Readings

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?