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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2023/2024

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Ancient History

Undergraduate Course: Running the Roman Empire (ANHI10096)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryIt is one of the oldest questions in the study of ancient history: How could the Romans run an empire that encompassed all of modern Europe and much of the modern Near East, with the institutional apparatus of a city-state? The course will approach the question from different perspectives. Its focus will be on the interplay between administrative and ideological aspects.
Course description It is one of the oldest questions in the study of ancient history: How could the Romans run an empire that encompassed all of modern Europe and much of the modern Near East, with the institutional apparatus of a city-state? The course will approach the question from different perspectives. Its focus will be on the interplay between administrative and ideological aspects in the time between Augustus and the reforms of Diocletian (27 BCE - 284 CE). We will discuss the institutions that made Roman rule possible, approaching each of them from the perspective of a) the central government that invented them, and b) the provincials that filled them with meaning.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking Running the Roman Empire (online) (PGHC11501)
Other requirements This course is available to all students who have progressed to Honours.
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics (at least 1 of which should be in Classical Art and Archaeology) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.

** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Gain a broad understanding of the running of the Roman Empire through seminar participation and self-study.
  2. Demonstrate, by way of seminar participation and coursework, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship and popular debates about the rise, fall and management of the Roman Empire.
  3. Demonstrate, by way of examination, coursework and seminar participation, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material and theoretical approaches.
  4. Demonstrate the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form.
  5. Transfer the knowledge gained in this course to other imperial formations in world history, and evaluate general debates about the nature of 'empire' and 'imperialism' throughout the ages.
Reading List
C. Ando, Imperial Rome AD 193 to 284, Edinburgh 2012.

M. Goodman, The Roman World 44 BC-AD 180, London 1997.

O. Hekster, Rome and its Empire, AD 193-284, Edinburgh 2008.

B. Levick, The Government of the Roman Empire. A Sourcebook, 2nd ed. New York 2000.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills - Assimilate, process and communicate a wide range of information from a variety of sources.
- Process and critically assess information derived from historical research, utilising theoretical and methodological knowledge and skills specific to the subject area.
- Provide clear written and oral analyses based on historical information.
- Master practical skills in accessing and interpreting historical sources.
- Undertake a sustained independent research project in the course essay, and complete it within a strict time limit. - Construct and pursue a coherent argument driven by analysis of the primary source material.
- Analyse, assimilate and deploy critically a range of secondary literature relevant and essential to the student's individual research subject.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Benedikt Eckhardt
Tel: (0131 6)50 9110
Email:
Course secretaryMiss Sara Dennison
Tel: (0131 6)50 2501
Email:
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