HIST 300: Emperors, Bishops, and Barbarians: Rome from Constantine to Charlemagne Fall Semester 2017 Mondays & Wednesdays | 3:40-4:55pm | Section A03 Dr. David Lambert Email: [email protected] Office Hours by appointment Course Description Emperors, Bishops, and Barbarians examines the turbulent history of the city of Rome in late antiquity and the early middle ages. Beginning with the impact on Rome of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, it pursues the history of the city through the last two centuries of the Roman empire in the West, conquest by the Goths, reconquest by the Byzantines, and the rise of the papacy in the early middle ages, ending with the impact on Rome of Charlemagne, founder of the Holy Roman Empire. The course will examine the social and political sources of change in the city of Rome, as it was ruled by Roman emperors, Gothic kings, Byzantine emperors, and Popes. Literary sources, the buildings and archaeology of the city, and modern scholarship from a variety of perspectives will be combined to examine the history, society, politics, and culture of the city of Rome as it moved from the classical world to the middle ages. This course has no prerequisites and assumes no prior knowledge of Roman or early medieval history. Learning Outcomes The key objective of this course is to gain an understanding of the history of the city of Rome in late antiquity and the early middle ages. At the end of the course, students are expected to: Understand the key problems and debates concerning the history of the city of Rome from AD 300 to 814, and be sensitive to the problems of interpreting evidence. Be able to scrutinize, evaluate and analyze critically the relevant source material. Demonstrate that they can understand, summarize, and contextualize both primary sources and the modern scholarly discussions around them. Required Text / Materials There is no required textbook for this course. All assigned readings will be posted on Sakai. 1 Attendance Policy In accordance with the JFRC mission to promote a higher level of academic rigor, all courses adhere to the following absence policy: For all classes meeting once a week, students cannot incur more than one unexcused absence. For all classes meeting twice a week, students cannot incur more than two unexcused absences. For all classes meeting three times a week, students cannot incur more than two unexcused absences. This course meets twice a week, thus a total of two unexcused absence(s) will be permitted. Unexcused absences beyond these will result in a lowering of your final grade. Evaluation Midterm Exam 30% Essay 30% Final Exam 30% Participation 10% Grading 94-100: A 90-93: A- 87-89: B+ 84-86: B 80-83: B- 77-79: C+ 74-76: C 70-73: C- 67-69: D+ 60-66: D 59 or lower: F Written work, and to a certain extent also the final exam, meriting the grade of “A” (excellent) must: address the assigned question or topic directly and intelligently; demonstrate a careful and considered reading of the texts at hand; present a lucid thesis and a reasoned argument in its defense; use correct grammar, punctuation, and sentence construction; make appropriate use of quotations from the texts; reveal thoughtfulness, originality and insight. Written work and examinations awarded the grade of “B” (good) adequately fulfil a majority of these criteria, with areas of improvement indicated by grading remarks and comments. The grade of “C” (average) is given when written work and examinations fail to meet most criteria. The grade of “D” is assigned to written work and examinations that fall completely below the standards outlined above. 2 The Essay Students are free to choose their own essay topic (within the general subject matter of the course), in consultation with the instructor. All essay topics must be approved by the instructor, and students must produce a rough draft of their essay for review before final submission of the essay. Students are expected to base their essay on suitable reading, consisting of relevant primary sources and appropriate modern scholarly literature (books, journal articles, and scholarly reference works, whether in printed or online form). They must show that they have made a reasonable effort to read and engage with any reading for their essay suggested by the instructor. Essays have a word-limit of 3,000 words, including footnotes/endnotes. Essays submitted after the final deadline will be penalized by a grade. Academic Honesty Plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable at the JFRC and will be dealt with in accordance with Loyola University Chicago’s guidelines. Please familiarize yourself with Loyola’s standards here: http://www.luc.edu/academics/catalog/undergrad/reg_academicintegrity.shtml. You are responsible for understanding what constitutes plagiarism according to the LUC Student Handbook. Disabilities Students with documented disabilities who wish to discuss academic accommodations should contact the instructor in the first week of class, as well as the Senior Academic Services Advisor. 3 Proposed Schedule Week 1: Constantine’s Rome . Bertrand Lançon, Rome in Late Antiquity, trans. A. Nevill (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), 3–30. Richard Krautheimer, Three Christian Capitals: Topography and Politics (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), 7–40. R. Ross Holloway, Constantine and Rome (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2005), 1–18. John Curran, Pagan City and Christian Capital: Rome in the Fourth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000), 70–115. Week 2: Difficillima tempora? . Bertrand Lançon, Rome in Late Antiquity, trans. A. Nevill (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), 45–68, 76–84, 115–120, 146–8. John Matthews, Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court, A.D. 364-425 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), 1–31. Mark Humphries, ‘From emperor to pope? Ceremonial, space, and authority at Rome from Constantine to Gregory the Great’, in Kate Cooper & Julia Hillner (eds.), Religion, Dynasty, and Patronage in Early Christian Rome, 300–900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 21–59: pp. 21–39. Geza Alföldy, ‘Difficillima tempora: urban life, inscriptions, and mentality in late antique Rome’, in T.S. Burns & J.W. Eadie (eds.), Urban Centers and Rural Contexts in Late Antiquity (East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press, 2001), 3–24. Week 3: The Making of a Christian Aristocracy . Bertrand Lançon, Rome in Late Antiquity, trans. A. Nevill (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), 30–31, 68–75, 98–111. John Curran, Pagan City and Christian Capital: Rome in the Fourth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000), 260–320. Michele Renee Salzman, The Making of a Christian Aristocracy (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2001), 178–219. Week 4: Subterranean Rome – Catacombs and Martyr Cult . Bertrand Lançon, Rome in Late Antiquity, trans. A. Nevill (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), 125–129. John Osborne, ‘The Roman Catacombs in the Middle Ages’, Papers of the British School at Rome 53 (1985), 278-328. L.V. Rutgers, Subterranean Rome: In Search of the Roots of Christianity in the Catacombs of the Eternal City (Leuven: Peeters, 2000), 42–117. 4 Week 5: Bread and Circuses . Bertrand Lançon, Rome in Late Antiquity, trans. A. Nevill (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), 130–146. Michele Renee Salzman, On Roman Time: The Codex-Calendar of 354 and the Rhythms of Urban Life in Late Antiquity (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 193– 246. Richard Lim, ‘People as power: games, munificence, and contested topography’, in W.V. Harris (ed.), The Transformations of Urbs Roma in Late Antiquity, Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplementary Series 33 (Portsmouth, Rhode Island, 1999), 265–281. John Curran, Pagan City and Christian Capital: Rome in the Fourth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000), 218–259. Week 6: Pagans and Christians in the Fourth Century . Letters of Ambrose and Symmachus, in J.H.W.G. Liebeschuetz (trans.), Ambrose of Milan: Political Letters and Speeches (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2005), 61– 94. John Matthews, Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court, A.D. 364-425 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), 203–219. Alan Cameron, The Last Pagans of Rome (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 33–51. Lucy Grig, ‘Deconstructing the Symbolic City: Jerome as Guide to Late Antique Rome’, Papers of the British School at Rome 80 (2012), 125-143. Week 7: Alaric and the Sack of Rome . Bertrand Lançon, Rome in Late Antiquity, trans. A. Nevill (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), 35–40. John Matthews, Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court, A.D. 364–425 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975), 270–306. Ralph W. Mathisen, ‘Roma a Gothis Alarico duce capta est: Ancient Accounts of the Sack of Rome in 410 CE’, in Joachim Lipps, Carlos Machado, and Philipp von Rummel (eds.), The Sack of Rome in 410 AD: The Event, its Context and its Impact (Wiesbaden: Reichelt Verlag, 2013), 87–102. Michele Renee Salzman, ‘Memory and Meaning: Pagans and 410’, ibid. 295–310. Peter Van Nuffelen, ‘Not Much Happened: 410 and All That’, Journal of Roman Studies 105 (2015), 322–329. Week 8: Rome in the Fifth Century . Mark Humphries, ‘From emperor to pope? Ceremonial, space, and authority at Rome from Constantine to Gregory the Great’, in Kate Cooper & Julia Hillner (eds.), Religion, Dynasty, and Patronage in Early Christian Rome, 300–900 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 21–59: pp. 39–49. Mark Humphries, ‘Valentinian III and the City of Rome (425–55): Patronage, Politics, Power’, in Lucy Grig & Gavin Kelly (eds.), Two Romes: Rome and Constantinople in Late Antiquity (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 161–182. Bertrand Lançon, Rome in Late Antiquity, trans. A. Nevill (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000), 40–42. 5 . Michele Renee Salzman, ‘Leo’s Liturgical Topography: Contestations for Space in Fifth- Century Rome’, Journal of Roman Studies 103 (2013), 208–232.