Studies the Greek and Latin literature of the Roman Empire. Readings will include: Seneca, star prose writer and poet of tragedies that impressed Shakespeare; Lucanus’ anti-Aeneid; Petronius’ Satyrica, the first Latin novel; Tacitus, the dark historian; witty epigrams and biting satire; a speech On Magic; the Stoics Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, one an ex-slave, the other an emperor; and Plutarch’s account of Antony's love for Cleopatra
Code
PL3114
Name
IMPERIAL ROME: PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE, SOCIETY
Credits
4
Pre-requisites
None
Co-requisites
None
Equivalencies
Can be taken twice for credit?
No
Discipline
PL (Philosophy)
Level
Undergraduate
Type
GE100
CAMS ID
4455
Last update with CAMS
You will acquire a basic overview of the history of the Principate (Imperial Rome in the first two centuries CE), including political history, social history, gender studies, and history of ideas.
You will think critically about questions of elite identity and the socio-political role of higher education and scholarship.
You will have a good idea of the literature of that time, having read samples of almost all great authors of that period;
You will get to know the main philosophical movements of the time, in particular Stoicism;
You will improve your reading skills by studying a wide range of complex texts from a different time period;
You will become able to read critically, using basic techniques of historical source criticism and generic analysis;
You will learn to apply methods of philology and new historicism to avoid anachronistic interpretations and become able to recognize the alterity of a different culture
analyze philosophical and literary works as a form of social practice within its societal and political context.