CLST 26: Later Imperial Roman Archaeology
Second through Fourth Centuries
W06 - 12 Hour - Prof. Ulrich

The collapse of ancient Rome has captured both popular and scholarly imaginations.  This course aims to explore the zenith of Imperial Rome and its subsequent decline, primarily as seen through the archaeological record.  The "collapse" is more of a cultural transition, as Rome absorbs and is finally transformed by the contributions of her provinces.  Although this course builds upon concepts introduced in CLST 24 and CLST 25, there are no prerequisites for CLST 26.  We will begin with a review of Roman society under the emperor Hadrian (117-138 A.D.) and continue through the principate of Constantine and the transfer of the capital from Rome to Byzantium (324-330 A.D.; renamed Constantinople, now modern Istanbul).  As a complement to the chronological structure of the course, we will examine the spread of Roman civilization through the provinces: sites in Sicily, central and northern Europe, northern Africa, the Dalmatian coast, Asia Minor, and the Near and Middle East.  We shall consider the phenomenon of "Romanization" of  non-Italic peoples, the effect of military and fiscal crises on the material culture of Rome, and the role of Christianity during the late Empire.

Requirements of the Course

Reading:
Textbooks for the course are on sale at Wheelock Books; these are marked with an asterisk in the schedule below, which also contains additional readings available from the Reserve Corridor of Baker Library, or from our informal Reserve filing cabinet on the third floor of Reed Hall. Readings should be completed before class meetings.  Daily class handouts and notes are available from the course website (see below).

Textbooks:
 • J. B. Ward-Perkins, Roman Imperial Architecture *RIA
 • H.P. L'Orange, Art Forms and Civic Life in the Late Roman Empire   *ArtForms
 • P. Southern, The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine *Southern

Copies on Reserve in Reed Hall that are indicated on the syllabus with abbreviations:
 • D. Kagan (editor), The End of the Roman Empire: Decline or Transformation?   *Kagan
 • R. Krautheimer, Three Christian Capitals.**TCC

Honor Code:
I invite all members of the class to share ideas both within and outside the classroom.  I expect all written work, however, to be composed by the individual under whose name it is submitted. For papers students are reminded to cite all ideas that are not their own these include traditional sources such as articles and books, as well as information or data acquired from electronic (e.g., the WWW)

Source Citation including web-based sources:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/

Course Website: CLST26

Written/Graded Work:
Hour Tests:
There will be two hour-length tests on the following dates:

Feb 1, March 1

Open-note pop quizzes can be given at any time; the prof. reserves the right to schedule additional short quizzes (with prior warning).

Term Paper (Due March 6):
Students are also required to write a 8-10 page paper on a suggested topic (posted on course website). Paper outline and bibliography due on Feb. 10. Students may also propose their own topic.

or Short Papers:
Instead of a term paper, a student may write a series of brief critical reports on readings (e.g., a book chapter or an article) selected either from the bibliography provided by Prof. Ulrich for each lecture (or an approved substitution).  These reports (eight in all)should be ca. 3-4 pages in length and handed in every week.  They cannot be written to evaluate required assigned readings.  Guidelines for these reports are described on the website.  If, at the end of term, fewer than six reports have been handed in, an "E" will be entered for that portion of the course.

Important Dates:
Test #1: Wed. Feb. 1
Test #2: Wed. March 1
Paper Due: Mon. March 6

Open Office Hours:
M, F:  2-3 p.m.  Office location 311 Reed Hall.
Call or "Blitz" to make an appointment at other times. Phone ext. 6-3491.

For Students with Disabilities
I encourage students with disabilities, including "invisible" disabilities like chronic diseases, learning disabilities, and psychiatric disabilities to discuss with me after class or during my office hours appropriate accommodations that might be helpful to them.

Schedule of Class Meetings, Tests and Paper.

I. The Importance of Being Emperor

- Class 1:  Jan. 4 Introduction: Rome
- Class 2:   Jan. 6 Hadrian's Villa
* RIA Chapt. 8: pp 185-210 [copies on reserve on third floor of Reed]
* Kagan pp 1-7; 9-20. [copies on reserve on third floor of Reed]
- Class 3: Jan. 9 Hadrian and the Greek World: Romanized Greece and Hellenized Rome.
* RIA Chapt. 10 pp 255-272 [copies on reserve on third floor of Reed]
* Kagan pp 40-54. [copies on reserve on third floor of Reed]
- Class 4: Jan. 11 Shooting for the Stars: Apotheosis of Emperors.
(Reserve): L'Orange, Apotheosis in Ancient Portraiture pp 11-18; 54-94. [copies on reserve on third floor of Reed]

II. Ostia and Portus: RomanLife in the Second Century and Beyond

- Class 5:  Jan. 13:  Ostia, Portus and Rome. Urban Organization for the Centers
of Power
RIA "Ostia" pp 141-155.
- Class 6: X-Hour Jan. 17: The Working Life: Ships, Shipping,Warehouses and Industry
(Baker Reserve) Meiggs, Roman Ostia ("Agriculture and Trade") skim pp 263-278; read 278-310 .   note: there are two copies of "Meiggs" on Reserve.
- Class 7 Jan. 18: The Leisure Life: Baths, Bars, Guild Halls and the Theater.
(Reserve): Meiggs, Roman Ostia ("Recreation") Chapt. 16, pp 404-430 or
(Reserve/Reed Hall): Hermansen, "The Roman Inns and the Law" pp 167-181.
- Class 8:  Jan. 20: Private Life: The Ostian House
(Reserve): Meiggs, Roman Ostia pp 235-262 or (Reserve/ReedHall): Hermansen, Ostia: Aspects of City Life pp 17-24 RIA pp 210-212.
- Class 9: Jan. 23: Religious Life: Temples and Mystery cults - .
(Reserve): Meiggs, Roman Ostia, skim Chapt. 15, pp 337-353; read 353-384.

III. The Late Second – Third Centuries: Glory and Decline

- Class 10: Jan. 25: Historical introduction to the Late Antique and the "Anti-Classical;" Military and economic problems; the "Marble Map."
 *ArtForms 3-33; *Southern: "The Third Century" 1-13.
- Class 11: Jan. 27:  Marcus Aurelius, his Philosopy, the Column and the Horse.
 * Kagan pp 145-161; * Southern pp.14-22.
- Class 12: Jan. 30: Septimius Severus and Caracalla: Arches and Baths.
(Reserve) F. Yegül, Baths and Bathing in Classical Antiquity 142-163.
Historical background, recommended: *Southern pp. 23-49
- Class 13: Feb. 1: First Hour Test

- Class 14: Feb. 3: Local Politics far from Mother Roma: the fora of Leptis Magna,
Sabratha, Sufetula and Timgad.
(Reserve): W. MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire (New Haven 1986) vol. 2 "Introduction" and "Urban Armatures"1-31; "Plazas" 51-66; *RIA "Tripolitania" pp 370-412 (concentrate on discussion of the sites mentioned above).
- Class 15: Feb. 6: Luxury in the East: the Case of Baalbek.
F. Ragette, Baalbek (Park Ridge 1980) 13-25; 40-51;52-62; *RIA 314-325.

- Class 16: Feb. 8: The Emperors of the Third Century: Searching for Identity
* Southern pp. 49-110.
- Class 17: Feb. 10: The Fortifications of Rome and Germany. Looking to the medieval idiom.
* Paper Outline and Bibliography Due.
* Southern: pp. 110-126.

IV. The Tetrarchy

- Class 18: Feb. 13: The concept of "emperor" as semi-divine:
The case of Diocletian
 *ArtForms 37-68
- Class 19 Feb. 15: The Palace of Split and the Villa of Piazza Armerina;
the Imperial Audience Hall of Trier.
*ArtForms 69-131 ; * RIA section on tetrarchic architecture in the provinces, pp. 441-465; Recommended: (Reserve): Wilson, Piazza Armerina (Austin 1983).
- Class 20 Feb. 17: Maxentius in the Heart of the City.
 * Southern pp. 169-181.
(Recommended, on Reserve): A. Frazer, "The Iconography of the Emperor Maxentius' Buildings in Via Appia," Art Bulletin46 (1966) 385-392.

V. Constantinian Rome

- Class 21: Feb. 20: Funerary Art and Architecture: Looking to the Afterlife.  A Poytheistic and Christian view.
* Kagan pp 66-81; Recommended: E. Malbon, The iconography of the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus  (Princeton 1990).
- Class 22-23: Feb. 22-24: Constantine and the Media.
The last Triumphal Arch.
*TCC Chapt. I: "Rome" pp 7-40.
- Class 24-25: Feb 27: The “Imperialization” of Christianity (reading list see Class 26)
- Class 25: March 1: Second Hour Test

VI. The New Capital: Constantinople

- Class 26: March 3:  The “Imperialization” of Christianity:
First Great Churches of Rome.
(Reserve): Ward-Perkins, "Constantine and the Origins of the Christian Basilica," Papers of the British School at Rome22 (1954) 69-90.
- Class 27: March 6: The topography of Constantinople
*TCC Chapt. 2, "Constantinople" pp 41-67. FINAL PAPER DUE

- Class 28: Haghia Sophia and the Pantheon
(Reserve): Wm. MacDonald, The Architecture of the Roman Empire, vol. I, Chapter 5 "The Pantheon" pp 94-121.