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Campus | Bryn Mawr |
Semester | Fall 2020 |
Registration ID | CSTSB639001 |
Course Title | Italy and the Rise of Rome |
Credit | 1.00 |
Department | Classical Studies |
Instructor | Baker,Catherine K. |
Times and Days | Th 01:10pm-04:00pm
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Room Location | |
Additional Course Info | Class Number: 2314 This course examines the archaeology and history of the Italian peninsula in the first millennium BCE, with a particular focus on the dynamics of Rome’s rise from small settlement to the dominant power on the Italian peninsula. Through an examination of the textual, epigraphic, numismatic, and archaeological evidence from Rome and the other major powers in Italy in this period, including the Etruscans, Samnites, and Greek colonial cities, we investigate the major debates and issues surrounding Rome’s rise to power, including the nature of Roman imperialism, processes of “Romanization” or acculturation among non-Romans, and the social and political conflicts and pressures which played a role in shaping the character of the Roman state in the first millennium BCE.; This course examines the archaeology and history of the Italian peninsula in the first millennium BCE, with a particular focus on the dynamics of Rome's rise from small settlement to the dominant power on the Italian peninsula. Through an examination of the textual, epigraphic, numismatic, and archaeological evidence from Rome and the other major powers in Italy in this period, including the Etruscans, Samnites, and Greek colonial cities, we investigate the major debates and issues surrounding Rome's rise to power, including the nature of Roman imperialism, processes of "Romanization" or acculturation among non-Romans, and the social and political conflicts and pressures which played a role in shaping the character of the Roman state in the first millennium BCE. Our aim is to understand what role Rome played in the development of Italy in this period, but also to consider the importance of Rome’s neighbors and rival powers in negotiating, mitigating, and shaping Rome’s eventual rise to preeminence. The course will begin with an initial examination of Rome's early development, its presentation in historical sources, and its evolution from small settlement near the Tiber to a major city state in Central Italy. After that, we will move outward and explore the history, archaeology, and presentation in Roman sources of Rome's neighbors and enemies -- people like the Samnites and Etruscans. In order to understand the dynamics, players, and power struggles involved in Rome's rise to power, we will then examine various important moments in Rome's rise to power and its relationship with the rest of Italy, from the early Samnite Wars, through the Punic Wars, and eventually, the Social War which pitted Rome's Italian allies and neighbors against Rome itself. Along the way, we will explore how historical and archaeological evidence has been used by scholars, where divisions exist between these sources, and how Rome's rise during the Republic and its relationship with Italy has been understood, interpreted, politicized, and re-considered over the centuries beyond the first millennium BCE. We will consider the process and ramifications of Roman expansion in Italy and then will discuss the extent to which Italy, by the end of the first millennium, had become a Tota Italia, a united Italy, in terms of its cultural and material identity, socio-political character, and economy. Each week will require the completion of a series of scholarly readings on historical and archaeological materials, examination of sources in translation or original ancient languages (depending on student background), and an in-depth discussion of the ways in which these materials help us understand Rome's rise to power and the ways in which Rome presented and understood its rise to power in later centuries. Course assignments will include short presentations of readings or specific sources, leading discussions, and the completion of a larger research project. This course is intended primarily for graduate students in Classics or in Archaeology (upper-level undergraduates who are interested should speak to the instructor or the undergraduate advisor for their major – please first consider taking the Early and Republican Rome course for undergraduates offered in the spring). For those in Classics, students will gain familiarity with the main sources in Greek and Latin which pertain to the historical rise and growth of Rome within its Italian context and among its Italian neighbors (reading ability in Greek and Latin prose is assumed). Students in archaeology will gain familiarity with the main sites, archaeological materials, and trajectories associated with early and Republican Rome and its neighbors. All students will gain familiarity with the major scholarship in Classics and Archaeology with regards to the interpretation of Rome's rise, its historical reception, the major historical debates regarding the nature of Italy and Roman culture in the first millennium BCE, and the conflicts and agreements between historical sources and archaeological materials for this period. This course will be taught in-person if conditions permit, but students may also take the class remotely. Instruction will generally involve synchronous meetings during the allotted course time, with a focus on discussion of course readings, with some asynchronous instruction as needed. |
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