The Principate created by Augustus ended the civil wars of the late Republic, and ushered in a new monarchical form of government that is often considered to have reached its apogee in the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. This module uses historical writings and contemporary documents and monuments to examine the course of the Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties and their successors, and how under their control the Empire experienced a period of relative peace and prosperity. It considers the main developments and events of the period in Rome and the provinces, and charts the increasing importance of Rome’s provinces, both socially and politically. In addition, the module examines the images and ideologies of imperial government created at Rome, and the extent to which this government was accepted or rejected in the provinces.

·        

• demonstrate knowledge of political, military and social developments throughout the Roman Empire as well as the various internal and external factors that influenced them.
• handle, with historical knowledge of the period, the available sources, including poetry, inscriptions and monuments, as well as contemporary and later historians.
• demonstrate an awareness of historiographical issues in studying material which is distorted by bias, self-censorship and governmental constraints.
• discuss these issues in written work with coherent and logical arguments, clearly and correctly expressed.

30 lectures and 6 seminars; independent study; 1 coursework feedback tutorial

The lectures provide an introduction to a particular topic, establishing the key points of major course themes, identifying important issues, and providing guidance for more in-depth reading. They aim to provide a basic framework for understanding, and should be thought of as a useful starting-point for further discussion and independent study. Slides and handouts, where appropriate, are used to illustrate the material discussed.

The seminars provide an opportunity for students to analyse and discuss key issues and topics in the module, and to get feedback on their ideas from the tutor and their peers. Handouts with material for study and suggestions for preparatory reading will be circulated prior to the seminars.

Independent study enables students to familiarise themselves with the primary source material and the most important modern approaches and debates on the subject. A reading list is provided, with guidance on key items of reading for major themes.

Coursework feedback tutorials provide students with an opportunity to get feedback and guidance on all aspects of their written work.

• analysis of a variety of different types of historical evidence, such as literary texts and material evidence
• assimilating and synthesising complex information and ideas
• critical thinking skills, such as analysing and evaluating evidence, critiquing interpretations or arguments, and challenging assumptions
• constructing and defending arguments based on evidence
• clear, accurate and effective communication of ideas and arguments in writing and in debate
• employing basic skills and conventions in the presentation and use of literary and material evidence
• contributing to group discussions
• using IT resources effectively
• independent working and time management

The module will be assessed through a 2000-word essay (35%), a class test (15%), and an exam consisting of two essay questions (50%).

The essay and exam questions will require knowledge and critical deployment of evidence and an awareness of modern scholarship to answer questions and construct arguments relating to the history of the early imperial period.

The class test is divided into factual questions and a source criticism exercise. The factual questions test students’ knowledge and understanding of the period. In the source criticism exercise, specific written or material sources relating to the history of the period will be set, and students will have to assess their significance, thus deploying their knowledge of the period and interpretations of it. The sources will be selected from the material discussed in lectures and seminars.

Type of assessment = CW

% Contribution = 35

Title = Essay

Duration = 
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment = Spring semester

Type of assessment = CT

% Contribution = 15

Title = Class test

Duration = 45 Minutes
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment = Spring semester

Type of assessment = EXSP

% Contribution = 50

Title = Exam

Duration = 2 hours
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment = Spring semester

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students who fail the module will normally be expected to resit the failed component(s) in the summer resit period.

·      

• the major literary sources, including Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny, Martial, Juvenal, and the Res Gestae
• other relevant types of source material, including epigraphy, archaeology and numismatics
• the establishment of the Principate and its evolution over this period; the civil wars of AD 69, and the consolidation of the Principate under the Flavians and their successors
• the course of succession, the Julio-Claudian and Flavian dynasties and their successors, and the character of individual emperors
• the elite: senators and equestrians and the development of a ‘civil service’
• developments in the provinces and on the frontiers; the economy of the empire
• relationship of emperor with the plebs, provinces and army
• changing religious and moral ideologies
• the image of the emperor and the imperial household

Essential reading and resource list

Tacitus, The Annals (Oxford, or online through Lacus Curtius)
Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars (Oxford, or online through Lacus Curtius)
Letters of the Younger Pliny (Penguin)

A. Cooley, Res Gestae Divi Augusti: Text, Translation and Commentary (2009)
M.G.L. Cooley, The Age of Augustus (2003)

R. Alston, Aspects of Roman History AD 14–117 (1998)
M. Goodman, The Roman World 44 BC–AD 180 (1997)
D. Potter, A Companion to the Roman Empire (2006)
R. Syme, The Roman Revolution (1939)
C. Wells, The Roman Empire (second edition, 1992)

More advanced:
A. Barrett, Caligula: the Corruption of Power (1989)
J. Bennett, Trajan: Optimus Princeps (1997)
A. Birley, Hadrian, the Restless Emperor (1997)

Cambridge Ancient History vols X and XI (second edition)
W. Eck, The Age of Augustus (2003)
K. Galinsky, The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (2005)

P. Garnsey and R. Saller, The Early Principate: Augustus to Trajan (1982)
M. Griffin, Nero, the End of a Dynasty (1984)
B. Levick, Tiberius the Politician (1976)

B. Levick, Claudius (1990)
B. Levick, Vespasian (1999)
F. Millar, The Roman Empire and its Neighbours (second edition, 1981)
F. Millar, The Emperor in the Roman World (second edition, 1992)
 

See the module handout for the full reading list.