Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module students should be able to:
- Recognize the key people, events, and dates in Roman history from the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. to the death of Augustus in A.D. 14.
- Understand the process by which Augustus remodelled the Roman state and created a hereditary monarchy from the institutions of the Republic.
- Evaluate the usefulness of different types of evidence in reconstructing Roman history in this period, in particular coins, art and architecture, literary texts, and inscriptions.
- Analyse and comment on modern scholarly interpretations of the history, literature, and visual culture of the Augustan period.
Indicative Module Content:
Lectures
1: Introduction
2: The Ides of March
3: Caesar’s heir
4: The Triumvirate
5: Sextus Pompey and Sicily
6: Antony and Cleopatra
7: The Battle of Actium
8: The Republic Restored
9: The New Golden Age
10: The City of Rome
11: Virgil’s Aeneid
12: Augustan Poetry
13: Army and Frontiers
14: Imperial Family and Succession
15: Augustan Culture
16: Conclusion
For online delivery these topics will be broken down into smaller units.
Tutorials
1. After the Ides of March
2. Divi filius: son of a god
3. Civil War Politics and Propaganda
4. Augustan Poetry
5. Death of Augustus