| Unit name | The Age of Augustus: Myth, History and Historiography |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CLASM0017 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Liveley |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will examine a range of ancient and modern views of the nature and significance of the Age of Augustus as a major turning point in the history of Rome. It looks first at the ways in which individuals and events of Rome's remote and recent past - from Aeneas to the Battle of Actium - were represented in the literature, art and architecture of the Age of Augustus, and analyses the role of such representations in the creation of the new Augustan myth of a return to the Golden Age. The unit then explores where and why this positive image of Augustus as a saviour of Rome has been accepted or rejected, looking at a range of accounts from Velleius Paterculus and Tacitus to Mommsen, Mussolini and Syme.
