Undergraduate Course: The Roman World: Decline of the Republic, Costs of Empire (CLGE08006)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | How did Rome's republican system give way to imperial rule, and how did contemporaries understand and experience this change? Covering roughly the period from the social reforms of the Gracchi brothers to the universal extension of Roman citizenship (133 BCE - 212 CE), students will explore political instability, social and cultural change, imperial expansion and resistance through a range of literary, archaeological and material evidence. The course offers a compelling introduction to Roman history at a time of dramatic and consequential change. The many ways the Roman world has influenced and keeps influencing our modern societies will also be considered. No prior knowledge of ancient history is required. |
| Course description |
This course examines the social, political, and cultural history of the Roman world at an important time of change. Focusing on the processes and consequences of Rome's transition from republican system to imperial rule, it explores key moments of crisis and reform, expansion and consolidation; and asks how political change reshaped Rome, Italy, and the wider Mediterranean. Students will study Republican crisis and civil war, the rise of one-man rule, imperial ideology and resistance to Roman power, while also engaging with themes of social inequality, gender, citizenship, enslavement, and the environmental costs of empire.
Through lectures and source-based tutorials, students will develop core skills in historical analysis, including critical evaluation of different types of primary evidence and the ability to construct a clear and well-supported argument. The course combines close reading of literary and historiographical sources with the analysis of material evidence, including coins, monuments, inscriptions, and archaeological finds from Rome and its provinces. It also builds foundational knowledge of Roman chronology, geography, and institutions, while situating Rome's expansion within wider debates about imperialism, resistance, cultural interaction, and exploitation.
Issues of citizenship, empire, and inequality resonate strongly in our contemporary world; the course invites students to reflect on these issues through the lens of the classical world.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | ** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate an understanding of the political, social, religious, economic and cultural history of the Roman world, including the ability to make connections across a wide geographical and chronological range;
- identify, describe, and critically evaluate the major types of ancient evidence for the Roman world in the time from 133 BCE to 212 CE (literary texts, inscriptions, coins, material culture, visual sources);
- locate and use scholarly resources independently, demonstrating the foundations of research skills appropriate to the disciplines involved in the study of the ancient world;
- construct and form an independent argument about the Roman world based on the available evidence in written and oral forms.
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Reading List
Burrell, B., ed. (2024) A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Empire, Hoboken.
Crook, J.A. et al., eds. (1992) The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic, 146-43 B.C. (2nd edition), Cambridge.
Dillon, M., ed. (2015) Ancient Rome: Social and Historical Documents from the early Republic to the Death of Augustus (2nd edition), London.
Erdkamp, P., Verboven, K. and A. Zuiderhoek, eds. (2015) Ownership and Exploitation of Land and Natural Resources in the Roman World, Oxford.
Flower, H.I. (2010) Roman Republics, Princeton.
Galinsky, K., ed. (2005) The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus, Cambridge.
Lavan, M. (2013) Slaves to Rome: Paradigms of Empire in Roman Culture, Cambridge/New York.
Mattingly, D. (2013) Imperialism, Power, and Identity: Experiencing the Roman Empire, Princeton.
Potter, D. (2014) Rome in the Ancient World: From Romulus to Justinian, London.
Rantala, J., ed. (2019) Gender, Memory, and Identity in the Roman World, Amsterdam.
Richardson, J. (2008) The Language of Empire, Cambridge.
Tanner, J. & Gardner, A. (2024) Materialising the Roman Empire, London. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course embeds curiosity and inclusivity in ILO 1, which specifies the ability to make connections involving diverse societies; reflection and critical thinking in ILO 2, which specifies the ability to compare diferent types of historical evidence; data and digital literacy and individuality in ILO 4, which specifies the ability to approach scholarship and find bibliography independently; and problem solving and communication in ILO 5, which specifies the ability to construct and form an independent argument.
This course surfaces the same skills, collaboration and adaptivity via assigned readings, lectures, and discussion-based tutorials. In particular, lectures will be supported with preparatory guidance for students, handouts, and presentations that surface the skills in view in each week.
This course articulates the same skills in the writing of summative coursework (essay and exam) and formatively via assigned readings, lectures, and informal discussions in tutorials |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lina Girdvainyte
Tel: (0131 6)50 6693
Email: Lina.Girdvainyte@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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