271-2.

11. Tues. Nov. 13             No class (used for Pompeii trip)

Sat.                         Ostia – Rome’s Port and Roman Houses 

*Mandatory Field Trip*

Themes/works:

Civic identity: urban design and public buildings. Domestic architecture: the Roman

house: layout and design, spaces for social interaction.

Meet: Piazzale Ostiense, entrance to Ostiense train station (next to Metro stop “Piramide”)

Assigned reading:

Tuck: The Roman House 14-16; Chapter 9: ‘Antonine Emperors’, Wall Painting and 

Mosaics, 260-2.

http://www.ostia-antica.org/intro.htmwww.ostia-antica.org/intro; (introduction) 

http://www.ostia-antica.org/dict/topics/houses/houses.htm(houses and apartments)

12. Tues. Nov. 20             Tetrarchs to Constantine: Re-using Rome 

Themes/Works:             

Appropriations and additions in the forum, mapping the city. Art quoting art, art quoting history, re-use of sculpture and themes, spolia, orientating new monuments to the old city, the rise of Christianity. The Arch of Septimus Severus, the Decennalia Monument, the new Rostra, The Arch of Constantine, San Clemente.

Meet:                                     Metro Colosseo.

Assigned reading:             

Claridge: History, 21-9, Arch of Septimus Severus, 78-9, Rostra, 85-87, Arch of Constantine, 308-12, San Clemente: 319-24; TuckChapter 10: ‘Civil War and the Severan Dynasty’: Intro, 274, Trends and developments in Severan art, 274-5, Historical Reliefs, 284-7, including Historical Context textbox, 285, Forma Urbis Romae, 292-5, Conclusion 299-30; Chapter 11: ‘The Third century and the Tetrarchy’: The Decennalia Monument, 312-13.Chapter 11: ‘The Third Century and the Tetrarchy’: Scholarly Perspective textbox on spolia, 316; conclusion 330 and 332; Chapter 12: ‘Constantine’: Intro, 335-6, Architecture and Sculpture at Rome, 340-6, including Historical Context, 341, and Art and Literature, 345, textbox, Conclusion, 356-7.

13. Tues. Nov. 27            No class (used for Ostia trip)

*Term Paper due*

14. Tues. Dec. 4             Baths and Bathing and Review Class                                      

Themes/works:             

Public works and participation in the empire, water supplies, popular luxury; Baths of Caracalla; Septizodium and the Via Appia; the Aurelian Walls.

Review: Overview and discussion of class content.

Meet:                                     Metro Circo Massimo.

Assigned reading:             

Claridge: Aqueducts, 60-1, Aurelianic Walls, 61, the Ostia Gate and the Pyramid of Cestius, 397-401; the Septizodium and the Via Appia, 356-7, Baths of Caracalla, 357-65. Tuck:Chapter 10: ‘Civil War and the Severan Dynasty’: Baths of Caracalla: Architecture and Sculpture in Rome: 279-83, including Art and Literature textbox, 283.

Review: Course reader page 9 – identify monuments discussed in class. Pose 3-5 questions, based on your revision study, for which you would like clarification and further detail.             

            .

15. Tues. Dec. 11            Final Exam

Meet:                                     tba.

Core Bibliography

Aldrete, G. 2004. Daily Life in the Roman City; Rome, Ostia and Pompeii. Connecticut and London.

Beard, M., J. North and S. Price. 1998. Religions of Rome. Cambridge.

Bell, S. and Hansen, I.L. (eds) (2008) Role Models in the Roman World. Ann Arbor.

Clarke, J.R. (2003) Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans. Berkeley.

Coarelli, F. (2007) Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide. Berkeley.                                    

Davies, P. (2000) Death and the Emperor. Cambridge.
Dillon, S., and K.E. Welch, (eds.). 2006. Representations of War in Ancient Rome. Cambridge.
Ewald, B.C. and Noreña, C.F. (eds) (2010) The Emperor and Rome: Space, Representation, and  Ritual.Cambridge.
Fejfer, J. (2008) Roman Portraits in Context. Berlin and New York.
Galinsky, K. (1996) Augustan Culture: an Interpretative Introduction. Princeton.

Jacobs, P.W. II and Conlin, D.A. (2015) Campus Martius. The Field of Mars in the Life of             Ancient Rome. Cambridge.

Kleiner, D. (2014) Roman Architecture: A Visual Guide. New Haven.

Kleiner, D.E.E. (1992) Roman Sculpture. New Haven.

Stambaugh, J.E. (1988) The Ancient Roman City. Baltimore.

Stewart, P. (2008) The Social History of Roman Art. New York, Cambridge.

Tuck, S.L. (2014) A History of Roman Art. Oxford.

Zanker, P. (1988) The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Ann Arbor.