Rome’s First Emperors: The Twelve Caesars

Philip Waddell
Fall 2022
Tuesdays |  
10 AM - 12 PM (AZ Time)
September 27, October 4, 11, 18, 25, November 1, 8, 15, 29, December 6, 2022
Course Format: Hybrid
Location: Main Campus
Tuition: $295

In this course, the class will examine how the image of the Roman emperor was and is constructed. We will be investigating questions of source material reliability, genre, and the use and power of rhetoric in history. Through an examination of Rome’s rulers, from Julius Caesar to Emperor Domitian, using the ancient written source material (in translation), we will discover the ways in which we, no less than the ancients, forged images of the emperors.

Hybrid Course Format

  • All classes will be delivered in-person and online via live video streaming. Students will enroll in their preferred format during registration.
  • In-person classes will be held in the Rubel Room at the University of Arizona’s Poetry Center (1508 E Helen St, Tucson, AZ 85721). Enrollment for in-person classes is limited by classroom capacity and offered on a first-come, first-served basis. All students attending on-campus will observe the relevant University of Arizona policies designed to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 (more information here). Students who enroll to participate in person will also have complete online access to the course, including all class recordings.
  • Online students may attend all classes via live video streaming and will be able to participate in all course Q&A sessions with the professor in real-time. Students may also access class recordings for a limited time to assist those who may not be able to attend the live class times. Online access will be password protected and only available to enrolled students.

Registration Will Open Online:
Monday, August 29, 2022, at 8 AM (AZ Time)

Required Reading
  • Suetonius’ The Caesars, transl. Donna Hurley (Hackett Classics, 2011) ISBN: 978-1603843133
  • All other required texts will be distributed to students electronically.
Recommended Reading
  • Tacitus’ Annals, transl. Cynthia Damon (Penguin Classics, 2013) ISBN: 978-014045564
  • Tacitus’ The Histories, transl. Kenneth Wellesley (Penguin Classics, 2009) ISBN:978-0140449648

Meet Your Instructor

Associate Professor

PHILIP WADDELL is an Associate Professor of Classics at the University of Arizona. He received his Ph.D. in Classical Studies from the University of Missouri and specializes in Latin and Greek historiography, Classical History, and Ancient Rhetoric. His work in ancient historiography concerns the construction of narrative within historical texts, and he recently published the monograph Tacitean Visual Narrative. Currently, he is working on a commentary on book 21 of Livy’s Roman History.

Location

POETRY CENTER
Dorothy Rubel Room
1508 E Helen
Tucson, AZ 85721
United States

Located on the SE corner of Helen Street and Vine Avenue, one block north of Speedway and three blocks west of Campbell Ave.

Street map image of Poetry Center

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