CLST 18 History of the Roman Empire: Roman Principate to Christian Empire
This course is designed to survey the major events in the history of Rome from 31 B.C. (Octavian/Augustus' success at the battle of Actium) through the accession and rule of Septimius Severus. During this period, the Roman empire (signifying the territorial extent conquered by Roman armies and administered by Roman officials) became a political community extending throughout the Mediterranean and northwards into Europe as far as Scotland. This course considers the logic of the Roman system: the mechanisms promoting the political identity of diverse peoples as Roman, and the endurance of local traditions within the Roman world; the reasoning whereby the overarching leadership of a single individual was conceived as necessary and good, and the evolving relationship between the princeps and the Roman senatorial aristocracy with a tradition of competitive participation and self identity in politics at Rome; the definition of the Roman frontiers and the role of the army in the assimilation of non-Roman peoples.
Cross Listed Courses
HIST 94.06