Syllabus
LS 2018/19:
1. Introduction - the overview of events up until the onset of the Principate - through what means the Romans achieved supremacy in Italy and, in turn, in almost the whole Mediterranean.2. What life was like in the Roman Republic (the social stratification, urban vs. rural areas, etc.).3. Octavius - Octavianus - Augustus: What formed his character and why it was him to reintroduce the Romans to monarchy after all. Augustus' legacy for his political successors.4. The twists in politics of the first phase of the Principate (up until the Severan dynasty), the expansion of the borders, the zenith of power during the Adoptive Emperors' reigns.5. The great and protracted overall crisis: Its causes, various attempts at fixing it, the decadence of urban elites, the rise of power of the army and its influence on politics on (also) the provincial level, the growth of power of provincial governors, the Pagan monotheism, the struggles to restore a stable central authority and save the empire from falling apart, the persecution of Christians.6. The Dominate until 395 CE - one of the crucial transitional periods of world history.7. The Dominate - the ultimate breakup of the Roman Empire into the Western (until 476 CE) and the Eastern part (until 1453 CE).8. Why did the Roman East survive for almost a another whole millenium?9. Why have the Christians in the Empire been recognized as a subversive element despite becoming the heirs and keepers of the tradition of Antiquity?
Annotation
This subject is taught in Czech.
Free-selection course serves as additional to the basic course about the general history. See http://pages.pedf.cuni.cz/kddd/studenti/volitelne-kurzy/aktualni/.
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In the summer semester 2018/19: Rome on three continents
Rome arose from a tiny settlement to a Mediterranean power, spread over parts of as many as three continents. The lecture reviews the progress of the Romans from huts to illustrious palaces, their conquest of three continents (from 753 to 30 BCE), their triumphant abandonment of monarchy for a monarchy, and the reasons why they embraced the one-person rule for the second time. We will pay a visit to Augustus, the first "Mediterranean" emperor and the architect of a brand new system of government that was to make its appeal on other monarchs of (but not exclusively of) the Antiquity period. We will study the notion and predicament of being the sole ruler in a multiethnical state. We will also look into new forms of government and administration and into what accounted for the decline and fall of first the Western and then also of the Eastern part of a once indivisible empire which, in both its zenith and its wake, made an immense impact on European and American civilization and culture.