CLA 436 - The Roman Revolution

The Roman Revolution is the title of an influential book by Sir Ronald Syme, who follows Asinius Pollio in taking 60 BCE as the start of the collapse of the republican form of government. This course will take the broader view adopted by T. Mommsen and other scholars who, like Appian, begin with the tribunate of Tiberius Gracchus in 133. We will study the political story of the fall of the republic together, and then split up to research aspects of the other side of our theme, the Roman cultural revolution. If you prefer, you may research a topic relating to Octavian’s transformation of Roman institutions and culture into the Roman Empire.

Counts as a pre-modern and 400-level seminar course in the History major and minor.