Classics

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. After completing the course, students are familiar with the main theoretical, methodological and technical tools of the historical-religious disciplines of the social sciences, which address the study of the history of religions of the ancient world with mastery of interdisciplinary methods and contents. They are able to evaluate religious phenomena and dynamics in local and global sociocultural contexts, to identify connections, developments, persistence and transformations of religious phenomena and appreciate interaction between groups in complex societies. They understand the relevance of cultural-historical studies for historical enquiry and can identify the specific contribution that the historical sciences can make in addressing issues and problems of interest to the community, such as the critical promotion of the value of religious differences and religious pluralism. Also, through direct involvement in seminar-type activities on some monographic topics (personal reading and analysis of ancient texts and modern studies), they have knowledge of the sources and problems linked to the study of religions of the classical world and the general characteristics of polytheism. They know how to use the language and tools specific to the discipline. They are able to update their knowledge and elaborate autonomous analytical perspectives, applying the methodologies of investigation to specific problems and documents and considering the scientific and international debate related to the discipline. The 2023 course topic is: Religions as communication systems. Semiotics and semantics of the veil in the Ancient Mediterranean religious systems: a comparative overview of an element of clothing.

This course explores the history of emotions in the Greek and Roman world through literature and their relevance to the modern world. It focuses on emotions like wrath, eros and love, jealousy, fear, loss and separation, affection, happiness, sadness, surprise, contempt, disgust, pity, sympathy, pain and on how these emotions have been represented in Greek and Roman cultural systems and literary examples (both Greek and Roman literary texts will be explored and compared). How were these emotions born and what is their influence in the modern world? How does Greek and Roman literature relate to these emotions? And more generally, what is the relationship between these emotions and the Greek and Roman life and thought? After an overview of major Greek and Roman sources on the role of emotions in human life, the course explores the complex debate around emotions, their value and their use for philosophical, religious, political, and educational purposes. 

This course introduces students to the history of a hundred-year period from the Emperor Constantine’s death to the reign of the emperor Theodosius II. This is one of the pivotal centuries of Roman history, characterized varyingly by historians as a time of transformation, rupture, and of continuity. During this century, Christianity moved from being a sporadically persecuted minority religion to a faith promoted and eventually enforced by emperors; political and economic activities were brought under pressure by the movement of peoples within and without the empire’s borders; and the old rhythms of aristocratic cultural and social life had to accommodate both ascetic and episcopal demands and priorities.

This course examines the evidence for one of the most successful forms of state society in the ancient Mediterranean, namely the polis or city-state, making use of evidence from archaeology, ancient history, epigraphy, numismatics, and ancient literature. It explores the emergence of the first city-states in Greece following a period of economic decline, the so-called Greek “Dark Age” and slow recovery. The key features of the city-state and particularly the features of the urban environment are discussed as are the political structures required to govern large urban populations. The re-emergence of writing, in an alphabetic system, is given attention due to the importance of written law and constitutions for social and political stability. The course considers different systems of government used at various city-states and the economic and social systems that emerge alongside and within the various poleis. The connection between the emergence of the polis and the foundation of new Greek communities overseas – colonization – are discussed. The course makes a comparative study of early constitutional history of Athens and Sparta. The invention of coinage is studied as are relations between different Greek city-states. The course concludes with a consideration of the first contact and conflicts between the world of the city-states and the imperial power of Persia.

This course studies the literature, art, history, and politics of Classical Athens. It looks at a variety of myths that were popular in Classical Athens, the contexts and mediums through which these myths circulated. It discusses the relationship between these stories, democratic ideology, and the Athenians' understanding of their history.

This course explores the time when the “Peoples of the Sea” roamed the southern Italian coasts, to the epic era in which Rome and Carthage fought for control over the Mediterranean basin, all the way to the period when Rome lost control of the Mediterranean at the end of Antiquity. One key component of the course consists in a number of fieldtrips to the most famous archeological sites around Naples, including Ischia, Paestum, and Pompeii. The fieldtrips are organized in temporal sequence, and so are the readings and seminar discussion, so as to arrange the course roughly in historical progression from ancient times to late antiquity. The focuses intensively on certain periods and themes, oscillating from the local to the Mediterranean at large, and from the particular to the general. In-class meetings consist of lectures and seminar discussions focusing on the history of Mediterranean life, culture, and politics in a certain historical period; fieldtrips focus more specifically on local history in that period.

The life of the ancient Romans was guided by two important concepts, otium, or leisure time, and negotium, a more structured use of time that may be associated with work of varying kinds. A good Roman life could, and often did, include both. This course explores Roman daily life and the many activities associated with both otium and negotium. The business of ancient Rome was largely conducted in the central and market areas of the city, and students study the ancient Roman Forum, the ancient river port in Rome and its associated features (wharves, warehouses, and rubbish heaps), as well as the ancient port city of Ostia. The leisure time of the aristocracy was noticeably different than that of the poor. They often spent leisure time in a relaxing environment outside of the city, such as villas, where they could pursue all types of activities deemed beneficial to the mind and body. The poor, instead, tended to stay in Rome, and spend their unstructured time at state-sponsored events and venues such as the games held in the Flavian Amphitheater, or at a monumental bath complex, such as the Baths of Caracalla. Alternatively, they would congregate in small taverns or popinae, or they might just sit on the stairs of a city building and play a game. Students visit and study the places where the Romans spent their leisure time looking closely at the leisure activities. As students get to know the Romans by studying what they have left us in terms of physical and literary remains, they discuss how much of what is "reconstructed" from the evidence can be certain, and how much must remain debatable. This course includes visits to Rome-area museums and sites, and special outings to the Roman cities of Ostia and Pompeii.