This course explores Roman history from its mythological foundations to the end of the Empire in the West. It aims to provide a broad chronological framework for understanding developments in the Republican and Imperial periods, but part of each class will also focus on a specific episode in order to allow students to engage closely with a range of different approaches. The course combines the study of archaeological, visual, and textual evidence. Progressing chronologically, the first part explores the foundation of the city, the kings of Rome, and the foundation of the Republic; the second part examines Roman expansion across the Mediterranean and concludes with the civil wars that led to the Republic’s collapse; the third part discusses the emergence of the Principate under Augustus and the first dynasties up to the second century AD; the final part considers the change that occurred in the third and fourth centuries AD and the eventual collapse of the empire. The aim is to provide a detailed understanding of the Roman history, including aspects of its politics, society, and culture.

This course aims to provide the student with:

·       An overview of the history of the Roman world from its origins to collapse, as well as an in-depth understanding of ancient Italy.

·       An introduction to the range of material available for the study Roman history and how to analyse archaeological, visual, and textual evidence as a historical source.

·       An understanding of key political, social, and cultural movements and events in Roman history

·       A critical approach to interpreting historical trends and events

·       An increased ability to analyse historical sources

Attendance will be taken at every class.
Up to six absences are allowed in this course without consequences. More than 6 absences regardless of the reason (that is, missing more than 20% of the course) will have you fail the course.
No justification for any absence is allowed in this course: six absences are enough to cover any event.
Only extended medical emergencies are justified absences. No other reason count as a justified absence: finger-print appointments, sickness, trips, etc. are not justified.
Absences due to lack of registration into the class at the beginning of the semester still count against the 6 absence as the student is missing parts of the course.
Every student who has accumulated ONE or less absences by the day of the midterm will be allowed to answer to the extra credit questions on the midterm. Every student who has accumulated THREE or less absences by the day of the final exam will be allowed to answer to the extra credit questions on the final exam.

As from the university catalog:
Attendance Policy
Specific requirements for attendance in any given course, except as described below, are the prerogative of the instructor and will be stated in the course syllabus distributed by the instructor at the beginning of the term.
The Dean?s Office may grant exemptions from specific attendance policies in the case of a chronic medical condition or other serious problem. Students seeking such an exemption must ask a Dean as soon as they are aware of a situation impeding their required attendance. Students who cannot meet the attendance requirements for a particular class may be advised to withdraw from it.
Absences from major examinations require a Dean?s Office excuse, insofar as the student may seek to take a make-up exam. The Dean?s Office will only excuse such absences when they are caused by serious impediments, such as a student's own illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which the student is attending the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused.ÿStudents seeking such an excuse must notify their instructor, or the Dean?s Office, as soon as possible, and no later than the beginning of the exam.
Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday must notify their instructors by the end of the Add/Drop period (during the first week of classes). Students missing a class for this reason also must make prior arrangements with their instructor to make up any work.
Exams - Absences and Makeups
Instructors may, at their discretion, give makeups on quizzes or other less important graded work to students absent without an official excuse. However, because make-up exams require new exams to be prepared, written and proctored at times outside the regular class period, major examinations (midterms, finals) may only be re-administered with approval from the Dean's Office
A student absent from a class meeting in which a major examination has been scheduled, who wishes to make-up that exam, must ask the Dean?s Office for an official excuse. Such absence will be excused only if the student
1. has notified the Dean's Office or his or her instructor of his or her inability to attend before the beginning of the class meeting in which the examination was scheduled
2. subsequently presents to the Dean's Office with documented evidence of a serious difficulty preventing attendance.ÿ
Serious difficulties entitling a student to make-up a missed exam include a student?s own illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which the student is attending the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Missed exams owing to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel plans or difficulties, student misunderstandings, alarm clock failure, or personal convenience, will not be excused.