Module CLAS3321: URBS ROMA

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS3321: URBS ROMA

Prerequisites

• CLAS1301

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To equip students with an understanding of the city of Rome in the Republic and early Empire in its historical, cultural, topographical and architectural context.
• to provide experience of evaluating different types of ancient evidence and modern historical, topographical and archaeological discussions.
• and to enable them to form independent conclusions relating to the material studied.
• using a combination of lectures, seminars and tutorials.
• Subject knowledge and skills in historical, topographical and architectural evaluation are tested by written examination and skills in architectural research and illustrated written presentation are tested in a submitted portfolio.

Content

• The module, intended for students with some previous knowledge of Roman society and of selected buildings of the city of Rome in the Augustan period, approaches the study of Rome as a city, regarded above all as a physical and an architectural entity, as well as a cultural phenomenon, and an ideal.
• This thematic topic involves both historical, archaeological, topographical and literary approaches to a wide range of evidence drawn from the republican and imperial periods.
• Aspects covered include 1. The site of Rome, its urban origins and early development. 2. The physical changes to Rome between the Archaic period and the Republic. 3. The organization and interpretation of the Roman Forum. 4. The impact of empire on the architecture of the city. 5. The buildings of the Campus Martius. 6. The Imperial Fora. 7. Housing and burial 8. The religious buildings of the city 9. The imperial baths 10. The transformation of the city in late antiquity
• Archaeological and cartographic material as well as selected extracts in translation from various sources (literary and epigraphic) are studied.

Learning Outcomes

• A knowledge of the chief city of the Roman world over a time span of some 1000 years, based on an acquaintance with the varied range of evidence (visual and literary) which pertains to it; a grasp of Roman self-awareness in relation to the buildings of their city as a cultural monument; sophisticated ability to handle issues of scholarly debate in the areas studied.
• An awareness of the topography and architecture of ancient Rome and an understanding of the literary and archaeological material employed in its reconstruction; sophistication in using cartographic and archaeological evidence.

• An ability to handle the methodologies appropriate for a sophisticated understanding of the diverse range of evidence that exists for the history of antiquity: in particular archaeological remains of structures and artefacts, topographical sources, written texts (literary and otherwise), and early modern engravings and maps of the city; an ability to synthesise these different forms of evidence in reconstructing a coherent and plausible picture of the city of Rome and its culture; the ability to present ideas and arguments in written form according to the conventions of academic writing.

• The skills needed to analyse, evaluate, and synthesise a wide range of evidence, and to select and apply the methodologies appropriate in different cases;
• The capacity to sustain a clear, well-structured, and well-defended argument in written form;
• The ability and self-discipline to work autonomously, and the capacity for organisation required to meet deadlines and to negotiate competing claims on finite resources;
• Facility with key IT resources: in particular, the ability to use word-processors and online databases;
• Also the ability to make fruitful use of internet resources.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures are appropriate to the imparting of information and of methods of interpretation, of both ancient evidence and modern scholarship.
• Seminars on archaeological and topographical material provide engagement with varieties of historical evidence.
• Writing essays enables the assembling and evaluation of material and the formulation of logical and coherent argument, as well as skills in written English.
• The portfolio tests students' ability to focus relevantly on historical issues and visual material, assesses their understanding of the methodologies for handling artefactual, visual and written material, and demonstrates their ability to organise knowledge and argument for the purposes of a research project appropriate to the level and to questions raised in the module.
• Tutorials contribute to the critical handling of evidence required to be evaluated in the portfolio assignments and to facility of discussion of methodological issues.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One essay, 2500 words, and one portfolio assignment, 1500 words. No collections.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University