SCHOOL OF DIVINITY, HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY

ACADEMIC SESSION 2017-2018

HC2507: ROME

15 Credits- 11 Weeks

PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY:

The full set of school regulations and procedures is contained in the

Undergraduate Student Handbook which is available online at your
MyAberdeen page. Students are expected to familiarise themselves not only
with the contents of this leaflet but also with the contents of the Handbook.
Therefore, ignorance of the contents of the Handbook will not excuse the
breach of any School regulation or procedure.

You must familiarise yourself with this important information at the earliest
opportunity.

COURSE CO-ORDINATOR/COURSE TEAM

Course Co-ordinator: Dr Sam Newington
Office: KCG17, King’s College
Office hours: anytime via appointment
Telephone number: 01224 272274
Email: s.newington@abdn.ac.uk
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

Discipline Administration:
Mrs Lisa Evans
50-52 College Bounds
Room CB001
01224 273986
divrs@abdn.ac.uk

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 TIMETABLE
Tutorials take place on MyAberdeen on Fridays at 8.30pm

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will cover the history and culture of Rome starting with its
foundation to its final decline in the 7th century CE.

It is expected that this course will provide insights into methodological

considerations, an appreciation of the multifarious nature of the ancient
world and ways in which to translate those complex understandings.

INTENDED AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students should gain a sense of how Roman society evolved and how Rome
itself became a dominant world power.

Students should complete the course with a good knowledge of ancient

Roman history, and of how the remarkable cultural achievements of the
Romans emerged from a particular historical and geographic context. They
will also have enhanced their skills in analysing primary source material, both
written and visual.

LECTURE/SEMINAR/ PROGRAMME
Week 1: Foundations of Rome

Lectures:
1 Foundation Myths of Rome
2 Etruscans

Week 2: Rise of the Republic

Lectures:
3 Constitution and Conflict
4 The Punic Wars
Seminar:
Notions of citizenship
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

Week 3: The Republic in the Making

Lectures:
5 Rise of the People: Gracchi Brothers
6 Republic in Chaos: Marius to Sulla
Seminar:
Women and family

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 Week 4: The Fall of the Republic

Lectures:
7 Politics and warfare: Pompey and Caesar
8 Political disquiet: Catullus, Cicero, Sallust and Lucretius
Seminar:
Roman way of death

Week 5: The Age of Augustus

Lectures:
9 Augustus: ‘Back to Basics’ approach: constitution and reform
10 The Propaganda of Augustus: muses, monuments and memoir
Seminar:
Literary objection: Ovid v Augustus??

Week 6: The City and Culture of Rome

Lectures:
11 The archaeological landscape of Rome
12 Public Entertainment: theatre, gladiatorial spectacle and Roman baths
Seminar:
Formative Assignment

Week 7: The Roman Empire and Emperors

Lecture:
13 The Emperors of Rome: what the Emperors did for Rome.
14 Sex and scandal in Imperial Rome.
Seminar:
What makes a good Emperor?

Week 8: Administration of the Roman Empire

Lecture:
15 Political infrastructure: Emperor, Senators and political hierarchy
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

16 Provincial governors
Seminar:
The Roman army

Week 9: Economy and Trade in the Roman World

Lecture:
17 Economy of the Roman Empire

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 18 Slavery and freedmen
Seminar:
Thesis debate: Romanisation or globalisation

Week 10: Religions of Rome

Lectures:
19 East and West: Polytheistic society and Imperial Cult
20 Christianity
Seminar:
Food: examining the social and religious dynamics of food

Week 11: The Fall of Rome

Lectures:
21 Crisis during the 3rd century CE
22 Demise by the 7th century CE
Seminar:
The Roman villa

Week 12: Reception and Overview

Lectures:
23 Reception of Rome
24 Workshop: getting ready for the EXAM!
Seminar:
Essay return and exam practice.

READING LIST
There is NO single course book, but there are several recommended starting
points.

SECONDARY READING:
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

Week 1: Foundations of Rome

Dillon, M. & Garland, L., Ancient Rome: from the Early Republic to the
Assassination to Julius Caesar (London: Routledge, 2010)
Livy, The Rise of Rome: Books 1-5 translated by T.C. Luce (Oxford: OUP, 2008)
Rosenstein, N. & Morstein-Marx, R. (eds), A Companion to the Roman Republic
(Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

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 Scullard, H.H., A History of the Roman World 753-146 BC (London: Routledge,
1980)

Week 2: Rise of the Republic

Dillon, M. & Garland, L., Ancient Rome: from the Early Republic to the
Assassination to Julius Caesar (London: Routledge, 2010)
Lomas, K., Roman Italy 338BC – AD200): A Sourcebook (London: UCL Press,
1996)
Rosenstein, N. & Morstein-Marx, R. (eds), A Companion to the Roman Republic
(Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

Week 3: The Republic in the Making

Dillon, M. & Garland, L., Ancient Rome: from the Early Republic to the
Assassination to Julius Caesar (London: Routledge, 2010)
Dixon, S., The Roman Family (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2008)
Fatham, E., et al (eds), Women in the Classical World (Oxford: OUP, 1994)
Lefkowitz, M.R. & Fant, M.B., Women’s Life in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook
in Translation (London: Duckworth, 2004)
Pomeroy, S.B., Goddesses, Whores, Wives & Slaves: Women in Classical
Antiquity (London: Pimlico, 1994)
Rawson, B., Children and Childhood in Roman Italy (Oxford: OUP, 2003)
Rosenstein, N. & Morstein-Marx, R. (eds), A Companion to the Roman Republic
(Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
Saller, R., ‘Familia, domus and Roman conceptions of the family’, Phoenix 38
(1984) pp.336-355
Takacs, S.A., Vestal Virgins, Sibyls and Matrons: Women in Roman Religion
(Texas: TUP, 2008)

Week 4: The Fall of the Republic

Dillon, M. & Garland, L., Ancient Rome: from the Early Republic to the
Assassination to Julius Caesar (London: Routledge, 2010)
Flower, H.I. (ed), The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic
(Cambridge: CUP, 2008)
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

Green, P., The Poems of Catullus: A Bilingual Edition (California, California

Press, 2005)
Hope, V., Death in Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook (London: Routledge, 2007)
Lucretius, On the Nature of the Universe translated by D.& P. Fowler (Oxford:
OUP, 1997)
Rosenstein, N. & Morstein-Marx, R. (eds), A Companion to the Roman Republic
(Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
Seagar, R., Pompey the Great (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002)

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 Week 5: The Age of Augustus

Cooley, A.E., Res Gestae Divi Augusti: Text, Translation and Commentary
(Cambridge: CUP, 2008)
Hardie, P., The Cambridge Companion to Ovid (Cambridge: CUP, 2008)
Harrison, S., The Cambridge Companion to Horace (Cambridge: CUP, 2008)
Horace, The Complete Odes and Epodes translated by D. West (Oxford: OUP,
2008)
Jones, A.H.M., Ancient Culture and Society: Augustus (London: Chatto &
Windus, 1980)
Martindale, C., The Cambridge Companion to Virgil (Cambridge, CUP, 2008)
Ovid, Metamorphoses translated by A.D. Melville (Oxford: OUP, 2008)
Powell, A. (ed), Roman Poetry and Propaganda in the Age of Augustus
(London: Routledge, 1992)

Week 6: The City and Culture of Rome

Beacham, R., Spectacle and Entertainment of Early Imperial Rome (New

Haven: Yale University Press, 1999)
Cornell, T.J. & Lomas, K., Urban Society in Roman Italy (London: UCL Press,
1995)
Coulston, J. & Dodge, H., Ancient Rome: The Archaeology of the Eternal City
(Oxford: Oxbow, 2000)
Favro, D., The Urban Image of Augustan Rome (Cambridge: CUP, 1996)
Hardie, P., The Cambridge Companion to Ovid (Cambridge: CUP, 2008)
Harrison, S., The Cambridge Companion to Horace (Cambridge: CUP, 2008)
Horace, The Complete Odes and Epodes translated by D. West (Oxford: OUP,
2008)
Ovid, Metamorphoses translated by A.D. Melville (Oxford: OUP, 2008)
Purcell, N., ‘Rome and its development under Augustus and his successors’,
Cambridge Ancient History 10 (1996) pp. 782-811
Wallace-Hadrill, A., Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum
(Princeton: PUP, 1994)
Zanker, P., The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Michegan: MUP,
1988)
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

Week 7: The Roman Empire and Emperors

Charlesworth, M.P., The Roman Empire (Oxford: OUP, 1968)

Ferguson, J., The Religions of the Roman Empire (London: Thames & Hudson,
1970)
Lewis, N. & Reinhold, M., Roman Civilisation: Sourcebook II – The Empire
(Columbia: Columbia University Press, 1955)

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 Millar, F., ‘Emperors at work’, JRS 57 (1967) pp.9-19
Sherk, R.K. The Roman Empire. Augustus to Hadrian (Cambridge 1988)

Week 8: Administration of the Roman Empire

Alston, R., Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt (London: Routledge 1995)
Boatwright, M.T., Hadrian and the City of Rome (Princeton: PUP, 1987)
Boatwright, M., Hadrian and the cities of the Roman Empire (Princeton: PUP,
2000)
Campbell, B. The Roman Army 31 BC – AD 337. A Sourcebook (London:
Routledge, 1985)
Millar, F., ‘Emperors, frontiers and foreign relations’, Britannia 13 (1982) pp.1-
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Pliny the Younger, Letters translated by B. Radice (London: Penguin, 1969)
Riggsby, A.M., Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans (Cambridge:
CUP, 2010)
Roth, J.P., Roman Warfare (Cambridge: CUP, 2009)
Talbert, R. J.A. The Senate of Imperial Rome (Princeton: PUP 1984)
Tactitus, Agricola and the Germania translated by J.B. Rives (London: Penguin,
2008)
Woolf, G.D., Becoming Roman. The Origins of Provincial Administration in
Gaul (Cambridge: CUP, 1998)

Week 9: Economy and Trade in the Roman World

Bradley, K., Slaves and Masters in the Roman Empire: A Study in Social Control
(Oxford: OUP, 1987)
Bradley, K., Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge: CUP, 1994)
Hopkins, K., ‘Taxes and trade in the Roman Empire (200BC-AD400)’, JRS 70
(1980) pp.101-125
Mattingly, M., (ed.) Dialogues in Roman Imperialism [JRA suppl. 23 (1997)]
Rostovtzeff. M., The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire
(Oxford: OUP, 1957)

Week 10: Religions of Rome

DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

Beard, M., North, J. & Price, S., Religions of Rome: Volume 2 – A Sourcebook
(Cambridge: CUP, 1998)
Bisel, S., ‘Nutrition in first century Herculaneum’, Anthropologie 26/1 (1988)
pp.61-66
Broshi, M., ‘The diet of Palestine in the Roman period – introductory notes’,
The Israel Museum Journal 5 (1986) pp.41-56
Classen, C.J., ‘Horace – a cook?’, CQ 28 (1978) pp.333-348
Davies, R.W., ‘The Roman military diet’, Britannia 12 (1971) pp.122-142

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 Garnsey, P., Food and Society in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge: CUP, 2002)
Mitchell, S., A History of the Later Roman Empire (Oxford: OUP, 2007)
Purcell, N., ‘Wine and Wealth in ancient Italy’, JRS 75 (1985) pp.1-19
Rives, J.B., Religion in the Roman Empire (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007)

Week 11: The Fall of Rome

Christie, N., The Fall of the Western Roman Empire: An Archaeological and
Historical Perspective (London: Bloomsbury Publisher, 2011)
Cornell, T.J. & Lomas, K., Urban Society in Roman Italy (London: UCL Press,
1995)
Coulston, J. & Dodge, H., Ancient Rome: The Archaeology of the Eternal City
(Oxford: Oxbow, 2000)
Favro, D., The Urban Image of Augustan Rome (Cambridge: CUP, 1996)
Mitchell, S., A History of the Later Roman Empire (Oxford: OUP, 2007)
Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome translated by M. Grant (London:
Penguin, 1996)
Wallace-Hadrill, A., Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum
(Princeton: PUP, 1994)

ASSESSMENT

PLEASE NOTE: In order to pass a course on the first attempt, a student must
attain a Common Grading Scale (CGS) mark of at least E3 on each element of
course assessment. Failure to do so will result in a grade of no greater than
CGS E1 for the course as a whole.

If you submit your work on time, you can expect that feedback will normally
be provided within three working weeks (excluding vacation periods) of the
submission deadline.

Coursework: 2 x 2500 word essays (equal weighting – 100%)

Resit
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

One 2 hour paper (100%)

Past exam papers can be viewed at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/learning-
and-teaching/for-students/exam-papers/.

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 To view the CGS Descriptors please go to MyAberdeen- Organisations-
Divinity, History, & Philosophy Student Information for Undergraduates. The
link to the CGS Descriptors is on the left hand menu.

ESSAYS
Essays should be between 2000 and 2500 words long, including quotations
and footnotes; students should note that they will be penalised for work
which is either too long or too short. Writing university-level essays is an
advanced exercise in the mastery of formal English prose. We take this very
seriously. It is one of the personal skills that future employers have a right to
expect from anyone with an Arts degree from a good university. Great
importance is attached to accurate spelling (including the correct spelling of
proper names), correct grammar and punctuation, clear and precise English,
and appropriate footnoting.

Students can find advice on essay writing and help with English at
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/history/ugrad/resource.shtml.

LIST OF ESSAY TOPICS

1. What were the key military events that determined the fall of the
Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire?
2. What were the main literary objections to the Augustan regime?
3. To what extent was slavery a significant economy in ancient Rome?
4. How did the Romans spend their time outside of politics?
5. What do the ancient histories have to say and inform us about Ancient
Roman history? What are the main interpretive concerns?

ASSESSMENT DEADLINES
Essay 1 submission date is week 5 Friday (16th February 2018 at 3pm)
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

Essay 2 submission date is week 11 Friday (30th March 2018 at 3pm)

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 SUBMISSION ARRANGEMENTS

Submit a .doc or .docx and include the word count.

Submit by the due date, no hard copy will be required unless directly
requested by the course coordinator through MyAberdeen.

In advance of uploading, please save the assignment with your student id

number listed in the filename, i.e. 59999999 DRXXXX Essay 1.

When asked to enter a title for the assignment, please enter a title identical to
the name of your saved assignment, i.e. 59999999 DRXXXX Essay 1.

Please note: failure to submit by the due date (unless a prior arrangement has
been made) will result in a deduction of marks. Where no submission is
received, this will result in a mark of zero.

Please note: Safeassign text matching software will be used, however the
School of Divinity, History and Philosophy reserves the right to also submit
material to TurnitinUK when deemed necessary.

RESIT INFORMATION
One 2 hour paper (100%)
Access to the resit which is provisional on:

 All submitted coursework having been submitted and graded at CGS E3

or higher.

 Student having a valid Class Certificate. Students with C7’s are not
eligible for resits.
DRS Course Guide 2017-2018

Past exam papers can be viewed at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/learning-

and-teaching/for-students/exam-papers/.

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