CLAS 340
Roman Cities in the Near East Fall 2015
Division I Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed ANTH 240 / HIST 340
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

The Near East under Roman rule was a zone of intense cultural contact and exchange. Major urban centers, like Ephesus and Alexandria, were home to a diverse array of Greeks, Romans, Jews, Egyptians and other Semitic peoples. Out of this cultural crucible emerged new movements in religion, science, and the arts which changed the face of the Roman Empire. This course examines the history and material culture of Roman cities in the Near East, from Pompey’s annexation of Syria in 64 BCE to the Arab conquest in the 7th century CE. We will consider a variety of evidence, including sculpture, architecture and epigraphy, as well as textual sources, such as Josephus’ Jewish War, Acts of the Apostles and Tacitus’ Histories. Class discussion will focus on issues related to ethnicity and identity formation in the eastern Roman provinces. Possible topics include the Romanization of the Near East, the First Jewish Revolt, the formation of early Christianity, and the Roman wars with Sassanian Persia. This course fulfills the EDI requirement because it explores the interaction between peoples and cultures in the ancient Near East and their diverse responses to Roman imperialism.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 15
Expected: 15
Class#: 1307
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: evaluation will be based on classroom performance, one 15-minute oral presentation, one 10- to 12-page paper, a midterm and a final exam.
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: majors or prospective majors in Classics, Anthropology, Art History, and History
Distributions: Division I Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under CLAS; meets Division 2 requirement if registration is under HIST or ANTH
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
CLAS 340 Division I ANTH 240 Division II HIST 340 Division II
Attributes: HIST Group C Electives - Europe and Russia
HIST Group P Electives - Premodern

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