Rome: The Beginnings And ‘The Republic’ (HIS 31)

  • Day and time: Thursday 10:00 - 11:30
    Weekly
  • Length of course: 3 terms. Autumn (10 Weeks), Spring (10 Weeks), Summer (9 Weeks)
  • Number of places: 45
  • Start date: 13 October 2016
  • Description:

    We begin by comparing the legendary account of Rome’s foundation (about 750 BC) with what the archaeological record tells us (from about 950 BC). we look at the period of ‘the Kings’, the overthrow of monarchy and the foundation of ‘the Republic’ (the likely complicated reality versus the ‘tidy’ Roman account), the main developments [in outline] under ‘the Republic’ from 500 to 200 BC – including Roman expansion in Italy, the wars with Carthage, and the growth of ‘empire’. We then move to the primarily political history of the state from 150 BC in greater detail: the reforms of the Gracchi Brothers, Gaius Marius, Sulla’s ‘dictatorship’, the rise of Pompey, Cicero’s consulship, the ‘first’ Triumvirate (of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar), the breakdown of ‘the Republic’, and the dominance, reforms and assassination of Julius Caesar himself – leading to the rise of Octavian (the future ‘emperor’ Augustus). A modest charge for ‘transcripts’ of the illustrated talks.

  • Format: Lecture


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