| Unit name | Viewing the City of Rome |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CLAS12357 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Hales |
| Open unit status | Open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit introduces students to the topography and architecture of Rome and assesses its visual impact, from the leisurely Campus Martius, the wealth of the Palatine, the expressions of national pride on the Capitoline to the slums of the Subura. We will look at the city's most famous monuments, such as the Colosseum but also at the backstreet insulae and the Cloaca Maxima, Rome's great sewer. Romans imagined their city by reference to its buildings; these architectural forms governed every aspect of a Roman's life, whether public or private, on business or at leisure, at worship or in pursuit of vice. As a result, this course does not just look at the form of buildings but at how they reflected and affected the activities taking place inside and around them. This strategy will afford us insight into how Romans thought about themselves and their place at the centre of empire.
