Undergraduate Course: The Roman World in the Second Century AD (LLLE07003)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 7 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This is a for-credit course offered by the Office of Lifelong Learning (OLL); only students registered with OLL should be enrolled.
For Edward Gibbon, author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, the second century AD was the time when 'the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous'. In this survey of Rome and its provinces during that period we shall investigate how justified Gibbon's famous assessment was.
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| Course description |
Content of course
1. Introduction : historical contextualisation; overview of the 2nd century by surveying briefly the reigns of the four principal emperors of the 2nd century - namely, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
2. The Spanish and Gallic provinces in the 2nd century with special focus on their romanisation and the persecution of the Christians in Gaul.
3. Britain in the 2nd century - the walls of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius; developments in the province to the south of the walls.
4. The Danubian provinces - Trajan's conquest of Dacia and the wars on the Danube of Marcus Aurelius.
5. Greece with special focus on Athens under Hadrian; Herodes Atticus.
6. Asia Minor - cultural and religious developments with special focus on Ephesos.
7. The eastern provinces with special focus on the events in the province of Judaea under Hadrian (i.e. suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt).
8. The Romans in North Africa with special focus on the area covered by present day Tunisia.
9. Cultural, religious and economic developments during the 2nd century - e.g. the Second Sophistic, the spread of Christianity, the beginnings of urban decline, the impact of plague.
10. Overall assessment of the 2nd century. Was Gibbon justified in seeing the age as the time when humanity was at its happiest and most prosperous? Surveying the future - the empire after the death of Marcus Aurelius in AD 180.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
¿ assess the development of the Roman Empire in the second century;
¿ analyse and compare the different provinces of the Roman Empire;
¿ evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of historical evidence;
¿ demonstrate the above learning outcomes in the assessment.
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Reading List
Essential
Garzetti, A., 1974. From Tiberius to the Antonines : A History of the Roman Empire AD 14-192. London: Methuen, 1974.
Goodman, M., 1997. The Roman World 44 BC - AD 180. London/New York: Routledge.
Recommended
Bowman, A.K., Garnsey, P. and Rathbone, D.,eds. 2000. The Cambridge Ancient History.
Volume 11, The High Empire A.D. 70-192. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Huskinson J., ed. 2000. Experiencing Rome : Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire. London: Routledge.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
This is a for-credit course offered by the Office of Lifelong Learning (OLL); only students registered with OLL should be enrolled.
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| Keywords | ZZoll |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sally Crumplin
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Mrs Sabine Murdoch
Tel: (0131 6)51 1855
Email: |
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