No single culture has affected the development of the modern world as deeply as the Romans. In law, architecture and language the heritage of Rome is so strong in Europe today that some academics claim that the Roman Empire has never really gone away.
This course will examine the four centuries in which the Roman Empire ruled the west and ask why it left such an enduring legacy. It will argue that the main success of the Roman Empire was to cause peoples from Egypt to Britain to believe that they were every bit as Roman as their conquerors. Thus we examine the evolution of an empire ruled by Rome to a very different kind of Roman Empire - an empire of Romans. It is because the people of the empire believed they were Romans that Rome lived on long after the military power once used to enforce imperial rule had withered away.
We will see how the Roman Empire was formed, and how it evolved. We examine the Empire in peace and in crisis and see not just how Rome influenced the peoples of the provinces, but also the contribution of the different civilizations ruled by Rome to the culture of the Empire as a whole. This course is broad in scope, and combines the latest developments in archaeology and historical thinking to provide an ideal introduction and overview of ancient Rome, what the empire meant to its subjects and what it still means to us today.
Course Dates
Course details
Tutors
Key Features
Aims of the course
- To introduce the Roman Empire to those new to the topic.
- To show how different Mediterranean civilisations merged into a single culture.
- To demonstrate the deep roots of the Roman Empire in modern Europe.
- To teach collaborative working techniques in an online environment.
Learning outcomes:
- understand the Roman Empire as a political and social construct of huge consequence
- understand methods of historical enquiry and debate
Welcome week (Week 0)
Purpose:
- personal introductions
- introducing the course
- useful reading
- personal objectives
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- become familiar with navigating around the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and from VLE to links and back
- test your ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sort out any problems with the help of the Technology Enhanced Learning team
- learn how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
- contribute to a discussion forum to introduce yourself to other students and discuss why you are interested in the course and what you hope to get out of your studies
Week 1: The Republican Empire
Purpose:
- to show how Rome gained an empire before it had emperors
- to show the huge degree of diversity among the peoples subject to Rome, and how provincial governance was subverted by infighting among Rome's political elite
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week the students should have:
- a good idea of the chronology in which the foundation of the Roman empire was laid
- understanding of the political and strategic problems facing the late Republic
- a basic idea of first-century Mediterranean cultures and peoples
- engaged with original texts and sources
Week 2: The Early Empire
Purpose:
- to examine what the change from Republican government to imperial autocracy meant to the people of the empire
- to show how an integrated Mediterranean economic system came into being
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- an understanding of how and why Augustus created the Principate
- a grasp of the basic chronology of events and outstanding personalities
- a knowledge of the main texts and personalities in the golden age of Latin literature
- engaged with original contemporary texts
Week 3: The Golden Age
Purpose:
- to examine the key period in which the subjects of Rome started to consider themselves Roman
- an overview of the empire by region, and a discussion of unresolved flaws in the imperial system
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- an understanding of ancient economies and demographics
- an understanding of the development of Mediterranean and North-west European culture
- an understanding of how to present and deconstruct historical theories
- engaged with original contemporary texts
Week 4: A Century of Crises
Purpose:
- to examine the 'Third Century Crisis' and determine it was in fact a series of separate but related crises
- also to explain why perceptions may have been worse than reality
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week the students should have:
- an understanding of the limitations of the imperial system
- a knowledge of the chronology of events
- an understanding of the fundamental changes which happened at this time
- understood how to parse texts for incidental meaning
Week 5: Rome in Late Antiquity
Purpose:
- to show that the Late Roman Empire was very different from the Principate
- to discuss the issues of 'decline and fall' and to show how the end of the western empire set the stage for medieval Europe, Byzantium and the Caliphate
Learning outcomes:
By studying this week, the students should have:
- understood religious and geopolitical issues in the 5th century
- understood the transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages
- engaged with aspects of contemporary historical debate
- engaged with original contemporary texts
Week 6: what next?
- assessment of student learning
- assessment of student satisfaction
- encouragement of further study
This course is open to everyone, and you don’t need any previous knowledge or experience of the subject to attend.
Our short courses are designed especially for adult learners who want to advance their personal or professional development. They are taught by tutors who are expert in both their subjects and in teaching students of all ages and experiences.
Please note that all teaching is in English. You should have near-native command of the English language to get the maximum benefit from the course.
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours of self-study time, for example, reading materials, although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the VLE so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (using discussion boards etc).
Fees
The course fee includes access to the course on our VLE, personal feedback on your work from an expert tutor, a certificate of participation (if you complete work and take part in discussions), and access to the class resources for two years after your course finishes.
Concessions
For more information, please see our concessions information page.
Alison Fordham Bursary
University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education is proud to offer the Alison Fordham bursary, which is awarded to students who wish to study on one of our short online courses via our VLE, reducing the fee paid by 50%. The bursary is limited to a single award for each set of online courses.
Application criteria:
- applicants should set out their personal learning motivations since priority will be given to those who are returning to learning after an extended break, or have not previously engaged with fully online learning, or are seeking to use the online short course as a bridge towards undergraduate award-bearing study
- applicants who can demonstrate financial need
For more information, please see our bursaries information page.
A certificate of participation and a digital credential will be awarded to those who contribute constructively to weekly discussions, exercises and assignments for the duration of the course.
