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Italian City-States: Ancient Rome and Renaissance Florence—The Society, Economics, and Politics of Historical Transition

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Italian City-States: Ancient Rome and Renaissance Florence—The Society, Economics, and Politics of Historical Transition Italian City-States: Ancient Rome and Renaissance Florence—the Society, Economics, and Politics of Historical Transition. Fall 2009 Course Description and Objectives: The course looks to explore in a broad but focused survey the society, economy and politics of the city-states of Rome of the first centuries BCE and CE, and Florence of the 14th and 15th centuries, as both Republics faltered, suffering transition to centralized rule. Among our concerns will be the social fabric of the two city-states, who ranked where in the social hierarchy, what were the rules that informed and shaped public behavior. A parallel concern will be the economy--who possessed what wealth, by what means, and to what ends. And concurrently with these there is the issue of politics—not only who ruled and by what institutions, but how and why change in governance took place, as in both city-states political power came to be narrowly concentrated, in Rome in the hands of the “princeps” Augustus Caesar, and in Florence the Medici. Parallels and contrasts in the histories of two of the West‟s most significant city-states. Required Texts: Grant, Michael (tr.). Cicero, Selected Works. Penguin 1960. Martines, Lauro. Power and Imagination: City-States in Renaissance Italy. Johns Hopkins 1979. Taylor, Lily Ross. Party Politics in the Age of Caesar. University of California Press 1988 [1949]. Woodman, A. J. (tr.). Sallust: Catiline‟s War, The Jugurthine War, Histories. Penguin 2008. All other class readings are in a bound Xeroxed volume and are designated as RR (Reserve Readings) on the Syllabus. I. Rome: Republic to Principate Friday, September 25: Site Visit: Roman Remains and the Archeological Museum: Fiesole. Monday, September 28. Review of Roman Republican history and discussion of the Mos Majorum and the Challenges. Read: LRT Chapters 1, 2: „Personalities and Programs‟, „Nobles Clients and Personal Armies‟, pp. 1-49. 2 Wednesday, September 30: Images: Republican Portraiture and the Roman Villa. Read: J. Clark, The Houses of Roman Italy, pp. 1-29 (RR). See: http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/house.html N. H. Ramage and A. Ramage, Roman Art, „Portraiture‟, pp. 50-54 (RR). J. J. Pollitt, The Art of Rome, c. 753 B.C-337 A.D.: Sources and Documents, pp. 53-56 (RR). Monday, October 5. Discussion: The Breakdown of Institutions in the First Century. Read: LRT Chapters 3, 4, 5: „Delivering the Vote‟, „Manipulating the State Religion‟, and „The Criminal Courts and the Rise of the New Man‟, pp. 50-118. Wednesday, October 7: Discussion: Optimates and Populares. Read: LRT Chapters 6 and 7: „Cato and the Populares‟, and „Optimates and Dynasts‟, pp. 119-161. Friday, October 9: Discussion: A Threat of Revolution. Read: Sallust, „Catiline‟s War‟ (with Introduction, pp. xi-xliv), in Woodman, A. J. (tr.). Sallust: Catiline‟s War, The Jugurthine War, Histories. Monday, October 12: Discussion: The Fall of the Republic and the Second Triumvirate. Read: Cicero, „Correspondence‟, and „Second Philippic‟ from M. Grant (tr.). Cicero: Selected Works. C. Wells, „The New Order‟, from The Roman Empire, pp. 11- 30 (RR). Wednesday, October 14: Lecture and Discussion: The Princeps: Transformation of Rule. Read: C. Wells, „The Work of Augustus‟, from The Roman Empire, pp. 49-78 (RR). R. Syme, „Introduction: Augustus and History‟ and „Pax et Princeps‟ from The Roman Revolution, pp. 1-9, 509-524 (RR). 3 K. Galinsky, „The Augustan Evolution‟ from Augustan Culture , pp. 3-9 (RR). Week of October 19. Fall Break. Monday, October 26. Discussion: Aeneas, Augustus and the Fate of Rome. Read: Virgil, Aeneid, Books 1, 2, 6 and 8 (RR). LRT Chapter 8: „Catonism and Caesarism‟, pp. 162-182. Wednesday, October 28. Images of Propaganda: The Prima Porta and the Ara Pacis. Read: C. Wells, „Italy under Augustus: Social and Intellectual Climate‟ from The Roman Empire, pp. 79-94 (RR). K. Galinsky, „Art and Architecture‟ from Augustan Culture, pp. 141-64 (RR). Friday, October 30: Site Visit: Florence—the Ancient City and the Museo Com’ Era. Monday, November 2: EXAMINATION Parts I and II. See below for Part III. II. Florence: From Republic to the Medici Wednesday, November 4: Lecture and Discussion: The Commune, the First and Second Popolo—12th-13th centuries. Read L. Martines, P & I, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4: „The Ascent of the Communes‟, „The Early Communes and Its Nobility‟, „The Commune Around 1200‟ and „Popolo and Popular Communes‟, 7-61. November 7-10: Saturday-Tuesday Trip to Rome While in Rome we will explore the Roman Forum, a number of imperial fora, notably the Forum of Augustus, the Flavian Amphitheater, various imperial triumphal arches, visit the Museo Nazionale Romano (esp. its collection of Republican and early Imperial portraiture), and make a side trip to the Roman port-city of Ostia. 4 These site visits, along with information and images provided in class on Roman art and architecture, will constitute the basis for Part III of the mid-term examination. Wednesday, November 11: Discussion: The New Economy of Florence and the New Elite. Read: G. Brucker, „The Economy‟ (1969), pp. 51-88 (RR). H. Brown, „Franciscan Poverty and Civic Wealth as Factors in the Rise of Humanistic Thought‟, pp. 18-26 (RR). Monday, November 16: Discussion: The 14th Century: From Elite Rule to the Ciompi Revolution. Read: L. Martines, P & I, Chapters 5, 6, 7: „The End of the Popular Commune‟, „The Course of Urban Values‟ and „Despotism: Signories‟, pp. 62-110. Wednesday, November 18: Discussion: Oligarchic Republicanism in Florence: 1380-1430. Read. L. Martines, P & I, Chapters 8, 9: „The Course of Political Feeling‟ and „Oligarchy: Renaissance Republics‟, pp. 111-161. Monday, November 23. Discussion: Ideology and Humanism. Read: L. Martines, P & I, Chapters 10, 11: „Economic Trends and Attitudes‟ and „Humanism: A Program for Ruling Classes‟, pp. 162-217. Site Visit: Museo del Bargello: The Verrocchio Room. Supplementary Reading: R. J. M. Olson, Italian Renaissance Sculpture, pp. 103-110 (RR). Wednesday, November 25: Discussion: The Rise of the Medici: Cosimo. Read: L. Martines, P & I, Chapter 12: „The Princely Courts‟, pp. 218-240. M. Jurdjevic, „Civic Humanism and the Rise of the Medici‟, pp. 99-1020 (RR). Monday, November 30: Discussion: Lorenzo de Medici. Read: J. R. Hale. „The Medicean Regime‟, pp. 43-75 (RR). Site Visit: Palazzo Davanzati (exterior and interior), Palazzo Rucellai, Palazzo Medici, and Palazzo Strozzi (exteriors only.) 5 Supplementary Reading: J. Najemy, ‘Florentine Politics and Urban Spaces’, pp. 19-54 (RR). Wednesday, December 2: Discussion: Medicean Humanism. Read: L. Marines, P & I, Chapter 13: „Art: An Alliance with Power‟, pp. 241-276. F. W. Kent, „Lorenzo, “Fine Husbandman” and Villa Builder, 1483- 1492‟, pp. 112-151 (RR). Friday, December 4: Site Visit: Medici Villa: Poggio a Caiano. Monday, December 7. Discussion: Invasion and a New World Order. Read: L. Martines, P & I, Chapter 14: „Invasion: City-States in Lightning and Twilight‟, pp. 277-96. Thursday, December 10: FINAL EXAMINATION Course Requirements: Participation. Students are expected to attend all classes and to have read all assignments with care prior to class. Some class time will be devoted to lecture, but the majority will be given over to focused discussion of the assigned readings and site visits. Class participation will constitute 25% of the grade. Examinations. There will be two examinations, a midterm and final. The examination grades will constitute 50% of the final grade. Details will be provided. Paper Assignment. Each student will be required to write a single 5-7 page paper, to be submitted no later than the last week of class. Paper grades will constitute 25% of the final grade. Specific details for the assignments will be provided, as will opportunity for early drafts and revision. .
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