At its peak, the Roman Empire ranged from the shores of the Atlantic to the Persian Gulf. We will study the rise and fall of this multicultural empire, from its emergence out of a fractious republican oligarchy and its multi-century run of stability to its eventual disintegration. We will listen to the Empire’s many voices: the emperor grumbling that the people of Rome did not have one neck; the young woman memorializing her dreams of triumph on the eve of her martyrdom; the centurion boasting of slaughtered Dacians and naked water goddesses. Finally, we will assess the Empire’s relevance to early modern and modern societies across the globe.
