Undergraduate Course: Empresses and Others: Women of Imperial Rome (ANHI10052)
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 course explores the ideology and reality of women associated with the Roman emperors from the Late Republic to Late Antiquity, with special emphasis on the Julio-Claudians. |
Course description |
The course will explore the sources for the study of Roman women and will evaluate the depiction of Imperial women in art and literature as well as investigate the reality of their lives. Focus will be given to the gendered construction of Roman women in contrast to the lives they led in reality. Students will become aware of the historiography of the study of Roman women over the last 100 years and the development of women's history as an academic discipline. Topics will include succession issues; ideas of power; religion and morality; domestic life (court); literary constructions; artistic image.
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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 Classical Literature) 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
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Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 28 |
Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
|
Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
2000 word case study (25%)
2000 word essay (25%)
Exam:
Two hour exam (50%)
Part-Year Visiting Student (VV1) Variant Assessment:
If this course runs in the first semester - Semester 1 (only) visiting students will be examined in the December exam diet. |
Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. |
Exam Information |
Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:120 | |
|
Academic year 2024/25, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Quota: 2 |
Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
|
Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework:
2000 word case study (25%)
2000 word essay (25%)
Exam:
Two hour exam (50%)
Part-Year Visiting Student (VV1) Variant Assessment:
If this course runs in the first semester - Semester 1 (only) visiting students will be examined in the December exam diet. |
Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. |
No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate through written examination, coursework and seminar participation, to show an understanding of the varied complexity of the large body of evidence for Roman Imperial women;
- demonstrate through written examination, coursework and seminar participation, to show an understanding of the history of women and its importance for the political, social and cultural historian, as well as the theoretical implications for the study of ancient concepts of gender;
- demonstrate through written examination, coursework and seminar participation, to show an ability to use critically a variety of different methodologies and approaches to this body of material gained from a thorough interaction with scholarship and primary materials;
- demonstrate through written examination, coursework and seminar participation, to show bibliographical research skills to enable students to find independently additional information relating to the study of women in the Roman world.
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Reading List
Barrett, A.A. (2002) Livia: First Lady of Imperial Rome. London
Boatwright, M. (1991) 'The imperial women of the early second century AD', AJPh 112: 513-40
Boatwright, Mary T. (2021) Power, Gender, Context: Imperial Women of Rome. Oxford.
Brennan, T. Corey (2018) Sabina Augusta. An Imperial Journey. Oxford.
Feldherr (ed.), The Roman Historians. Cambridge: 276-287
Ginsburg, J. (2006) Representing Agrippina: Constructions of Female Power in the Early Roman Empire. Oxford.
Hemelrijk, E.H. (1999) Matrona Docta: Educated Women in the Roman Elite from Cornelia to Julia Domna. London
Langford, Julie (2013) Maternal Megalomania: Julia Domna and the Imperial Politics of Motherhood. Baltimore.
Setälä P. et al (eds), Women, Wealth and Power in the Roman Empire. Rome
Varner, E.R. (2001) 'Portraits, plots and politics: damnatio memoriae and the images of imperial women, Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 46: 41-93
Wood, S. (1999) Imperial Women: A Study in Public Images. 40BC - AD68. Leiden |
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
Special Arrangements |
In order for a student from outwith Classics to be enrolled on this course, contact must be made with a Course Secretary on 50 3580 in order for approval to be obtained. |
Keywords | Empresses |
Contacts
Course organiser | Dr Sandra Bingham
Tel: (0131 6)50 6689
Email: S.Bingham@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Shannon McMillan
Tel:
Email: smcmill4@ed.ac.uk |
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