Undergraduate Course: The History of Republican Italy through Inscribed Objects (ANHI10080)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This module introduces students to the latest modern epigraphic research and shows them how historians use inscriptions to study several Roman political, social, economic and cultural phenomena. Although the organisation of the course is thematic rather than chronological, the course pays particular attention to the transformation underwent by the Italian peninsula during the mid and late Republic. |
| Course description |
Epigraphy is a key tool available to ancient historians to reconstruct a past preserved only through a very fragmentary record. In Rome and Italy, using inscribed material acquired a major cultural significance almost unmatched by other ancient societies. Studying inscriptions, therefore, offers invaluable insights into many aspects of Italian politics, society and culture, such as the organisation of the state and the army, the relationship between Rome and its immediate neighbours, the evolution of burial practices, the spread of religious cults, the organisation of some economic activities and the world of the popular classes. Thus, this module will help students understand and contextualise better the historical evidence ancient historians use to reconstruct the past, while equipping them with a series of transferable skills that will be useful in other Roman history modules as well as in the study of other historical periods.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics related subject matter (at least 2 of which should be in Ancient History) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an understanding the importance of epigraphy for the historian;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, a familiarity with the practices involved in the reconstruction of epigraphic sources;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an understanding of the political and social transformations of Italy and as a result of Roman territorial and imperial expansion;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, a familiarity with a vast series of Roman socio-cultural practices;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the critical skills required to analyse the complexities of non-literary ancient sources.
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Reading List
Bodel, J. (2001) Epigraphic Evidence. Ancient History from Inscriptions, London and New York.
Cooley, E. (2012) The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy, Cambridge.
Gordon, A. E. (1983) Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy. Berkeley.
Meyer, E. (1990) 'Explaining the Epigraphic Habit in the Roman Empire: The Evidence of Epitaphs', JRS 80, 74-96.
Salway, B. (1994) 'What's in a Name? A Survey of Roman Onomastic Practice from c.700 b.c. to 700 a.d.', JRS 84, 124-145.
Shaw, B. D. (1984) 'Latin Funerary Epigraphy and the Family Life in the Later Roman Empire', Historia 33, 457-497.
Susini, G. (1973) The Roman Stonecutter: An introduction to Latin Epigraphy. Oxford.
Woolf, G. (1996) 'Monumental Writing and the Expansion of Roman Society in the Early Empire', JRS 86, 22-39. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Juan Lewis
Tel: (0131 6)50 4563
Email: Juan.Lewis@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Jenni Vento
Tel: (0131 6)50 3781
Email: jenni.vento@ed.ac.uk |
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