ARCH0520 Spring17 S01 Roman Archaeology and Art

ARCH 0520  Roman Archaeology and Art   [CRN: 25378]

MWF 2:00-2:50

Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
Rhode Island Hall 108

 

Instructor: Margaret M. Andrews

Office: Rhode Island Hall 214 [Office Hours: Mon 12-2]

margaret_andrews@brown.edu

 

TA: Martin Uildriks

Office: Rhode Island Hall Grad Studio [Office Hours: Wed 1-2]

martin_uildriks@brown.edu

Anyone who has ever watched ‘Gladiator’, ‘Ben-Hur’, ‘Spartacus’, ‘Life of Brian’ or ‘Bugs Bunny: Roman Legion Hare’ has some image of Rome, the Romans and their empire. This course, while exploring and assessing these influential popular preconceptions, introduces a more balanced view of the archaeology and art of ancient Rome.

On a map of the modern world, the Roman empire would extend from Great Britain to Syria, from Germany to Egypt. The diversity of its inhabitants was equally stunning, ranging from god-like emperors to beggars and slaves. Out of the innumerable things to study in this imperial world, we will spend time in the city of Rome itself, stare at portraits of the ruling emperors, walk the streets of a doomed Pompeii, sniff out army life on the Roman frontiers, scream for blood in the Coliseum, and take baths with just about anybody.

We will also ask a range of other questions. What makes an empire? How was this particular vast and diverse empire governed? Who or what did its inhabitants worship? How did they feel about their emperor? How were they entertained? Why did the Roman empire ‘decline and fall’ (or did it?)? Are there contemporary lessons to be learned from the Roman experience?

Course requirements: 

• Two Map Quizzes = 5% each = 10%
• Three short writing assignments (ca. 750-1000 words) = 15% each = 45%
• Midterm exam = 20%
• Final exam = 25%

Required texts:

• N. Ramage and A. Ramage, Roman Art, 6th ed.
• Chris Scarre, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (PHAAR in syllabus)

**All other readings in the syllabus can be found in the DISCUSSIONS folder for each week**

 

SCHEDULE

SCHEDULE 

Week 1: Introduction to the Course

W - 1/25: Introduction to the course

F - 1/27: Historical Overview of Rome

• Ramage and Ramage, Introduction (13-25)

 

Week 2: The Beginnings of Rome

M - 1/30: Etruscans and Greeks

• Scarre, PHAAR 12-21
• Ramage and Ramage, Chapter 1 (35-67)

W - 2/1: The Early City of Rome

• F. Kleiner, A History of Roman Art, 1-7 

F - 2/3: Rome on the World Stage

• J. Stamper, "The Architecture of Roman Temples, Chapters 1,3 (6-15, 34-48)

 

Week 3: Republican Imperialism 

M - 2/6: Republican Architecture

• Scarre, PHAAR, 22-27
• T. Cornell, "The City of Rome in the Middle Republic (c. 400-100 BC)", 42-60
• J. Stamper, The Architecture of Roman Temples, Chapter 4 (49-67)

W - 2/8: Colonization and Town Planning [Map Quiz: City of Rome]

• J. Anderson, "Roman Architecture and Society, 183-204

F - 2/10: GUEST LECTURE: The Town of Gabii (Samantha Lash)

• J. Becker et al., "A New Plan for an Ancient Italian City: Gabii Revealed" American Journal of Archaeology 113 (2009), 629-632.

 

Week 4: The Late Republic

M - 2/13: Republican Art 

• Ramage and Ramage, 87-98  
• Scarre, PHAAR, 28-33
• D. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture, 31-40, 47-55 

W - 2/15: Roman Concrete and the Architectural Revolution 

• L. Lancaster, Concrete Vaulted Construction in Imperial Rome, 3-10
• Ramage and Ramage, 74-79

F - 2/17:  Building Competitions: Size Matters 

• F. Kleiner, A History of Roman Art, 84-87 [56-59 in posted PDF]

 

Week 5: Augustus

M - 2/20: NO CLASS

W - 2/22: Augustan Building at Home and Abroad

• F. Kleiner, A History of Roman Art, 89-94, 119-129
• Scarre, PHAAR, 34-35, 46-49

F - 2/24: Augustan Art

• Ramage and Ramage, Chapter 3, 122-138
• P. Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus, Chapter 4, 101-166.

**First Writing Assignment ("Rome in Film") Due - 2/24** 

 

Week 6: Crisis and Recovery

M - 2/27: Julio-Claudians

• Ramage and Ramage, Chapter 4, 145-188
• Scarre, PHAAR, 50-59

W - 3/1: Flavians

• F. Kleiner, A History of Roman Art, Ch. 10, 150-167

F - 3/3: SPECIAL: Rome in Film Review 

 

Week 7: Building for the people...

M - 3/6: Spectacles

• Aldrete, Daily Life in the Roman City, 119-140
• Scarre, PHAAR, 58-59, 82-83
• Connolly, The Ancient City, 176-217

W - 3/8: Public Provisions 

F - 3/10: Life in the Country

• M. Zarmakoupi, "Private Villas", 363-380

 

Week 8: Houses (Pompeii and Ostia)

M - 3/13: MIDTERM EXAM

W - 3/15: Domestic Spaces

• A. Wallace-Hadrill, Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum, 17-61
• F. Kleiner, A History of Roman Art, Chapter 4, 59-67, 241-44
• Ramage and Ramage, 246-47

F - 3/17: Domestic Decoration (Martin Uildriks)

• Ramage and Ramage, 98-109, 138-143
• S. Ellis, "Art in Roman Townhouses," in A Companion to Roman Art (2015), 369-87.

 

Week 9: Trajan and Hadrian -- Business and Pleasure

M - 3/20: Trajan

W - 3/22: Hadrian 

F - 3/24: Reading Power Exercise 

Ramage and Ramage, Chapters 6-7, 207-241

• Scarre, PHAAR, 60-61, 64-66, 72-73, 80-81
• M. Wilson Jones, Principles of Roman Architecture, Chapter 10, 199-212

**Second Writing Assignment ("Reading Power") Due - 3/24**

 

Week 10: SPRING BREAK 

 

Week 11: Last Gasps of Glory

M - 4/3: Antonines 

 W - 4/5: The Imperial Economy

• Aldrete, Daily Life in the Roman City, 187-202
• J. Stambaugh, The Ancient Roman City, Ch. 9, 142-156

 

F - 4/7: Roman Slaves (Martin Uildriks)

• Scarre, PHAAR, 67-71, 88-95, 98-101, 104-118, 124-25
• Ramage and Ramage, Chapters 8-9, 257-309
• Y. Thébert, "The Slave", 138-174
• M. George, "The Lives of Slaves" in The World of Pompeii (2007), pp. 538-49

 

Week 12 (11/29): Soldiers High and Low

M - 4/10: Severans 

W - 4/12: Army Life [Map Quiz: Roman Empire]

F - 4/14: GUEST LECTURE: Severan Urbanism in North Africa (Andrew Dufton)

• Bowman, Life and Letters from the Roman Frontier, Chapter 6, 65-81
• N. Hanel, “Military Camps, Canabae, and Vici,” in A Companion to the Roman Army (2007), 395-416

 

Week 13: The Beginning of the End?

M - 4/17: Cities in the East

W - 4/19: Tetrarchy

F - 4/21: Pagans and Christians

• Ramage and Ramage, Chapters 11-12, 325-65
• Scarre, PHAAR, 114-27
• R. Holloway, "The Tomb of St. Peter" in Constantine and Rome (2004), 120-156
• J. Elsner, Imperial Rome and Christian Triumph, Ch. 8 (199-235)

 

Week 14: Dealing with Death 

M - 4/24: Tombs

W - 4/26: Constantine and Beyond

**Third Writing Assignment ("Rome in America") Due - 4/26**

F - 4/28: NO CLASS - READING WEEK BEGINS

• F. Kleiner, 107-117, 249-261
• V. Hope, Roman Death, pp. 151-181.
• F. Feraudi-Gruénais, "The Decoration of Roman Tombs," in A Companion to Roman Art (2015), 431-50.