CLASSICS
The Roman Empire and the Northern Barbarians
AUTUMN JN107
Tuesday
Tutor:Grant Couper
We often think of the Roman Empire as surrounded by faceless, violent barbarian hordes bent on the destruction of civilization. The reality was less simple: the Empire interacted with its neighbours peacefully as well as militarily, and barbarians were as keen to profit from Rome as Rome was to exploit them. Ranging from warfare to geopolitics to art and religion, this course will focus on relations between Romans and non-Romans in Europe from the mid-1st century BC to the fall of Rome in AD 476.
The course will be informed by recent scholarship on the subject and will combine a survey of barbarian-Roman interactions with discussion of a variety of themes, including: life, religion and art in the northern provinces of the Roman Empire and beyond; military developments and adaptations; political and social changes among barbarian communities. We will encounter fascinating personalities such as the quiet, unassuming and ruthless Attila, king of the Huns, and the child-emperor Honorius, whose half-Vandal general Stilicho was loyal to the Empire until his execution for treachery. These high-status men were the movers and shakers of their time, but the course will also look at how ordinary people lived their lives and how they were affected – or not! – by the doings of the great. Europe as we know it has been seen as the outcome of the clashes between Romans and barbarians, and this course aims to explore this vital part of history and dispel some of the myths surrounding it.
| BELFIELD | ||
| 10 Tuesdays | Sep 25, Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 20, 27 | 7.30pm - 9.30pm |
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FEE: €190 |
Print Open Learning Application Form 2012.13 or ring (01) 7167123 for Laser/credit card payment |
Tutor Details:
Grant Couper was awarded his PhD in Roman history by Trinity College Dublin in 2010. In 2011 he started work in UCD as a tutor and occasional lecturer and is an experienced adult educator, having worked on the Roman Caesars course in UCD last year. His research interests focus on the exercise of power in the Roman world, including security, crime and warfare.
Provisional list of key topics to be covered:
- Life as a barbarian – home, family and work
- Cultural interaction, including religion and art
- Personal fashion – what did barbarians look like?
- Military and diplomatic history
- Roman and barbarian arms and armour
- Changes in barbarian societies
- The frontiers and their development
- Life in the northern provinces of the empire
Who is the course for?
This course is aimed at anyone with an interest in Roman and early European history, and those who wish to be introduced to an often-ignored but vitally important era of our past.
Reading List:
The following is a selection of recommended texts for those interested in reading further around the course content. We advise that you do not buy books in advance of the course as your tutor will discuss the list and suggest the most relevant reading for particular interests.
- P. Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire: a New History of Rome and the Barbarians, 2006.
- P. Southern, Ancient Rome: the Empire 30BC - AD476, 2011.
- M. Cary and H.H. Scullard, A History of Rome, revised edition 1980.
- A. Birley, Lives of the Later Caesars, 1976.
- T.S. Burns, Rome and the Barbarians 100BC – AD400, 2009.
- Ammianus Marcellinus, The Later Roman Empire (AD354 – 378), Penguin Classics 1986.
