The Roman Empire stretched from Britain to modern-day Syria, from Morocco to Romania. How did Rome control an empire which ranged from the societies of the Mediterranean basin to those of Arabia and temperate northern Europe? How did the peoples of these regions adapt to, or indeed resist, ‘becoming Roman’?
This module will give you a thorough foundation in the history of the Roman Empire from the first emperor Augustus in the 1st century BCE to late antiquity and the rise of Christianity in the 4th century CE. You will study the immense social, economic and religious changes that occurred across Europe and the Near East in this period, as well as the political and military history of the Empire. You will confront the challenges of writing Roman history from textual sources that are often fragmentary or have political and rhetorical agendas which are alien to us today. You will also learn to integrate material evidence, from coins and inscriptions to archaeology, into your understanding of the Roman Empire.
What our students say:
‘As someone who didn't know a lot on the topic, the lectures were very informative in helping me to build up my knowledge and the readings were accessible but still challenging... Reading about archaeology was also a very different approach to what I'm used to and greatly helped me with analysing physical sources rather than only written works.’ (Anonymous student evaluation)
‘Eleri is a phenomenal lecturer and seminar tutor. She is very engaging, attentive, and helpful... I think the most valuable aspect of the material itself was how well-rounded it was. Rather than just focusing on the city of Rome, or on religion, or culture, or otherwise, we got a well-rounded overview of the entire empire.’ (Anonymous student evaluation)