HIST 205-01, From Republic to Empire: Roman History in the Age of Augustus, Spring 2007

Abstract

In an historical process scholars have called the “Roman Revolution,” the years between 133 and 31 BCE saw a series of violent military and political upheavals that transformed the Roman body politic from a republic into an autocracy. These civil wars provided the stage for the rise and fall of such figures as Pompey, Julius Caesar, Brutus, Cicero, and Marc Antony. The triumph of Octavian, later known as Augustus, brought an end to this period of civil wars and also brought Rome a new political order, the Principate. This course will examine this political transformation from republic to empire, including its republican background, its imperial political legacy, and its impact on Roman society and culture.