University home | Studying | Research | Business and community | Working here | Alumni and supporters | Our departments | Visiting us | About us

• Intranet Home
• About the Faculty
• Studying
  • The College Taught Handbook
  • Undergraduates
    • Programmes
    • Modules
  • Postgraduate taught
  • Postgraduate research
• Careers
• Year Abroad
• Information about staff
• Information for staff only
• Back to College website

CLA1354 - Ancient Sources (Material Evidence): Brave New Rome of Augustus

2014/5 Module description

Staff	Professor Elena Isayev - Convenor
Credit Value	15
ECTS Value	7.50
NQF Level	6
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
Duration of Module	Term 2: 11 weeks;

Module aims

This module provides an introduction into how to use and analyse visual and material evidence as a historical source. Students will engage in in-depth thinking into the underlying aims of and influences on the building programme, the monuments and art of Augustan Rome. The module considers key issues of the Augustan Age, uses and definition of propaganda, and the ancient viewer. What models are drawn on to create the new capital city worthy of empire? How is the art and architecture used to rewrite history and bring in new ideals where gods mingle with mortals and myth becomes reality? Can we begin to understand the effect of the new structures on the Roman population? How did the building programme refocus the centres of activity and redirect the movement and gaze of the city? In what sense is the building programme innovative and to what extent is it simply mirroring trends of other great cities with similar types of rule? Is it a monument to immortality?

ILO: Module-specific skills

• 1. Through an analysis of visual and material evidence, on completion of this module students will be able to describe and evaluate the changes which Augustus brought about in the city of Rome and the desired as well as actual impact of the transformation
• 2. They will also have assimilated an understanding of how to use the physical and artistic environment and particularly public monuments in enriching the history of the period
• 3. They will be able to examine more complex themes connected to imperialism, imagery as a political tool and theoretical models which help in accesing the experience of the ancient viewer

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

• 4. Students will be able to use, analyse and evaluate visual and material evidence as a major source for understanding the ancient world.
• 5. They will also develop advanced academic and library skills as well as a critical ability in assessing published literature with issues of the history of the city of Rome and the Augustan Age as well as more general approaches to the uses of art and architecture by those in power, and ideas about visualising and mythologising history.

ILO: Personal and key skills

• 6. Students will demonstrate independent and group study skills in research and presentation of findings.
• 7. An ability to select and organise relevant material and to present a strong argument in oral and written form, and to discuss issues in a peer group.

Syllabus plan

1. Introduction and historical background

2. Achieving immortality: monument & text

3. What's in a face: the image of youth

4. Campus Martius: Augustan Theme Park

5. The Ara Pacis and the new Classicism?

6. Palatine: inviting gods into the home

7. New districts of Rome & Imperial cult

8. Rewriting history: Augustan Forum

9. The New Women: Cleopatra & Livia

10. Augustus as seen from Abroad

11. Mussolini: the legacy of empire

12. Concluding remarks

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
27	123	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	22	Lectures (11 x 2hr)
Scheduled learning and teaching activities	5	Seminars (5 x 1hr)
Guided independent study	123	Independent study

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Oral presentation	5-10 minutes	1-7	Verbal feedback

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
30	70

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	30	2000 words	1-7	Mark and written comments
Exam	70	2 hours	1-7	Mark and written comments

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay	Essay	1-7	ref/def period
Exam	Exam	1-7	ref/def period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Reading list: To be confirmed 1. Core Set Texts G.K. Galinsky, Augustan culture : an interpretive introduction (Princeton, N.J 1996). T. Habinek, A. Schiesaro (eds.), The Roman Cultural Revolution (CUP 1997). K.A. Raaflaub, M. Toher (eds.), Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and his Principate (Berkeley 1990) P. Zanker, The Power and Images in the Age of Augustus (1988).

2. Other Recommended Reading: M. Beard, J. Henderson, Classical Art from Greece to Rome (2001). Clarke, John R., Art in the Lives of Ordinary Romans. Visual Representation and Non-Elite Viewers in Italy, 100 B.C. - A.D. 315 (Berkeley 2003). M. Biddiss, M. Wyke (eds.), The uses and abuses of Antiquity (1999) J. Elsner, Art and the Roman Viewer (Cambridge 1995) J. Elsner, Art and Text in Roman Culture (Cambridge 1996). D. Kleiner, Roman Sculpture (Yale UP 1992), J. Lott, The Neighborhoods of Augustan Rome (CUP 2004). A. Powell, Roman Poetry and Propaganda in the Age of Augustus (1992).

Module has an active ELE page?

Yes

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/search.php?search=CLA1354

Available as distance learning?

No

Last revision date

06/08/2014