- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Archaic Rome between written sources and archaeology: an ideal meeting place or a methodological/ideological battlefield? 3104-WH17ER-AZIOL-OG
The study of archaic, i.e. pre-republican Rome (8th-6th c. BC), with its literary dossier surpassing by far those of other ancient cities once an almost exclusive preserve of historians, has progressively become an essentially archaeologists’ field. One reason of the growing neglect of the literary tradition has been the steady growth of archaeological material, made possible by the unique accessibility of Rome’s historical centre (Palatine, Forum Romanum, Sacra Via, Capitol) to archaeological investigation; the other, the alleged lack of correspondence between what we find in the written sources and the interpretations of the material from excavations, which gave fuel to the hypercritical stance which denies any value to the literary texts, dating from much later periods (from late 3rd c. BC onwards) and so dismissed as groundless speculations and downright inventions by late-republican and imperial intellectuals. The U-turn came with the finding in 1988 of the alleged ‘wall of Romulus’, broadly matching its traditional location (the foot of the Palatine) and chronology (mid-8th c. BC), followed by others, also interpreted in the light of information derived from written sources: these discoveries have been hailed as a total rehabilitation of the veracity of the entire literary tradition and the proof of the inadequacy of the methods of source criticism. As a result, the study of archaic Rome, once perceived as the ideal meeting place of history and archaeology, and their respective methodologies, has become a battlefield, with the extremists on both sides incapable and unwilling to communicate, and the moderates being incessantly drawn into the conflict which by now has reached the stage of an ideological war.
Type of course
elective courses
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
On the completion of the course the student:
Is aware of the specificity of the study of archaic Rome and its role in the development of the study of the past in general.
Knows main methodological approaches to the study of archaic Rome and is able to apply this knowledge in studying other heuristically similar historical subject-matters.
Understands dangers resulting (1) from treating written sources and archaeological material as belonging to different heuristic orders which do not meet in the scholarly enquiry, and (2) from squaring them at all costs.
Is able to distinguish between a datum and its interpretation.
Assessment criteria
The criterion of individual assessment: attendance at lectures.
Bibliography
A. Grandazzi, La fondation de Rome. Réflexions sur l’histoire, Paris 1991 (English translation: The Foundation of Rome. Myth and History, Ithaca-London 1997); T.J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome. Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC), London-New York 1995, pp. 1-240; T.P. Wiseman, Remus. A Roman Myth, Cambridge 1995.
Additional information
Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:
- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: