CLASS 1580

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CLASS 1580
FWS: How to Rule an Empire: Rome in Comparative Perspective

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

Managing a large polity is a difficult task.  At any given moment, the ruler has to balance the different demands of his or her populace, the priorities of the state, and the resources they have available.  All the while, they need to fend off internal and external challenges.  In this course, we will examine how Roman emperors dealt with these problems.  We will also compare them to other empires, both ancient and modern.  Students read authors such as Tacitus and Sima Qian, as well as modern scholarship.  Students will compose essays grappling with the challenges faced by each empire, culminating in a comparative project.

When Offered Spring.

Satisfies Requirement First-Year Writing Seminar.

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 19996 CLASS 1580   SEM 101

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.

Syllabi: none

  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 19997 CLASS 1580   SEM 102

  •  

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://knight.as.cornell.edu/.