The course aims to provide students with the tools for a scientific approach to the study of Roman history, from its origins to the "noiseless fall" of the western part. The first part of the course will deal with themes of chronology, historical geography, historiography and epigraphy, alternating lessons of a more purely eventual nature with others centered on broad methodological issues. The second part of the course will instead have a monographic and seminar character: it will be dedicated to the study of Roman religion in its multiple aspects and intersections with the world of law, politics, war, agriculture, economy and daily life more in general.

A) GENERAL PART
Archaic Lazio and the birth of Rome; the myths of the origins; the age of kings; the birth of the Republic and the Roman constitution; the last century of the Republic and civil wars; the Augustan principality; the first two centuries of imperial history; the crisis of the third century; the great reformers: Aureliano, Diocleziano, Costantino; the fourth century and Christian Rome; Romans and barbarians; the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

B) IN-DEPTH MONOGRAPHIC STUDY
Rome and the others.
Who were the Romans? What did they know, or what did they think they knew, about their origins? How did they build their universal dominion, embodied in the myth of Roma caput mundi ("Rome capital of the world")? A widespread perception recognizes in the history of Rome above all its violent and martial aspects, the ability to sacrifice everything in the name of the rules, the brutality of slavery, the conquests, the destruction of entire cities (think of that of Carthage and Corinth in 146 BC or that of Jerusalem in 70 AD just to name a few of the most famous examples). Yet, this is only one of the "faces" of Rome, perhaps the best known and most impressive (in this sense, the fascist myth of the Roman era undoubtedly played an important role), but certainly not the only one. Right from the start, alongside the ferocity embodied in the episode of fratricide, Rome exhibits, through the myth of the Asylum, an "open", inclusive character, which recognizes otherness as a resource, rather than a threat. In fact, the Romans have shown that they do not recognize any value to the theme of race and ethnic purity; they integrated the vanquished peoples, provided they were ready to abandon themselves to the fides of the victors, granting them citizenship through simple and rapid procedures, which are unmatched in the history of the great empires; even slaves became citizens once they were freed (unlike what happened in the neighboring Greek world, in Rome escaping slavery was much easier: the will of the master was enough and he could grant freedom individually, even by testament, without having to involve the entire city community in the decision). In short, ferocity and welcome, domination and integration, discipline and flexibility do not represent opposing and divergent expressions, but harmonious and complementary expressions of Romanism, which, only if held together, can explain the "miracle" of such a vast and long-lived multi-ethnic empire.

PROGRAMME FOR ATTENDING STUDENTS:

1) Giovanni Geraci e Arnaldo Marconi, Storia romana (con la collaborazione di A. Cristofori e C. Salvaterra), Mondadori, Milano 2016 (quarta edizione).
2) A. Giardina, Storia mondiale dell’Italia, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2017, pp. 4-183.G.
3) De Sanctis, La religione a Roma, Carocci, Roma 2012.
4) Materiale didattico illustrato a lezione.

STUDENTS WHO ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND THE LECTURES AND THOSE ENROLLED TO TAKE THE ROMAN HISTORY EXAM AS A SINGLE COURSE WILL CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING VOLUMES IN PLACE OF THE COURSE MATERIAL MENTIONED IN POINT 4):

M. Beard, SPQR. Storia dell’antica Roma, Mondadori, Milano 2016 (ed. or. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, 2015, Profile Books, London 2015);
• P. Brown, Il mondo tardoantico. Da Marco Aurelio a Maometto, Einaudi, Torino 2017.
• L. Canfora, Giulio Cesare. Il dittatore democratico, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006.
• G. De Sanctis, La logica del confine. Per un’antropologia dello spazio in Roma antica, Carocci, Roma 2015.
• F. Dupont, La vita quotidiana nella Roma repubblicana, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2000.
• A. Giardina, L’uomo romano, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006.
• A. Giardina (a cura di), Roma antica, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2006.
• M. Lentano, Il mito di Enea (con M. Bettini), Einaudi, Torino 2013.
• S. Mazzarino, La fine del mondo antico, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 2008.

• F. Santangelo, Roma repubblicana. Una storia in quaranta vite, Carocci 2019.
• P. Veyne, L’impero greco-romano. Le radici del mondo globale, Rizzoli, Milano 2007 (ed. or. L’empire gréco-romain, Seuil, Paris 2005).


A historical atlas of the ancient world is highly recommended for ALL students. For guidance only, we recommend:

M. Baratta-P. Fraccaro et al., Atlante storico, Istituto geografico De Agostini, Novara 1979;
H. Bengston-V. Milojcic, Großer historischer Weltatlas, I. Teil (Vorgeschichte und Altertum), Bayerischer Schulbuch-Verlag, München 1978;
R. J. A. Talbert, Atlas of Classical History, Routledge, London 1985.