General
Historical Information
- The
Early Empire
(AD
13-69)
- Imperial Succession:
key
requirements
for succession; what happened to bad emperors
- Determination of Policy: role of senate, amici, emperor
- machinery of governance: at local,
provincial, and "national" levels
- Army: size,
length of service,
bonus on retirement, legions versus auxiliary troops
- The Flavian
Dynasty (69-96)
- Who were they?
- What are some
of the things each
accomplished or were known for (political, military, social, economic,
if applicable)?
- What are the
important art and
architecture for each?
- How do some of
these reflect the
times or personalities of 'their' emperors?
- The Five
Good Emperors & Commodus (96-192)
- Who were they?
Where are some
from?
- What are some
of the things each
accomplished or were known for (political, military, social, economic,
if applicable)?
- What are the
important art and
architecture for each (if applicable)?
- How do some of
these reflect the
times or personalities of 'their' emperors?
- How were things
beginning to deteriorate
during the reign of Marcus Aurelius?
- The Severan
Dynasty (193-235)
- How do his
religious beliefs reflect
the age he lived in? Including what attracted him to Julia Domna?
- What changes
did he make to the
army? to the political system?Whom or where did he
fight?
- What happened
to his sons? Significance
of Caracalla's edict about Roman citizenship? Caracalla's coinage
change?
- Who
ran things
during the Severan
revival under Elagabalus and Severus Alexander? What was Elagabalus
like?
- The
Barracks Emperors (235-284)
- What happens
to: the coinage,
the frontier, the succession, the emperors, the economy, the cities
&
countryside, the army?
- Diocletian
(285-305)
- The 'title' of
the emperor changed
from princeps to what? How was the emperor separated from the people?
- How did he
change the administration
of the empire--tetrarchy, bureaucracy?
- How did he
treat the Christians?
- What did
Diocletian do in regard
to prices, wages, freedom of profession, and freedom of movement?
- The role of the
citizen was to
provide what two things? (hint: see Kebric, Ch 9)
- Constantine
(306-337)
- What was
Constantine's position
in regard to Christianity?
- Where did he
move the capital
to?
Specific
Topics:
- Art &
Architecture
- Growing Old
- How many lived
to age 50?
- What are some
of the things the
elderly could do?
- What freedoms
did they have?
- What does their
service in the
military and politics tell us?
- How were they
treated by others?
- What are some
of the advantages
and disadvantages?
- Pompeii
& Herculaneum
- Who later wrote
an eye witness
account of the eruption? How did Titus respond?
- Why are these
cities important
for our understanding of Roman culture and life?
- What were the
roads like? The
water supply?
- Name four
public buildings and
four private businesses at Pompeii that are typical of Roman towns.
- What were the
two key exports
of Pompeii?
- Know these
places: popina,
caupona, hospitia--what were they, how did they differ, what could one
get at them?
- Know the
function of the: atrium,
triclinium, lararium, peristyle.
- What were some
of the general
themes depicted on the art in the houses at Pompeii and Herculaneum?
- Religion:
- Mystery
Religions/Cults
- What are some
of the elements
most mystery religions had in common? Why are they called 'mystery'
religions?
- Who are the
more important gods
and their particular emphases?
- What did
these new foreign gods
and their worship have in common with Christianity?
- Christianity
- Why were the
Christians mistrusted?
Considered atheists, etc.?
- What is the
Roman view of Christians
and Christianity as revealed by the selections from Tacitus (Nero &
the great fire), Pliny, Trajan, Fronto, and by the story of Vibia
Perpetua
- What was the
Christian response
to the Roman charges (Tertullian), esp. those of Trajan and Fronto?
- What was
Septimius Severus' view
of Christians?
Possible Essay
Questions
to prepare for:
Vibia Perpetua
and Julia
Domna--the one a Christian convert who died a martyr, the other a
devotee
of Elagabal who had a strong belief in astrology and dreams--both
mirror
'challenges' that the Roman state religion was facing at that point.
Discuss. Make
sure you support your conclusions with good concrete examples solely from the evidence
presented in Kebric, Shelton, and
the pdf in Moodle on Perpetua
The letters
of Pliny the
Younger and the graffiti found at Pompeii and Herculaneum provide
important
sources for what life was like in the Early Empire. In your essay
look at how the graffiti complements and/or contrasts the view
presented
by Pliny. For Pliny's letters, check the index of Kebric's book for
examples
in chapters 6-9 and
the pdf in Moodle; for the graffiti, see Kebric, Ch. 6
and Shelton, #28, 84-5, 89, 94, 123, 131-133 (note these are the
numbers of the evidence, not the page numbers, e.g. #28 is on p25). Make sure you support your
conclusions with good concrete examples solely from the evidence
presented in Kebric, Shelton, and
the pdf.
Compare/contrast
President Obama's approach to Libya with the approaches of the
following
emperors--Trajan, Hadrian, and Septimius Severus--to Parthia.
Conclusions? [Note
1:
don't start with a description of each's approach, but organize your
discussion based
on points of comparison/contrast. Note 2: restrict
your evidence for Trajan, Hadrian, and Septimius Severus to that in
your texts and links from the assignments for the unit and class
discussion/lecture].