The Roman Republic

This course explores the history of Rome from its foundation to the aftermath of Julius Caesar’s assassination. The course is chronologically arranged and examines ancient authors like Livy, Polybius, and Cicero as well as inscriptions and the archaeological record. It begins with the legends surrounding its founding kings and the revolution that established the republic. It then transitions to Rome’s breakout during the fourth century and its cataclysmic international wars that established imperial dominance in the third and second centuries. It concludes with the famous personalities involved in the republic’s collapse in the first century. Finally, the course reminds students how Rome inspired U.S. monumental architecture, why Washington was called Cincinnatus, and how constitutional notions like a senate, term limits, and citizen-soldiers are the legacy of this most important of historical republics.

Lecture Topics

UNIT 1: 800 - 264 BC Origins of a New Republican Idea

Who Is So Stupid as to Not Want to Know . . . ?

c. 800 - 509: The Roman Kings

509-445: Republican Fathers and Mothers

445-345: Camillus, the Kind of Statesman that Made Rome

338 BC: The Two Rising Masters

341-290: What if Alexander invaded during the Samnite Wars?

290-264: Pyrrhic Victories: The Heir of Alexander Invades

UNIT 2: 264 - 183 BC Rome, Carthage, and the Fight for Survival

264-241: The First Punic War

280-233: The Youth of Q. Fabius Maximus

240-218: Entr’acte & the Rise of Four Generals

218-211: The Thunderbolt vs. the Shield & the Sword

211-205: Rome Finds Its Hero

205-183: May the Best Man (& Republic) Win!

UNIT 3: 200 - 78 Rome Conquers the World

Met Trip: The Temptations of Empire . . . 

Conquerors of the World: A View from Scipio Aemilianus

Rome: Capital or Battleground (feat. the Blood Brothers)?

The Age of Marius and Sulla

UNIT 4: c. 100 - 42 Nine Statesmen in the “Inevitable” Fall . . . Or Was It?

To 60: The Heirs of Sulla

To 60: The Heirs of the Republic

To Dec. 50: Politics during the “Gang of 3”

49 - Mar 44: Caesar’s Civil War & Domination

44-43: The Ideal Statesman Returns

43-42: The Suicide of the Republic