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  1. Historical Overview

  2. The Colossus of the Mediterranean World
    1. General characteristics of Roman civilization
      1. Contrast with Greeks
      2. The Roman character
          3. a)   The agrarian tradition
          b)   The sanctity of the family
          c)   Religious values
    2. Technology
    3. The Etruscan and Greek connections
      1. The Etruscans
          2. a)   A people with a high culture
          b)   Their legacy to Rome
      2. The Greeks of the Hellenistic Age
          3. a)   A people with a high culture
          b)   Their legacy to Rome
    4. Rome in the Age of Kings, 753-509 B.C.E.
      1. Impact on Roman institutions
      2. The first appearance of class struggle in Rome
    5. The Roman Republic, 509-31 B.C.E.
      1. The Early Republic, 509-264 B.C.E.
          2. a)   Defeat of the Etruscan overlords and the establishment of a republic
          b)   The domestic crisis
            (1)   Struggle between patricians and plebeians
            (2)   The emergence of the Senate to leadership
          c)   The foreign crisis
            (1)   The threat of nearby peoples
            (2)   Conquest of the Italian peninsula
            (3)   Rome's genius at dealing with conquered people
      2. The Middle Republic, 264-133 B.C.E.
          3. a)   The assimilation of Italy into the Roman orbit
          b)   The challenge of Carthage
            (1)   The issues making for war
            (2)   The three Punic Wars
            (3)   Ultimate Roman victory
          c)   The conquest of the Hellenistic world
      3. The Late Republic, 133-31 B.C.E.
          4. a)   Oligarchy
          b)   The problem of the equestrian order
          c)   The changing nature of the masses
            (1)   Landless citizens, slaves, and foreigners
            (2)   "Bread and circuses"
          d)   Julius Caesar's lofty vision and failed reforms
          e)   Civil war
    6. Growing autocracy: Imperial Rome,31 B.C.E.- 284 C.E.
      1. Historical overview
      2. Pax Romana, 31 B.C.E.- 193 C.E.
          3. a)   Keeping the peace
          b)   The key role of Egypt
          c)   The spread of Roman civilization
          d)   The growing economy
      3. Civil wars, 193-284 C.E.
          4. a)   The problem with choosing new emperors
          b)   The Barrack Emperors
          c)   Other imperial problems

  3. The Style of Pre-Christian Rome: From Greek Imitation to Roman Grandeur
    1. Foundation in Hellenistic Culture
    2. Roman religion
      1. Native cults and beliefs
      2. Its syncretistic nature
          3. a)   The gods and goddesses of Greece
          b)   Innovative cults in the post-Punic War period
          c)   Emperor worship
    3. Language, literature, and drama
      1. The Latin language
      2. The first literary period, 250-31 B.C.E.
          3. a)   Characteristics
          b)   The birth of Roman theater: Roman comedy
            (1)   Plautus
            (2)   Terence
          c)   Roman poetry
            (1)   Lucretius's On the Natur of Things
            (2)   Catullus's "small" epics, epigrams, and love poems
          d)   Cicero, the greatest writer of the age
            (1)   Philosophy
            (2)   Oratory
            (3)   Letters
      3. The second literary period: The Golden Age, 31 B.C.E.- 14 C.E.
          4. a)   Characteristics
          b)   Vergil
            (1)   Pastorals: Eclogues and Georgics
            (2)   Epic: the Aeneid
          c)   Horace
            (1)   Odes
            (2)   Letters in verse
          d)   Ovid and the Metamorphoses
      4. The third literary period: The Silver Age, 14-200 C.E.
          5. a)   Characteristics
          b)   Seneca and Roman tragedy
          c)   Juvenal and satire
          d)   Tacitus's Annals and Histories
            (1)   Heir to the Greek tradition
            (2)   History with a moral purpose
      5. Philosophy
        1. Characteristics of Roman thought
        2. Stoicism
            3. a)   Seneca
              (1)   The Letters on Morality
              (2)   His influence
            b)   Epictetus
              (1)   Background
              (2)   Discourses and Handbook
            c)   Marcus Aurelius
              (1)   Background
              (2)   Meditations
        3. Neo-Platonism
            4. a)   Origins in Platonism
            b)   Plotinus
      6. Science and Medicine
        1. Three stages of development
        2. Celsus
        3. Galen
      7. Law
        1. Rome's most original contribution
        2. The idea of natural law
        3. The evolution of Roman law
            4. a)   The Twelve Tables
            b)   The role of the praetors
            c)   The jurisconsults
            d)   The legal codifications of the second and third centuries C.E.
      8. The visual arts
        1. Uses and influences
            2. a)   Roman practicality
            b)   Etruscan and Greek influences
        2. Architecture
            3. a)   Materials and style
              (1)   Changing types of building materials
              (2)   The temple, the chief Roman architectural form
              (3)   Innovations: rounded arch, barrel vault, groined vault, and dome
            b)   The prototype of the Roman temple: the Maison Carrée
              (1)   Features and characteristics
              (2)   Influence
            c)   The round temple: the Pantheon
              (1)   Features and characteristics
              (2)   Influence
            d)   Urban planning: the forum
            e)   The triumphal arch
              (1)   A symbol of empire
              (2)   Characteristics
            f)   Amphitheaters
              (1)   The Colosseum
              (2)   Its relation to the realities of Roman life
            g)   Provincial town centers
            h)   Bridges and aqueducts
        3. Sculpture
            4. a)   Tastes of artists and patrons
            b)   First phase, third to first century B.C.E.
              (1)   Head of Brutus
              (2)   Characteristics
            c)   Second phase, the Late Republic of the first century B.C.E.
              (1)   Republican Portrait of a Man
              (2)   Characteristics
            d)   Third phase, 31 B.C.E.- 284 C.E.
              (1)   Characteristics
              (2)   Prima Porta portrait of Augustus
              (3)   The Ara Pacis altar
              (4)   March of the Legions, a relief from the Arch of Titus
              (5)   The frieze from Trajan's Victory Column
              (6)   Marcus Aurelius
        4. Paintings and Mosaics
            5. a)   Techniques and subjects
            b)   The murals from Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii
            c)   Mosaics in the provinces
      9. Music
        1. The dominant role of the Greek tradition
        2. The imperial period
            3. a)   Spectacles and pantomimes for the masses
            b)   Private orchestras and choruses
            c)   Lyric poetry
            d)   Musical instruments

    4. The Legacy of Pre-Christian Rome






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