This course will focus on the history of Greek and Roman civilizations beginning with the origins of ancient Greek culture in the Aegean Bronze Age (c. 3000–1100 BCE) through the period of the Roman Empire at the height of its greatest extent and prosperity (c. 31 BCE–235 CE).
We will focus on the political, economic, and social factors that shaped the development and maturation of these two influential Mediterranean civilizations. The course will be structured chronologically. Each unit will include representative primary source documents that illustrate important overarching themes, such as the emergence and development of Greek civilization from the Aegean Bronze Age through the Greek Archaic period (c.700–500 BCE), the contrast between democratic and oligarchic forms of government in Greek city-states of the classical era (c. 500–350 BCE), the decline of the Greek city-states, the rise of Macedon and the spread of Greek culture to the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia in the Hellenistic period (c. 350–31 BCE), the evolution of the Roman Republic (c. 508–287 BCE), and the transformation of this Roman Republic into a vast Roman Empire encompassing all the lands bordering the Mediterranean Sea (c. 133 BCE–235 CE). By the end of the course, you will understand how these ancient Mediterranean civilizations developed and recognize their lasting influences on European culture.
