Bad Emperors Obsessed with Foreign Cultures
19 May 2021, 3:00 pm ET
Yiqun Zhou on Nero and Emperor Wu of the Han Read more
Rome
Comparatism Seminar Series
7 April 2021
This one-semester seminar series investigates current research and methodologies in comparatism, a key issue in Classical Studies, both within the ancient Mediterranean and more broadly. Read more
Snowden Lectures: Keith Bradley, The Bitter Chain of Slavery
‘The Bitter Chain of Slavery’: Reflections on Slavery in Ancient Rome Keith Bradley Towards the middle of the fifth century AD the Christian presbyter and moralist Salvian of Marseilles composed a highly polemical tract, On the Governance of God, in which he explained to the decadent Romans around him how it was that the destructive presence in their midst of barbarian invaders was the result not of God’s neglect of… Read more
Hostages in Republican Rome
“Is a study of hostageship in the Roman Republic worth the considerable effort? The answer must be an unequivocal yes; the institution is an important part of Rome’s political history. The exaction of hostages occurs in all periods and in all geographical regions of the empire; it is synonymous with Roman victory and Roman expansion. Indeed, the very importance of the practice is responsible for the fragmentary nature of the… Read more
The Epic City: Urbanism, Utopia, and the Garden in Ancient Greece and Rome
As Greek and Trojan forces battled in the shadow of Troy’s wall, Hephaistos created a wondrous, ornately decorated shield for Achilles. At the Shield’s center lay two walled cities, one at war and one at peace, surrounded by fields and pasturelands. Viewed as Homer’s blueprint for an ideal, or utopian, social order, the Shield reveals that restraining and taming Nature would be fundamental to the Hellenic urban quest. It is… Read more