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 upper-level survey course engages students in considerations and analyses of the city of ancient Rome that are artistic, historical, political and topographic in nature. As a whole, the course provides an in-depth appreciation of the multifaceted history and character of the ancient city and the context of the world in which it existed.

The on-site format is an opportunity to focus exclusively on the city of Rome and to explore how it was both unlike any other city in the Roman world and acted as a center in the ‘globalized world’ that was the Roman Empire.

With the advantage of the on-site format, emphasis is placed on the visual impact of monuments, artworks and spaces. The aim is not only to gain a deeper understanding of their significance, but in particular to investigate these as dynamic elements in a network of social and political interactions. 

The course will provide students with an in-depth knowledge of key monuments and artworks in Rome of the period in question. The aim is to develop an ability to analyze motives of their creation and reception.

The course will foster a firm understanding of developments and traditions in the history of Rome of the Republican and Imperial periods. The aim to develop an ability to analyze trends and changes in context.  

The course will familiarize students with the rhetoric of spaces and styles, and the inherent narrativity of objects, and furnish them with the methodologies to interpret these. The aim is for an awareness of spaces as dynamic stages of social interaction and an understanding of the impact of patronage and viewing.

The course will develop the ability to use relevant historical, art historical and architectural terminology to effect. The aim is to develop an ability to analyze art, architecture and material culture as primary sources

The course will develop powers of expression: Organization of material, contextual and nuanced discussion, focused presentation of data, public speaking and presentation abilities, participation in debates

The course will develop critical thinking and interpretation: Reasoned consideration and evaluation of evidence and methods, interpretation of arguments presented, reflection on context and impact

You are expected to participate in all scheduled classes. Absences and late arrival will be noted: Three late arrivals count as an absence; more than two absences will result in the reduction of the final grade

Class will take place no matter the weather. Use of electronic media (computers, phones, etc.) are not permitted in the class and must be stored in your bag during class time. Please dress accordingly and appropriately for visiting public sites and museums in the city. Make-up work is not offered, except in exceptional circumstances and after consultation with the Dean of Academic Affairs.

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. Note that most classes will end at on-site locations different from the meeting point.

Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam: a major exam (midterm or final) cannot be made up without the permission of the Dean’s Office. Permission will be granted only when the absence is caused by a serious impediment or grave situation, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or funeral service for immediate family. Absences due to conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. 

Davies, P.J.E. (2013) Rome: the emergence of a Mediterranean capital. In J. DeRose Evans (ed.), A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Republic: 441-48. Blackwell.

Davies, P.J.E. (2018) Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing civic memory in late Republican Rome. In K. Sandberg and C. Smith (eds), Omnium Annalium Monumenta: Historical Writing and Historical Evidence in Republican Rome: 477-512. Brill.

Eck, W. (2010) Emperor and senatorial aristocracy in competition for public space. In B.C. Ewald and C.F. Noreña (eds), The Emperor and Rome. Space, Representation and Ritual: 89-110. Cambridge University Press.

Fejfer, J. (2008) Roman Portraits in Context. Walter de Gruyter. NB115.F45 and JCU

Flower, H.I. (2004) Spectacle and political culture in the Roman Republic. In H.I. Flower (ed.) Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic: 322-43. Cambridge University Press.

Galinsky, K. (1996) Augustan Culture. Princeton University Press

Heslin, P. (2019) The Julian calendar and the solar meridian of Augustus: Making Rome run on time. In M.P. Loar, S.C. Murray and S. Rebeggiani (eds), The Cultural History of Augustan Rome: 45-79. Cambridge, CUP.

Jaeschke, V. (2016) The Roman civic center under Maxentius (AD 306-312) – Buildings for a new concept of sovereignty. In A: Hofmann and M: Zimmermann (eds), History Takes Place: Rome. Dynamics of Urban Change: 177-87. Jovis.

Marlowe, E. (2006) Framing the Sun: The Arch of Constantine and the Roman cityscape. Art Bulletin 88.2: 223-42.

Moormann, E. (2022) Some Observations on the Templum Pacis: A Summa of Flavian Politics. In M. Heerink and E. Meijer (eds), Flavian Responses to Nero's Rome: 127-59. AUP.

Philips, D.A. (2016) The civic function of Agrippa's Pantheon. Latomus 75: 650-76.

Popkin, M.L. (2015) Decorum and the Meanings of Materials in Triumphal Architecture of Republican Rome. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 74.3: 289-311.

Rose, C.B. (2008) Forging identity in the Roman Republic: Trojan ancestry and veristic portraiture. In S. Bell and I.L. Hansen (eds), Role Models in the Roman World: 97-132. University of Michigan Press.

Russell, A. (2019) Inventing the Imperial Senate. In J. Osgood, K. Morrell and K. Welch (eds), The Alternative Augustan Age: 325-341. Oxford, OUP. JCU

Yegül, F. (1992) Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity. MIT Press

Zanker, P. (2010) By the Emperor, for the people. In B.C. Ewald and C.F. Noreña (eds), The Emperor and Rome: 45-87. Cambridge, CUP.

1. Introduction to the course and to Rome

Course requirements and logistics. Rome: mythological and topographical origins; reading the space of the city

2. Creating the city: Regal and Republican Rome

City foundation and development of urban central-space in the Regal period; relationship between monuments and spatial experience; Republican period expansion; the military triumph

3. Spectacular spaces and international networks

The 3rd-2nd century BC; increased participation in Mediterranean networks; domestic politics: importance of the triumph, new individualism; use of new materials: concrete and marble.

4. Constructing public space, creating political experience

The 1st century BC; private patronage and public space; role of Alexander the Great and the building of a ‘world city’

5. Public depiction, social relationships, inventing the principate

Portrait depictions and social networks; international political relationships; otium (cultured leisure) as public and private

6. New relationships: princeps, senate, people; public otium

Late 1st century BC; development of the principate, ‘creation’ of the senate; relationships between princeps, senate, people; consensus politics and stakeholder roles; otium (cultured leisure) as public statement

7. Midterm exam

8. Political dialogues and conflicts

The 1st century AD, Augustus, Nero, Flavians; innovations in development of principate and in relationship with senate; public space and political experience / engagement of senate and people; consensus politics and conflict; curated otium (cultured leisure) as public statement

9. Cosmopolitan metropolis

The 1st-2nd century AD, Flavians, Trajan, Hadrian. Roman world as a globalized ‘koine’; Rome as a cosmopolitan center; a new styled image of leadership

10. Cultured sophistication as political ideal

The 2nd-3rd century AD; Trajan, Hadrian, Antonines, Severans. Portrait-depictions: the styled image and viewer agency, reworked portraits as visual and composite statement; influence of material and technique

11. Empire and the city – succession and security

The 2nd century AD, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonines. Depictions of war and peace – implicit depictions of Empire; new curation of the Campus Martius; emphatic sophistication as urban image

12. The Severans: Mapping Rome

The 3rd century AD, Severans. Depicting Rome and history, making a ‘new’ Rome; water and popular luxury; popular participation in imperial messages

13. The emperor and the history of the city

The 3rd-4th century AD, Tetrachs, Maxentius, Constantine. New frameworks for the role of the emperor; urban space, political relationships, and the history of the city

14. Review class

15. Final exam