Module description
This module examines the establishment by Augustus of the autocratic regime known as the Principate, and the political and social consequences in Rome, Italy and the empire in the period 31 BC - AD 14. The primary aim is to study, and to attempt to distinguish between, the realities of power and the ways in which Augustus sought to influence public perception of his position through constitutional arrangements and written and visual media.
Among extant evidence the later historical accounts of Augustus' reign are fundamental, but close attention will also be paid to contemporary poetry, inscriptions, laws and coinage, and also to art and architecture - in particular the Augustan building programme in Rome - in the light of ongoing archaeological research.
The main topics include: the politics and settlements of 30-19 BC, and the royal building phase; the structure and workings of the imperial government: emperor, senate, decision-making; social and moral reforms; the new army and strategy, and victory monuments; the plebs of Rome, urban amenities; the succession; religious developments: shrines, altars and rituals, and emperor worship; literature: loyalty and dissidence; and, running throughout, the developing power and changing image of Augustus.
Assessment details
Online exam (100%)
Educational aims & objectives
Students will acquire a good general understanding of the main events and developments in Roman political and socio-economic history in the time of Augustus, and of the problems and controversies about reconstructing this from the available evidence of all types - literary, documentary and archaeological.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, the students will be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 6 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate:
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A broad knowledge of Roman history in this period
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the ability to evaluate critically the strengths and weaknesses of modern historical reconstructions and interpretations with reference to the ancient evidence of all types
Teaching pattern
20 x 2-hour seminars (weekly)
Suggested reading list
Cassius Dio, Roman History Books 51-6 (Penguin translation as The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus).
Res Gestae Divi Augusti: The Achievements of the Divine Augustus - available in several translations, especially in ed. M.G.L. Cooley, The Age of Augustus (Lactor 17; 2003).
W. Eck, Augustus (English translation 2003).
J.S. Richardson, Augustan Rome 44 BC to AD 14 (2012).
ed. K. Galinsky, The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (2005).
K. Galinsky, Augustan Culture (1994).