Rome, 2003

This is the start of a page for the students who will be going to Rome with me from January through April of 2003 and for their families and friends - we'll update this material together from Rome.  If you have suggestions, please mail me!


Italian language

scuola LdV La Scuola Leonardo da Vinci - where you will be taking Italian language, catching busses for excursions, checking your email, etc., etc.



Rome of the Emperors, Gladiators, and Martyrs:  Sex, Death and Grandeur
This course will use the fabric of the city of Rome as a textbook to trace the shift from the culture of the Roman Empire’s greatest city to the capital of Western Christendom.  We will read contemporary biographies and histories to understand the emperors as we visit the splendid remains better seen in Rome and its environs than anywhere else in the world.  We will read secondary material on the gladiatorial contests and games to understand the nature of public spectacle in this strange world.  We will see the slow emergence into the open air of the early Christian church as its martyrs compel the notice of the emperors, finally conquering the City that had conquered the world.
Readings will be chosen from:
Suetonius, Lives of the 12 Caesars
Tacitus, Agricola
Virgil, the Aeneid
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
selected lives of the saints
Roland Auguet, Cruelty and Civilization - gladiatorial combat may have been even stranger than you think!
D.S. Potter, Life, Death, and Entertainment in the Roman Empire
Mortimer Wheeler, Roman Art and Architecture
Amanda Claridge, Rome: An Archaeological Guide
Richard Krautheimer, Early Christian Architecture
Richard Krautheimer, Rome - a great book about the beauties and wonders of the City.
Margaret Visser, The Geometry of Love: Space, Time, Mystery, and Meaning in an Ordinary Church - of all these, the book I most wish I had written.
links:
A page of maps of ancient Rome .  Gary Brueggman has created some layered and clickable maps - for instance, check out the sequence on the Walls and Hills .  He has helped you see how the walls follow the natural topographical detail - and provided clickable references to the names of the gates (which is very handy!).

Great Buildings Online - Roman Architecture .  This is an interesting resource with photographs, 3-d models, and some CAD drawings, and is searchable by building type (among other search terms).

The Roman Emperors - with portraits!

Vitruvius Online!  This e-book has the text in Latin (the original), English, French, and Italian.  Very clever.  Not that Vitruvius is a great place to start with classical architecture, as we'll explore on site....


Rome in the 14th Century – Popes, Pilgrims, Poets, and Politicians
This course will offer students the chance to understand medieval foundations of modern Italy by concentrating on the time of Dante and Petrarch.  We will examine the lives of pilgrims and politicians in the environment of Rome and central Italy.
Readings will be chosen from:
Herbert Kessler, Rome 1300: On the Path of the Pilgrim . (on big sale at Amazon now - 9/5/02!)
Dante, The Divine Comedy - I don't know if there's such a thing as a "good" translation, but this is enough.  
Petrarch, The Revolution of Cola di Rienzo - Rome at a really tense time
Robert Brentano, Rome Before Avignon - interesting book in conjunction with Kessler - strong on everyday life.
Francis of Assisi, Little Flowers
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose - I read a lot of fiction to understand the past - good researchers do a good job.
links:


Michael Tinkler's home page