Wherever possible, the book citations below reflect the specific editions used in the course.
Required Readings
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars. Translated by C. Edwards. Oxford, UK; New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2000, 2001. ISBN: 9780192832719.
Tacitus. The Annals of Imperial Rome. Translated by M. Grant. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1971, 1956. ISBN: 9780140440607.
Champlin, E. Nero. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780674011922.
Zanker, P. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1988, 1990. ISBN: 9780472081240.
| LEC # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
1 | Introduction: Studying Roman Emperors | |
2 | The Emperors and Their Empire |
The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Entries for: 'Rome (history)', 'senate', 'praetorians', 'Augustus', and 'Nero'. Zanker. pp. 1-31. |
3 | Suetonius' Augustus |
Suetonius. Augustus. pp. 43-97. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Entry for: 'Suetonius'. |
4 | Tacitus and Tacitus' Augustus |
Tacitus. Annals. 1.1-15, and 12.1-13.58. pp. 31-42, and 252-312. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Entry for: 'Tacitus'. |
5 | Tacitus' Nero | Tacitus. Annals. 14.1-16.35. pp. 312-397. |
6 | Suetonius' Nero |
Suetonius. Nero. pp. 195-227. Champlin. pp. 36-52. |
7 | Reading the Written Emperor |
Barton, T. "The inventio of Nero: Suetonius." In Reflections of Nero: culture, history, and representation. Edited by Jas Elsner, and Jamie Masters. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1994, pp. 48-63. ISBN: 9780807821435. Syme, Ronald, ed. "The political opinions of Tacitus." In Ten Studies in Tacitus. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1970, pp. 119-40. ISBN: 9780198143581. |
8 | Warring images: Octavian, Antony, and Actium | Zanker. pp. 33-77. |
9 | Inventing Augustus |
Zanker. pp. 78-100. Brunt, P. A., and J. M. Moore, eds. Res Gestae Divi Augusti: The Achievements of the Divine Augustus. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1969. ISBN: 9780198317722. |
10 | Shaping Roman Values | Zanker. pp. 101-166. |
11 | Golden Prosperity |
Zanker. pp. 167-192. The Aeneid of Virgil. Translated by Allen Mandelbaum. New York, NY: Bantam Press, 1981. 1.223-304, 6.679-end, 8.597-end, pp. 9-11, 161-168, 218-222. ISBN: 9780553210415. |
12 | Making Augustan History | Zanker. pp. 192-238. |
13 | Nero Makes a Spectacle of Himself | Champlin. pp. 53-83. |
14 | Neronian Myth-making | Champlin. pp. 84-144. |
15 | Nero Behaving Badly | Champlin. pp. 145-177. |
16 | Nero's Rome | Champlin. pp. 178-209. |
17 | Making a Military Mockery | Champlin. pp. 210-234. |
18 | Making Imperial History |
Jenkins, Keith. Re-thinking History. New York, NY: Routledge, 1991, pp. 6-32. ISBN: 9780415067782. Evans, Richard. In Defense of History. 2nd ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2000, pp. 75-102. ISBN: 9780393319590. |
19 | The Reel Nero: Viewing of Quo Vadis? (1951) | Wyke, Maria. "Nero: Spectacles of Persecution and Excess." In Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema, and History. New York, NY: Routledge, 1997, pp. 110-46. ISBN: 9780415906142. |
20 | Nero's Christian Afterlife | Champlin. pp. 1-35. |
21 | Mussolini's Augustus |
Raaflaub, K. A., and M. Toher. "Editors' Preface." In Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993, pp. xi-xxi. ISBN: 9780520084476. Scott, K. "Mussolini and the Roman Empire." The Classical Journal 27 (1931-2): 645-657. Aicher, P. 'Mussolini's Forum and the myth of Augustan Rome.' The Classical Bulletin 76, no. 2 (2000): 117-139. |
22 | Syme's Augustus |
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1939, 2002. pp. vii-xi, 1-9, 149-161, 459-475, and 509-524. ISBN: 9780192803207. Galsterer, H. "A Man, a Book, and a Method: Sir Ronald Syme's Roman Revolution After Fifty Years." In Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate. Edited by K. A. Raaflaub, and M. Toher. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1993, pp. 1-20. ISBN: 9780520084476. |
23 | Presentation and Discussion of Final Paper Topics | Reading for final paper. |
24 | Presentation and Discussion of Final Paper Topics (cont.) | Reading for final paper. |
25 | Viewing of I, Claudius (1976) |
Joshel, Sandra. "I Claudius: Projection and Imperial Soap Opera." In Imperial Projections: Ancient Rome in Modern Popular Culture. Edited by Sandra Joshel, Margaret Malamud, and Donald McGuire. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001, pp. 119-61. ISBN: 9780801867422. I, Claudius. Robert Wise, 1976. |
26 | Conclusion: Whose Emperors? |