Nov 25, 2024
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2024-25
CARS 2110 - Rome Under the Caesars
In this course we look at life and thought in ancient Rome from Augustus through Marcus Aurelius (30 BC - AD 180) based on material, documentary, and literary sources. We investigate humanistic questions across cultural boundaries. The primary focus is on how the inhabitants of Rome lived and what they thought about fundamental issues such as: How did elites and the common people function in a hierarchical society? What was the role of religion? of education? of art? How did Romans deal with death? What ultimately made life worth living for an ancient Roman? We will study the political lives of Roman elites, the rituals of daily life, and the art and architecture that made up the environment in which these people lived. These issues are then compared with our own attitudes in modern America in an attempt to understand differences and commonalities shared by human beings in different cultures.
Credit Hours: 3
OHIO BRICKS: Pillar: Humanities: Text and Contexts
General Education Code (students who entered prior to Fall 2021-22): 2HL
Repeat/Retake Information: May be retaken two times excluding withdrawals, but only last course taken counts.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 lecture
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Course Transferability: OTM course: TMAH Arts & Humanities
College Credit Plus: Level 1
Learning Outcomes:
- Students will be able to identify key terms and events in the history of the early Roman Empire, and explain why Roman society developed as it did.
- Students will be able to explain the roles that religion, art, family, politics, warfare, and leisure activities play in development of Roman culture.
- Students will be able to evaluate a broad range of historical, literary, artistic, and philosophical texts, to analyze their arguments, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, to connect them to other ideas, arguments, and contexts.
- Students will be able to judge ancient societies in their own terms, and so to recognize and avoid cultural biases or assumptions in their analysis and evaluation of evidence.
- Students will be able to distinguish similarities and differences between Roman culture and modern American culture, and to explain how modern society was influenced by ancient Rome.
- Students will be able to take a position on an issue and argue that position effectively, both orally and in written arguments.
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