HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION OF ANCIENT ROMANS

The course is one of the core educational activities characterizing the Master’s Degree Program in Humanities.
It has the purpose to guarantee to the students the advanced knowledge of Roman history; through the study of a topic, the political communication in the Domus principis, assures to the students the knowledge of a essential aspect of the Roman political history. It has the purpose to guarantee to the students the knowledge of the methodology of research in the roman history; knowledge of the lexicon of the subject. The students will develop research and didactical skills in the subject and acquire skills as critical approach during the evaluation of information and news, and understanding of events and cultural processes crucial in the constitution of the occidental identity. Attending and studying will allow students to acquire the ability to point out the roots of nowadays’s issues about political communication in order to make them comprehend better. It intends to guarantee the acquisition of cognitive abilities as sketch out a scientific research and practical abilities as be able to hand the results of scientific research over through the scientific communication and the public history.
The achivement of these goals assures to the student the cultural, disciplinary, methodological knowledge to insert in the world of work in didactical, cultural, divulgation and communication-linked field suitable with his itinerary of the academic studies.

Attending the course and the seminar and practicing individual study allow students to acquire specific knowledge: the methodology of historical reconstruction, the deep knowledge of fundamental events in order to comprehend Roman history, the lexicon of the subject. Will make students acquire these cognitive abilities: to apply the historical research's methodology; to recognize events and models in the sources; to be able to understand the events thanks to their historical context without modernize; to be able to understand the political communication. Will make students acquire these practical abilities: sketch out a scientific research and be able to hand the results over through the public history and the scientific communication selecting the contents, the ways of communication, the time, know how to deal with teamwork. The students will acquire these skills: know how to interpret historical processes; know how to employ a critical approach toward the information sources; interpret correctly the origin of customs of Roman age that survived in contemporary age.

Students should already have attended a BA level Roman history course.
A good knowledge of italian language is necessary.
Foreign students are invited to contact the teacher beforehand.

Through a broad introduction by the professor, in-class examples, and a research paper conducted by each student in a team, the course titled "The Domus Principis at the Dawn of the Principate: Political Dialectics and Communication Strategies" aims to analyze the progressive establishment of the domus principis as a new center of political discussion and a space where new actors managed to gain opportunities for political action.
The "failed heir" is a recurring figure in the history of the Principate in the 1st century AD, a period in which imperial succession was not governed by a formal system but largely depended on the will of the reigning princeps and the acceptance of the Senate and the army. The choice of successor was often influenced by dynastic, political, and military factors, and many designated heirs never managed to ascend to the throne.
The course will first provide students with historical data, reconstructing the actions of the first princeps as accurately as possible with the support of modern scholarship. It will then examine the strategies for transmitting imperial power and the role of power groups in the selection of the successor (the Senate, the domus principis, the populus, and the legions). Finally, it will analyze the strategies adopted by other rulers of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
The objective is to enable students to acquire historical research methodology, the necessary scholarly tools, and the appropriate use of academic terminology.

All foreign students are invited to contact the course tutor beforehand in order to discuss their study programmes for individual assessment.

The evaluation is based on three parts: the check of knowledge on the course contents through an oral examination on topics of the course and on topics developed on texts recommanded in the bibliography; during the same oral test the check of knowledge on contents explained by other students; during seminar, the oral exposition of brief personal research about the politica communication during the Late Republic and the Early Empire (substituted for non attending students by extra lectures).
Through these exam the teacher verifies:
1) knowledge: acquisition of fundamental concepts and scientific lexicon of the subject and the methodology of historical research;
2) cognitive abilities: the application of the methodology of historical research with particular focus on the use of sources and on critical approach on bibliography about the Roman history; the ability of analysis of historical processes; practical abilities: communicative abilities, for the public history and scientific communication (selecting the contents, the ways of communication, the time, know how to deal with team work)
3) skills: capability to analyze reality and information and to increase critical awareness in peculiarity of each historical period.
Each category of examination is judged according to a scale of thirty points, and the final mark is the result of the average of the points earned for each examination.
All foreign students are invited to contact the course tutor beforehand in order to discuss their study programmes for individual assessment.

oral

Evaluation Grid:

28-30L: Excellent mastery of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks; excellent ability to prioritize information; appropriate use of the discipline's technical terminology.
26-27: Good knowledge of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks; good ability to organize and present information; generally correct use of the discipline's technical terminology.
24-25: Fair knowledge of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks; moderate ability to organize information; use of technical terminology not always correct.
22-23: Occasionally superficial and/or incomplete knowledge of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks; presentation not always clear and/or lacking in technical terminology.
18-21: Occasionally incomplete knowledge of the topics covered in class and in the textbooks, but still sufficient; unclear and/or deficient presentation with little use of technical terminology.

Classes will be lead as 8 teacher's lesson and 2 lesson as seminar, so that all students will have the opportunity to participate in class presentations. A specific research topic will be assigned to each participant. Ancient sources and further readings that will help students prepare their presentation will be provided in class.

Students who attend this course will be entitled to take part to the seminar activities, stages and training courses organised by the Roman History and Classics faculty during the two terms (the calendar of activities will be provided in class and on the Ca' Foscari website).

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development