Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "AH 290-4"
COURSE NAME: "Ancient Rome and Its Monuments"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Fall 2016

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Elizabeth Robinson
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: T 2:15PM 5:00PM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS: 3
PREREQUISITES: On-site; activity fee: €40 or $52
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
STUDENTS SHOULD NOT REGISTER FOR BOTH AH190 and AH290

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.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:
The course is an engagement with the nature of the city of ancient Rome. The city’s topography, monuments and artworks are used as the primary sources for an examination of the city and its role in the ancient world.

Taking advantage of the on-site format, emphasis is placed on the visual impact of spaces, monuments and artworks for an in-depth appreciation of Roman material culture and the context for which it was created.

The course examines the development of Rome as a city and as a center of Empire. It discusses the impact of the origins (c. 753 BC) and early history of Rome, but historically focuses on the period from c. 100 BC-AD 300, the Late Republic and Empire. Aspects discussed include: the city as memory theater; the interplay between emperor and city; and the impact of empire on the city of Rome.

The course also focuses on the importance of public monuments and elite patronage. This includes discussions of public space as dynamic stages for social interaction; of benefaction and honors as a gift-giving exchange of political engagement and currency; and of cultural interaction in a cosmopolitan and multicultural world.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

Proficiencies
Ability to analyze – and contextualize – characteristics of ancient cultures over time
Understanding of key aspects of Greco-Roman 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 socio-political 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 and motivations for socio-political participation by the elite, as well as appreciation of 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 (the world of Rome)

Ability to analyze the construction and articulation of cultural identities
Ability to analyze material culture as dynamic interactions of inspiration, response and emulation – not simply imperialism or control
Awareness of how the image of the ‘other’ is shaped by a culture’s (Rome’s) perception of ‘self’ and sense of security 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 and engagement of mental 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

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

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments	Format	Local Bookstore	Online Purchase
Rome. Oxford Archaeological Guide (2010)	Claridge, Amanda	Oxford University Press	ISBN 9780199546831	DG62.C53
Art History Course Reader	Dept. of Art History, JCU	Copypoint, Via dei Funari 25	None

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments
A full bibliography for the course will be provided at the start of the term	-	-	-

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Library Call Number	Comments
Further reading suggestions for the course will be provided at the start of the term	-	-	-

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
Class presentation	Research presentation to class (10 minutes)	20%
Term paper	Research paper (8-10 pages)	25%
Mid-Term exam	Image identifications and analytical essays	20%
Final exam	Image identifications and analytical essays	30%
Academic participation	Contribution to class discussions and reviews, sharing of ideas, collaborative behavior	5%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
ASuperior work directly addresses the question or problem raised; provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information; demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory; has an element of originality. There is clear evidence of a significant amount of reading beyond that required for the course
BGood work is highly competent; directly addresses the question or problem raised; demonstrates of some ability to critically evaluate theory and concepts and relate them to practice; and discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture and reference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of reading beyond the required assignments.
CSatisfactory work provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings only; it may have some significant structural flaw, absence of information or research background, or too casual and imprecise a treatment, or contain only a minimum of interpretation.
DPoor work lacks a coherent grasp of the material; fails to support its argument with sufficient evidence; indicates a hasty or unconsidered preparation, and/or fails to fulfill the assignment in some way; omits important information and includes irrelevant points.
FFailure work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question; most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
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 the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until Friday, December 9, 2016.

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

All classes will start promptly.
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. Note that 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.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Details of further reading suggestions as well as a relevant bibliography for the course will be provided at the start of term

1. Tues. Aug. 30 - Introduction to the course and to Rome
Themes/works: Course requirements & logistics. Rome: mythological & topographical origins. Forum Boarium; Circus Maximus; Palatine and Capitoline Hills; Forum valley.
Meeting place: JCU, Tiber Campus, First Floor, Room 3
Assigned reading: None

2. Tues. Sept. 6 - Regal and Republican Rome: The importance of the Forum area
Themes/works: City foundation; survival of Regal period monuments; Republican period expansion. Forum Romanum (Temples of Vesta, Saturn and Castor); Palatine Hill (Romulus); Capitoline Hill (Arx, Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus); Forum Boarium (Sant’Omobono temples; Round temple; Temple of Portunus).
Meeting place: Piazza del Campidoglio, statue of M. Aurelius (Claridge 2010: fig 109).
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 4-9 (history), 39-41, 52-54 (materials & orders), 63-67, 71-77, 83-84, 105-11 (Forum Romanum), 131-3 (hut of Romulus), 259-62, 268-70 (Capitoline, Temple of Jupiter), 282-8 (Sant’Omobono and Forum Boarium); Stamper 2005: 6-10, 38-40, 49-50 (Kings, politics and authority, triumph)

3. Tues. Sept. 13 - Late Republican Rome: Competition, honor and display
Themes/works: Rome and the Hellenistic world; display, competition and influence; patronage and civic space. Theater of Pompey, Victory temples at Largo Argentina, Forum of Caesar, statue of Augustus from Prima Porta
Meeting place: Campo dei Fiori, statue of G. Bruno (Claridge 2010: fig 77)
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 9-12 (history), 71-75, 161-9 (Forum of Caesar), 239-46 (Theater of Pompey, victory temples); Kleiner 1992: 63-67 (Prima Porta statue)

4. Tues. Sept. 20 - Caesar and Augustus: The end of the Republic
Themes/works: Patronage, politics, and history; creation of the principate. Forum Romanum (Basilica Aemilia and Julia, Rostra, Curia, Temple of Divus Julius, Temple of Castor, Portico of Gaius and Lucius); Forum of Augustus; Palatine (Temple of Apollo Palatinus, House of Augustus)
Meeting place: Entrance to the Forum Romanum, Via dei Fori Imperiali/Via Cavour (Claridge 2010: figs 1, 60)
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 12-15 (history), 50-52 (painting styles), 63-71, 85-87, 92-95, 100-3 (Forum Romanum), 125-8, 133-44 (Palatine), 177-80 (Forum of Augustus); Kleiner 1992: 59-60 (intro to Augustus); Schneider 2008: 270-8 (Augustan Rome)

5. Fri. Sept 23 (Make-up day for Tues. Nov. 1) - Augustus: A new ideology
Themes/works: The development of the principate: the princeps as role model; senators as stakeholders in a new order. Campus Martius; Mausoleum of Augustus; Ara Pacis Augustae; Horologium; building works of Agrippa
Meeting place: Entrance to the Ara Pacis Augustae, Piazza Augusto Imperatore (Claridge 2010: fig 77)
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 41-44 (materials), 197-216, 232-4 (Campus Martius, Augustan monuments); Kleiner 1992: 90-99 (Augustus, Ara Pacis Augustae); Walker in Coulston and Dodge 2000: 61-75 (Augustan Rome)

6. Tues. Sept. 27 - Late Republic to Imperial Rome: Artistic transformations
Themes/works: Portraiture and cultural identity; portraiture and political ideology; Augustan-period painted interiors. Republican works: veristic portraiture, statue of general from Tivoli; Augustan works: portraiture of Augustus, statue of Augustus from Via Labicana, Garden painting from Prima Porta, Villa Farnesina paintings; imperial works: portraiture of Vespasian and Hadrian
Meeting Place: Entrance to Palazzo Massimo Museum, Piazza dei Cinquecento (near Termini station / Piazza della Repubblica) (Claridge 2010: fig 180).
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 15-18 (history), 483-485 (museum description); Kleiner 1992: 7-11, 31-40 (Republican), 59-69, 75-78 (Augustan), 171-9 (Flavian); Schneider 2008: 279-84 (the Augustan image).

7. Tues. Oct. 4 - Mid-term exam and Term Paper discussion
Library study session: Source evaluation, reference use, bibliographic formatting related to writing the term paper
Meeting place: JCU, 1:30-4:15pm, Tiber Campus, First Floor, Room 3 – please bring laptop/tablet
Assigned reading: None

8. Tues. Oct. 11 – Nero and the Flavians: The emperor and Rome
Themes/works: Articulating imperial status in Rome; major building projects and the tension between emperor and people. Domus Aurea; Templum Pacis; Flavian amphitheater; Arch of Titus; Palace of Domitian; Forum Transitorium (Forum of Nerva)
Meeting Place: Entrance to the Palatine Hill, via di San Gregorio 30 (Claridge 2010: fig 50, arrow next to number 22)
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 82-83, 121-3 (Forum Romanum), 145-56 (Palatine), 169-76 (Temple of Peace, Forum of Nerva), 301-6, 312-9 (Domus Aurea, Colosseum, Ludus Magnus); Hales 2003: 72-79 (Domus Aurea, Palatine)

9. Tues. Oct. 18 - Trajan and Hadrian: ‘Most happy and prosperous’

Term Paper due
Themes/works: A time of great prosperity; depictions of war and non-Romans; culture and cosmopolitan outlook. Forum and Column of Trajan; Temple of Venus and Rome; Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina; marble plan of Rome; Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli
Meeting Place: Column of Trajan (Claridge 2010: fig 60).
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 18-21 (history), 111-13 (Temple of Antoninus), 118-21 (Temple of Roma and Venus), 180-96 (Forum and markets of Trajan)

10. Tues. Oct. 25 - Hadrian to Commodus: The last of the 5 good emperors

Themes/works: Depictions of war and peace; commemoration and dynastic policies. Pantheon, Mausoleum of Hadrian, Hadrianeum, Columns of A. Pius and M. Aurelius, Stadium and Odeum of Domitian
Meeting Place: Piazza Colonna, near column (Claridge 2010: fig 77).
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 216-21 (Columns of A. Pius & M. Aurelius), 223-32, 234-39 (Hadrianeum, Pantheon, stadium and odeum of Domitian); Kleiner 1992: 283-88 (Hadrianeum, column of A. Pius), 295-301 (column of M. Aurelius)

Tuesday November 1 - No class (Italian Holiday)

11. Tues. Nov. 8 (last day to withdraw from a class) - The Severans: making a new Rome
Themes/works: Depicting dynasty and history; making a new Rome; water and popular luxury; popular participation in imperial messages. Arch of Septimius Severus, Temple of Vesta, Arch of the Argentarii, Baths of Caracalla, Septizodium
Meeting point: Piazza Campidoglio, statue of M. Aurelius (Claridge 2010: fig 109)
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 21-24 (history), 78-79 (Arch of S. Severus), 292-3 (Arch of the Argentarii), 356-65 (Septizodium, Baths of Caracalla)

12. Tues. Nov. 15 - Antonines, Severans and Constantine: Art of the high and late empire
Themes/works: Portraiture and imperial leadership: tradition and innovation. Portraiture: Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Constantine; Equestrian statue of M. Aurelius; panel reliefs of M. Aurelius; introduction to Roman epigraphy
Meeting Place: Piazza Campidoglio, statue of M. Aurelius (Claridge 2010: fig 109)
Assigned reading:

Claridge 2010: 25-29 (history); Kleiner 1992: 238-42 (Hadrian), 267-80 (Antonine portraits), 288-95 (reliefs of M. Aurelius), 319-25 (Severan portraits), 438-41 (Constantine)

13. Tues. Nov. 22 - Tetrarchs to Constantine: the arrival of Christianity and the shifting of a capital
Themes/works: Imperial rule and Roman history; art quoting history; triumph and tradition; a new role for the emperor in Rome? The late imperial Forum; Arch of Constantine; Basilica of Maxentius; Temple of Venus and Roma; Diocletian’s curia; so-called Temple of Romulus; Column of Phocas
Meeting Place: Entrance to the Forum Romanum, Via Fori Imperiali/Via Cavour (Claridge 2010: figs 1, 60)
Assigned reading:
Claridge 2010: 71-74, 85-88, 113-21 (monuments in the Forum), 308-12 (Arch of Constantine); Kleiner 1992: 444-55 (Arch of Constantine).

14. Tues. Nov. 29 - Review class
Overview and discussion of course content
Meeting Place: JCU, 1:30-4:15pm, Tiber Campus, First Floor, Room 3
Assigned reading:
Review all assigned readings. 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. December 3-9 - Final exam
Meeting place: Date, time and place to be announced