The course examines the dynamic and culturally vibrant period linked to the reign of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus.

The course will foster a firm understanding of developments and traditions in the history of the late Republic and early Principate. The aim is to develop an awareness of cultural characteristics and an ability to analyze trends and changes.

The course will provide students with an in-depth knowledge of key monuments and artworks of the period in question, and their multifaceted connotations. The aim is develop a contextualized appreciation of the visual and artistic culture of a multifaceted, cosmopolitan world.

The course will introduce students to discourses of cultural diversity and acculturation, as well as to response and reception of the ‘foreign’. The aim is for a nuanced appreciation of the construction of identity in a multicultural world.

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 present students with works of diverse patronage and consider the transmission of inspiration and influence (rather than propaganda). The aim is to further understanding of the impact of patronage and of social participation in the shaping of a new Augustan image.

The course focuses on a close reading of the period 44 BC-AD 14, corresponding to the political career of Octavian/Augustus. Central is the examination of the dynamic cultural and moral landscape of this period – and evolution of a new political format. This will be framed, first, by an examination of the character of late Republican art in Rome for a contextualized appreciation of the complex visual world shaping the Augustan imagery; second, by investigations of the impact of the Principate, and the engagement with the new visual modes among various social groups in Rome and in the provinces.

Three central themes will be examined in discussion throughout the course:

·    The re-interpretation of the past as a vehicle for the future. How can Augustus claim to restore the Republic while establishing a new political set-up? How is the rivalry between Octavian/Augustus and Marcus Antonius ‘mythologized’ post-31BC? How is the distant past incorporated into a new Rome?

·    The imaging of a new Rome. How is Roman identity visualized – in self-representation and through contrast with the non-Roman? How is the city of Rome visualized – as a world city and as a ‘moral museum’?

·    Participation and acculturation. Is honouring the princeps more than ‘imperial cult’? Can we read domestic art as a mirror of social realities? How do different social classes, and different cities, engage with the new imagery of the period?

Proficiencies
Ability to analyze – and contextualize – characteristics of ancient cultures over time
•   Understanding of key aspects of early imperial Roman art and its reception of Greek art – and ability to analyze motives in their creation and reception
•   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
•   Awareness of the impact of form, style, medium and material, and ability to interpret diverse artistic media and their impact
•   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, including the relationship between ruler and community
•   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 the ‘other’ is changeable and shaped by a perception of ‘self’ and sense of position within a wider world
•   Ability to see the selectivity in adoption of non-traditional forms, and a capacity for identifying a permanence of cultural outlook/identity within mutable artistic forms and foreign inspirations

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 visual analysis. That is, the formal analysis of an object, the contextualization of this in space and history, and the formulation of an interpretative thesis, as well as ability to draw out observations on the cultural outlook, norms and histories that inform the making of the object

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. Please refer to the university catalogue for the attendance and absence policy.
All classes start promptly at 13.35 am; late arrival will be noted. You are expected to have dealt with food, drink and bathroom needs before class.
Make-up work is not offered, except in exceptional circumstances and after consultation with the Dean of Academic Affairs.

Changes to / cancellation of class
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.

1. Tues. Jan. 14 Introduction

Course requirements, logistics, etc.

Assigned reading: None

2. Thurs. Jan. 16 Art and identity: Athens and Pergamon

Parthenon, Athens; Great Altar of Zeus, Pergamon; civic identity, tradition and the impact of the alien

Assigned reading: Familiarity with the syllabus; Zanker 1988: 1-5

3. Tues. Jan. 21 Republican Rome I: spectacle

Spectacles of achievement: the triumph, Portico of Metellus, impact of art/war spoil, the aristocratic funeral, veristic portraits

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 11-18

4. Thurs. Jan. 23 Republican Rome II: display

Artistic pluralism: Theatre of Pompey, Paris–Munich reliefs; Tivoli general

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 5-11, 18-25

5. Tues. Jan. 28 Caesar’s new Rome?

Forum of Caesar; portraits of Pompey and Caesar; mythological ancestry; king-like status in Rome

Assigned reading: Stamper 2005: 90-102 (Forum of Caesar)

6. Thurs. Jan. 30 Rival images I: family relationships and divine associations

The second Triumvirate, links with Caesar; divine associations; Antony and Cleopatra

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 33-37, 57-65

Friday January 31 Visit to the Augustus and Cleopatra exhibitions

Time and meeting place to be established (cost: 10 euro per person)

7. Tues. Feb. 4 Rival images II: Octavia, Cleopatra, Livia

Portico Octaviae; honors to Octavia and Livia 35 BC; role and imaging of women: Octavia, Cleopatra and Livia

Assigned reading: Hemelrijk 2005: 309-10, 315-16 (honors of 35 BC); Kleiner 1992a: 75-78 (female portraiture)

8. Thurs. Feb. 6 Rival images III: mythologized victory

Temple of Apollo Palatine; Mausoleum of Augustus

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 44-53, 65-71, 72-77, 145

9. Tues. Feb. 11 New powers I: Actium victory and triumph                  Mid-term exam 1

The Actium Battle, triumphal celebrations, settlement of 27 BC

Assigned reading: Wallace-Hadrill 1993: 1-9

10. Thurs. Feb. 13 New powers II: Augustus and Rome

Temple of Divus Julius; awards, including name of Augustus; House of Augustus and the Forum Romanum

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 85-98

11. Tues. Feb. 18 A new image I: portraiture

Portraiture of Augustus and Livia

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 98-100, 128-9

12. Thurs. Feb. 20 A new image II: dress codes and moral legislation

Statue of Augustus from Via Labicana, the Roman toga, the stola; Augustan moral legislation

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 128-9, 162-66

13. Tues. Feb. 25 No class (used for the exhibition visits)

14. Thurs. Feb. 27 No class (used for the exhibition visits)

15. Tues. March 4 Pietàs I: Agrippa

Pantheon; Agrippa’s Campus Martius

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 139-43, 153-62

16. Thurs. March 6 Pietàs II: triumph of morality

Horologium/sundial, Ara Pacis Augustae

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 85-98, 143-4, 198, 227-30

17. Tues. March 11 Pietàs III: shared morality

Priesthoods, neighbourhoods/vici of Rome, Ara Pacis Augustae, state morality and artistic styles

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 101-4, 118-23, 172-83, 239-54

18. Thurs. March 13 A new image of victory                  Mid-term exam 2

Prima Porta garden fresco, statue of Augustus from Prima Porta

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 179-83, 189-92, 285-91

Tuesday/Thursday March 18/20 – No class (Spring break)

19. Tues. March 25  History and tradition I: Forum of Augustus

Forum of Augustus; ancestry of Rome and Augustus, paternal role of Augustus

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 192-215

20. Thurs. March 27 History and tradition II: spolia opima

Parthian standards; Temple of Mars Ultor; Temple of Jupiter Feretrius

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 101-14

21. Tues. April 1 An imperial father figure: Barbarians as stakeholders

Parthian Arch, Augustus from Prima Porta, Ara Pacis Augustae

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 183-92

22. Thurs. April 3 Dynastic programs I: the settlement of 23 BC and the family of Agrippa

Augustan Forum Romanum                                                 Term paper due

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 79-82, 215-23

23. Tues. April 8 Dynastic programs II: the family of Livia

Augustan Forum Romanum; Temple of Concord; Porticus Liviae

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 137-9, 110-12, 223-30

24. Thurs. April 10 Elite as stakeholders: building dedications

Temple Apollo Sosianus, Temple Saturn, Building of Eumachia

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 65-71, 316-23

25. Tues. April 15 Provincial cities as stakeholders

Sebasteion at Aphrodisias, monopteros of Rome and Augustus, Athens

Assigned reading: Kleiner 1992a: 158-61

26. Thurs. April 17 Freedmen and elite imagery: funerary reliefs and cameos

Cameo of Livia with divus Augustus, Gemma Augustea, Grand Camée de France; Funerary reliefs of freedmen

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 230-8

27. Tues. April 22 Augustan Rome  

Rome at the death of Augustus, Rome as world city

Assigned reading: Zanker 1988: 172-83, 335-9

28. Thurs. April 24 Review class

Overview and discussion of course content

Assigned reading: Pose 3-5 questions, based on your revision study, for which you would like clarification and further detail

29/30. April 26-May 2 Final exam

Date, time and place to be announced