STUDENTS SHOULD NOT REGISTER FOR BOTH AH 190 and AH 290
Rome City Series - This on-site course considers the art and architecture of ancient Rome through visits to museums and archaeological sites. The course covers the visual culture and architecture of Rome beginning with the Iron Age and ending with the time of Constantine. A broad variety of issues are raised, including patronage, style and iconography, artistic and architectural techniques, Roman religion, business and entertainment.

This is an upper-level survey course exploring the archaeological sites, ancient monuments, and visual art of Rome from its foundation through the Republican, Imperial, and Early Christian periods.  The course offers an exciting opportunity to investigate the history, archaeology, topography, art, and architecture of the Eternal City in an interdisciplinary manner.  We will consider the roles that structures, images, inscriptions, and material objects played in shaping Roman experience—from the creation and dissemination of political ideologies to the means of organizing civic and domestic space, interacting with the gods, imagining the past, and crafting one’s personal image.

The course will focus on placing the archaeological, artistic, and architectural evidence in its topographical context, with an emphasis on changes in art, architecture, and urban spaces through time.  We will also learn to identify and distinguish between elements in art and architecture that are derived from Rome’s extensive contacts with other cultures.  At each class meeting we will explore monuments and sites in a different part of the City, and will discuss specific aspects of Roman life, paying particular attention to the interplay of politics, society, and culture.  Topics will include:

- elite and non-elite domestic and funerary art and architecture, and what they can tell us about personal needs and familial practices, as well as social norms and expectations;

- public baths, theaters, and other types of recreational venues as expression of political statements and imperial ideology;

- aqueducts and other monumental works of large-scale civic projects as manifestations of Roman engineering, aesthetics, and networks.

 Given the advantage of staying in Rome, the course will be conducted entirely on-site around the city.

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

1.     Identify, describe, and interpret the most important archaeological monuments in Rome.

2.     Relate the archaeological evidence to the topography of Ancient Rome.

3.  Demonstrate an understanding of the chronology, political events, and institutional structures of the City of Rome.

4.     Critically analyze the social, political, and economic background that informs the archaeological and architectural evidence for Rome from its earliest beginnings to the early Christian transition.

The course will engage with different types of primary evidence, including material culture and literary sources, which will also encourage students to reflect in depth about the balance between preservation and progress in a city as old as Rome. The on-site activities, discussions, and oral assignments will help improve presentation and communication skills in a public and professional environment. The nature of exams and term paper is aimed to further develop critical analysis, evaluation of information (i.e., learning to unpack and assess scholarly arguments), and research skills.

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY:
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend 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. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that 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 should notify me and the Dean's Office by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed.

 Attendance is mandatory. You are expected to participate in all scheduled classes. Classes start on-site and thus punctuality is essential; three tardy arrivals will count as one unexcused absence. Absences and late arrivals will result in the lowering of the final class 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 (specified below in the class schedule). Please refer to the university catalog for attendance and absence policy.

Class 1. (Mon. May 20)

TOPIC: Introduction to the Course and to Rome, history & facts.

MEETING PLACE: JCU Classroom (Frohring Campus, Ground Floor, Room 2).

READING: None. [Recommended: Beard M. “Why ancient Rome matters” (20 min, Guardian Article)].

Class 2. (Tue. May 21)

TOPIC: Topography & foundation myths; Rome & Tiber

Intro to Early Rome and its monuments, architectural typologies and material buildings.

SITE VISITS: Tiber Area and its monuments.

MEETING PLACE: JCU Classroom. Second part of class on-site (Cloaca Maxima, Tiber Island, River, and Pons Fabricius).

READING: Claridge 2010: 4-59 (history, documentary sources, building types & techniques), 257-258 (Tiber Island).

Class 3. (Wed. May 22)

TOPIC: Early Rome and Architecture Walk: contacts and influences

SITE VISITS: Palatine and Aventine Hills (early settlements & hut of Romulus), Circus Maximus, Forum Boarium (Round Temple and Temple of Portunus), Area Sacra at Sant'Omobono.

MEETING PLACE: Outside the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin/Bocca della Verità.

READING: Claridge 2010: 4-9 (history),132-133 (hut of Romulus),  282-288 (Forum Boarium), 299-300 (Circus Maximus); Smith 2000: 16-41 (Early and Archaic Rome).

Class 4. (Th. May 23)

TOPIC: Logistics: oral report and paper topics, JCU library resources.

Discussion & selection of oral reports and paper topics, research paper overview, guidelines, and expectations + introduction to JCU resources (Library and Writing Center).

MEETING PLACE: JCU Classroom.

READING: Do some searching on the topics for oral report & research paper (details available on syllabus & Moodle).

Class 5. (Mon. May 27)

TOPIC: Early Rome and Religion

SITE VISITS: Capitoline Hill (Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus), Forum Romanum Overview (Regia, Comitium, and the Temples of Vesta, Saturn, and Castor); Capitoline Museum (Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, Sant’Omobono finds, terracotta decoration of temples, She-Wolf, Capitoline Fasti). MiC Card needed.

MEETING PLACE: Outside the main entrance to the Capitoline Museums, beneath the statue of Marcus Aurelius.

READING: Claridge 2010: 4-9 (history), 63-67, 75-77, 83-84, 105-111 (Forum Romanum), 259-262, 268-270 (Capitoline, Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus).

Class 6. (Tue. May 28)

TOPIC: Republican Rome: expansion, competition, and the architecture of the Roman triumph

SITE VISITS: Lower Campus Martius walk (including Largo Argentina and Theater of Pompey):  Temples at Largo Argentina, Theater and Porticus of Pompey,  Circus Flaminius, Porticus of Metellus/Octavia, Temple of Apollo Medicus/Sosianus, Theater of Marcellus, Forum Holitorium (Temples beneath S. Nicola in Carcere).  MiC Card needed.

MEETING PLACE: At the Tower in Largo Argentina (“Torre del Papito”).

READING: Claridge 2010: 9-12 (history), 239-246, 250-256 (Theatre of Pompey, Largo Argentina, Portico of Metellus/Octavia), 274-282 (Theater of Marcellus, Temple of Apollo Medicus/Sosianus, Forum Holitorium); Favro 1994: 151-164 (triumphal procession).

Class 7. (Wed. May 29)

TOPIC: Transition from Republic to Empire

SITE VISITS: Forum Romanum: Regia, Temple of Vesta, Temple of Castors, Curia, Comitium, Rostra, Basilica Julia, Temple of Divus Julius, Basilica Aemilia, Porticus of Gaius and Lucius; Forum of Caesar and Forum of Augustus.

MEETING PLACE:At the entrance to the Forum Romanum, by the Fori Imperiali (Via della Salaria Vecchia 5/6). 

READING: Claridge 2010: 10-15 (history), 63-75, 85-87, 92-95, 100-103 (Forum Romanum), 160-169 (Forum of Caesar), 177-180 (Forum of Augustus).

Class 8. (Th. May 30)

TOPIC: The Rome of Augustus: visual "rhetoric," memory and the new Golden Age

SITE VISITS: Augustan Campus Martius: (Claridge 2010: fig. 77): Mausoleum, Res Gestae, Ara Pacis, Solar meridian, Agrippa’s Pantheon & building program. MiC Card needed.

MEETING PLACE: At the entrance to the Ara Pacis Museum (Lungotevere in Augusta).

READING: Claridge 2010: 12-15, 40-43 (history & building materials), 197-216, 232-233 (Augustan Campus Martius); Frischer et al. 2017: 41-45, 51-59, 60-63 (ideology of Augustan visual culture). 

Class 9 (Mon. June 3)

Review for Midterm + Brief Paper Oral Overview*

MEETING PLACE: JCU Classroom.

*Bring printed copy of your paper outline in class.

Class 10. (Tue. June 4)

Midterm Exam

MEETING PLACE: JCU Classroom.

Exam details will be shared ahead of time and posted on Moodle.

Class 11. (Wed. June 5)

TOPIC: Domestic and funerary art: houses and tombs as display of social memory, culture, and identity

SITE VISITS:  Centrale Montemartini Museum (portraiture, sculpture, mosaic): Barberini togatus, grave reliefs from Via Statilia, tomb of baker Eurysaces, funerary stele of shoemaker, tombstone of Q. Sulpicius Maximus, friezes from Temple of Apollo Sosianus, selection of elite domestic art (patronage and collecting in Roman villas). MiC Card needed.

MEETING PLACE: Outside the entrance to the Centrale Montemartini Museum (Via Ostiense 106).

READING: Claridge 2010: 385-387 (Tomb of Eurysaces); Newby 2005: 80-93, 105-112, 115-116 (myth in villa).

Class 12. (Th. June 6)

TOPIC: Lecture: The Flavians through Constantine

MEETING PLACE: JCU Classroom.

READING: Claridge 2010: 16-29 (history).

Class 13. (Mon. June 10)

TOPIC: The Flavians: imperial patronage and urban appropriation in the Colosseum Valley

SITE VISITS: Domus Aurea, Colossus, Flavian Amphitheater (exterior), Meta Sudans, Arch of Titus, Temple of Peace, Forum Transitorium.

MEETING PLACE: At the entrance to the Forum Romanum, by the Fori Imperiali (Via della Salaria Vecchia 5/6). 

READING: Claridge 2010: 16-18 (history), 121-123 (Arch of Titus), 169-176 (Temple of Peace, Forum of Nerva), 301-308 (Domus Aurea, Meta Sudans), 312-319 (Colosseum, Ludus Magnus).

Class 14. (Tue. June 11)

TOPIC: Imperial Residences in Rome

SITE VISITS: Arch of Titus (cont.) (Claridge 2010: fig 36); Palatine Hill (Claridge 2010: fig. 50): House of “Augustus” and Temple of Apollo, Domus Transitoria, Domus Tiberiana, Palace of Domitian. Palatine Museum: Augustan & Nerionan rooms.

MEETING PLACE: At the Arch of Constantine (Forum side).

READING: Claridge 2010: 121-123 (Arch of Titus, cont.), 124-128 (Palatine Hill), 135-154 (House of “Augustus” and Temple of Apollo, Domitian’s Palace).

Class 15. (Wed. June 12)

TOPIC: The Rome of Trajan: engineering, aesthetics, and networks

SITE VISITS: Forum, Column, and Markets of Trajan (Claridge 2010: fig. 60); Museum of the Imperial Fora; Baths of Trajan. MiC Card needed.

MEETING PLACE: At the Column of Trajan.

READING: Claridge 2010: 18-21 (history), 180-96 (Forum and Markets of Trajan), 324-326 (Baths of Trajan); Quenemoen 2013: 63-81 (concrete & aesthetics).

Class 16. (Th. June 13)

TOPIC: The Central Campus Martius: imperial cult and commemoration 

SITE VISITS: Stadium and Odeum of Domitian, Pantheon, Mausoleum of Hadrian, Hadrianeum, Column of Marcus Aurelius

MEETING PLACE: Outside La Feltrinelli Bookshop in Largo di Torre Argentina 5/A.

READING: Claridge 2010: 18-21 (history), 197-204 (Campus Martius), 219-221 (Column of Marcus Aurelius), 223-238 (Pantheon and Hadrianeum); Yegül and Favro 2019: 333-355 (Trajan, Hadrian, and Apollodorus).

Class 17. (Mon. June 17)

TOPIC: Transition from Pagan to Christian Rome 

SITE VISITS: Arch of Constantine, Basilica Nova, Temple of Venus and Roma, Basilica of San Clemente.

MEETING PLACE: At the entrance to the Basilica of San Clemente (Piazza di San Clemente, outside the main entrance to the Church).

READING: Claridge 2010: 21-28 (history), 115-117 (Basilica Nova), 118-121 (Temple of Venus and Roma), 306-308 (Colossus), 308-312 (Arch of Constantine), 319-324 (Basilica of San Clemente); Walsh 2018: 4-12 (cult of Mithras).

Class 18. (Tue. June 18)

TOPIC: The Rome of the Severans: entertainment, leisure, water culture & politics (originally planned for Monday, June 17 but the Baths of Caracalla are closed on Mondays)

SITE VISITS: Circus Maximus, Baths of Caracalla, Septizodium.

MEETING PLACE: Outside the Metro B “Circo Massimo” Stop (outside the station next to Gusto Massimo Bar).

READING: Claridge 2010: 21-28 (history), 299-300 (Circus Maximus), 356-365 (Septizodium, Baths of Caracalla).

Class 19. (Wed. June 19)

TOPIC: Papers' final draft overview & peer-review workshop*

MEETING PLACE: JCU Classroom.

*Bring printed copy of your paper in class for peer-review workshop.

Class 20. (Th. June 20)

TOPIC: Review Class 

MEETING PLACE: JCU Classroom.

Bring a computer or tablet with you to class as well as all your lecture notes.

*Research Paper due today. Bring printed copy in class and submit digital form on Moodle.

Class 21. (Friday June 21)

FINAL EXAM: TBA