The Making of a Roman Emperor

Readings

[LC] = Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars, transl. C. Edwards (Oxford World’s Classics 2000). ISBN: ‎9780199537563. 

[A] = Tacitus, The Annals, transl. J.C. Yardley (Oxford World’s Classics 2008). ISBN: ‎9780192824219. 

[AE] = Virgil, The Aeneid, transl. R. Fagles (Penguin Classics 2010). ISBN: ‎9780143106296. 

[CNA] = E. Buckley and M.T. Dinter (eds.), A Companion to the Neronian Age (Wiley-Blackwell 2013). ISBN: ‎9781118316535. 

Session 1: Introduction

• No readings assigned.

Session 2: The Augustan Principate

• W. Eck (2008), “Augustus,” in A. Barrett (ed.), Lives of the Caesars, pp. 7–37. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: ‎9781405127547. [Preview with Google Books]
• B. Levick (2010), “Introduction: The Enigma,” in Augustus: Image and Substance, pp. 1–22. Routledge. ISBN: ‎9780582894211. [Preview with Google Books]

Session 3: Augustus in His Own Words

• M.G.L. Cooley, ed. (2023), “Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Achievements of the Deified Augustus),” in The Age of Augustus. 3^rd ed. Translated by B.W.J.G. Wilson. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781009382892. [Preview with Google Books]
• J. Elsner (1996), “Inventing Imperium: Texts and the Propaganda of Monuments in Augustan Rome,” in J. Elsner (ed.), Art and Text in Roman Culture, pp. 32–53. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9780521430302. [Preview with Google Books]

Session 4: Augustus of Prima Porta

• K. Galinsky (1998), Augustan Culture, pp. 155–179. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 9780691058900. 
• J. Pollini (2012), From Republic to Empire, pp. 162–203. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN: 9780806142586. 

Session 5: Virgil’s Aeneid I

• K.W. Gransden (1990), Virgil: The Aeneid, pp. 36–42 (a brief summary of the poem). Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9780521323291.
• [AE] Book 1.1–367 and Book 6 (pp. 47–57 and 182–212). [Preview with Google Books]
• Aeneid, Book 6: Virgil’s Underworld handout (PDF)

Session 6: Virgil’s Aeneid II

• [AE] Book 8 and Book 12.915–end (pp. 241–265 and 381–386).
• Aeneid, Book 8 handout (PDF)

Session 7: A New Golden Age

• Cooley, M.G.L., ed. (2023), Epigraphic sources for the Ludi Saeculares & Horace, Carmen Saeculare, in The Age of Augustus. Translated by B.W.J.G. Wilson. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781009382892. 
• ———, “The Social Legislation of Augustus,” in The Age of Augustus., pp. 353–372 Translated by B.W.J.G. Wilson. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781009382892. 
• P. Zanker (1988), The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus, pp. 156–192. University of Michigan Press. ISBN: 9780472081240. 

Session 8: The Forum of Augustus

• A. Wallace-Hadril (2018), Augustan Rome, 2^nd ed., pp. 65–88. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN: ‎9781472534262. 
• K. Galinsky (1998), Augustan Culture, pp. 197–213. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 9780691058900. 

Session 9: Suetonius’ Augustus

• [LC] Suetonius, ‘The Deified Augustus’, pp. 43–97.

Session 10: Historians of Augustus

• Velleius Paterculus, History of Rome, 2.59–93.
• [A] 1.1–15 (pp. 1–11). [Preview with Google Books]

Session 11: Cassius Dio: The Case for Monarchy

• C. Dio (1987), The Roman History, Book 52. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. Penguin Books. ISBN: 9780140444483. 

Session 12: I, Claudius

• No readings assigned.

Session 13: The Afterlife of Augustus

• K. Scott (1931–2), “Mussolini and the Roman Empire,” Classical Journal 27, pp. 645–657.
• R. Syme (2002), Preface, Chapter 1, and Chapter 30 in The Roman Revolution. Oxford University Press. ISBN: ‎9780192803207. [Preview with Google Books]
• “Rival Augustuses: Mussolini and Syme” handout (PDF)

Optional

• R. Syme (2002), Chapter 11 and Chapter 33 in The Roman Revolution. Oxford University Press. ISBN: ‎9780192803207. [Preview with Google Books]

Session 14: Theories of History

• K. Jenkins (2003), Re-thinking History, pp. 6–32. Taylor & Francis. ISBN: 9781134408283. 
• R. Evans (1997), In Defence of History, pp. 224–253. Granta Books. ISBN: 9781862071049.

Session 15: Introducing Nero

• M. Griffin (2008), “Nero,” in A. Barrett (ed.), Lives of the Caesars, pp. 107–130. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: ‎9781405127547. 
• [CNA] M. Griffin (2013), “Nachwort: Nero from Zero to Hero,” pp. 467–480.

Session 16: Elevating Nero

• Seneca (1986), The Apocolocyntosis. Translated by J.P. Sullivan. Penguin Books. ISBN: ‎9780140444896. 

Session 17: Nero’s Rome

• [LC] Suetonius, Nero, sections 31 and 38 (211–212 and 217).
• [A] Tacitus, Annals, 15.38–44 (pp. 356–360). 
• J. Elsner (1994), “Constructing Decadence: The Representation of Nero as Imperial Builder,” in J. Elsner and J. Masters (eds.), Reflections of Nero, pp. 112–127. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN: ‎9780807821435. 
• [CNA] H.-J. Beste and H. von Hesberg (2013), “Buildings of an Emperor—How Nero Transformed Rome,” pp. 314–331.

Session 18: Seneca and Not-Seneca: Clemency and the Octavia

• Seneca (2007), excerpts from “On Mercy (De Clementia),” in Dialogues and Essays. Translated by John Davie. Oxford University Press. ISBN: ‎9780199552405. 
• ——— (1966), “Octavia,” in Four Tragedies and Octavia. Translated by E.F. Watling. Penguin Classics. ISBN: ‎9780140441741. 

Session 19: Suetonius’ Nero

• [LC] Suetonius, The Life of Nero (pp. 195–227).
• T. Barton (1994), “The Inventio of Nero: Suetonius,” in J. Elsner and J. Masters (eds.), Reflections of Nero, pp. 48–63. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN: ‎9780807821435.

Session 20: Tacitus’ Nero I

• [A] Tacitus, The Annals, 12.64–14.65 (pp. 266–337).
• Please focus on the following sections:
  • 12.64 to 13.21: Murder of Claudius; Nero’s accession; Murder of Britannicus.
  • 13.45 to 13.46: Poppaea is a bad person, really really bad.
  • 14.1 to 14.22: Murder of Agrippina and aftermath.
  • 14.51 to 14.65: The fate of Burrus, Seneca, and Octavia.

Session 21: Tacitus’ Nero II

• [A] Tacitus, The Annals, 15.32–16.35 (pp. 353–393).

Session 22: Nero and the Christians

• A. Barrett (2020), Rome Is Burning: Nero and the Fire That Ended a Dynasty, pp. 143–174. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 9780691208503.
• [CNA] H. O. Maier (2013), “Nero in Jewish and Christian Tradition from the First Century to the Reformation,” pp. 385–404.
• “The Afterlife of Nero” handout (PDF)

Session 23: Big Screen Nero: Quo Vadis?

• M.S. Cyrino (2005), Big Screen Rome, pp. 7–33. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN: ‎9781405116831. [Preview with Google Books]

Session 24: Conclusion

• No readings assigned.