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In 79 CE, Mt. Vesuvius erupted on a massive scale, burying a large swath of the prosperous Bay of Naples area under meters of rock, ash, and mud. Cities such as Pompeii and Herculaneum were snuffed out, preserved for millennia until they were rediscovered in the modern era. Almost overnight, Pompeii became one of the …

Why and how did ancient societies represent stories in art? What can pottery and sculpture tell us about the role of story-telling in ancient life? How did visual art serve as a means of powerful communication across cultures and centuries? Explore these questions and more in Myth and Reality in Classical Art. This course is an introduction …

Come explore the material culture of Ancient Rome, a world of gladiators, gods, and generals, emperors, priests, and enslaved. Learn how the Roman army conquered an empire that stretched from Scotland to Syria, Romania to Morocco. Delve into architectural and artistic achievements that would not be matched for millennia. Evaluate how archaeologists draw their conclusions …

In 330 CE, the Emperor Constantine the Great moved the official capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to his renovated metropolis Constantinople, and a new era in the Mediterranean world began. While Rome’s glory would fade under the weight of mismanagement and foreign invasions, the Eastern Empire would rise to new heights of glory, …

Ancient Rome is famous for its many innovations—technological, social, philosophical—that have had an outsized influence on the Eurocentric world. Rome of the 4th c. BCE saw the birth of republicanism and citizenship. The conquests of Italy and then Europe starting in the 2nd c. BCE established an empire that stretched from Britain to Syria and …

Ancient Rome is famous for its many innovations—technological, social, philosophical—that have had an outsized influence on the Eurocentric world. Rome of the 4th c. BCE saw the birth of republicanism and citizenship. The conquests of Italy and then Europe starting in the 2nd c. BCE established an empire that stretched from Britain to Syria and …

Ancient Greece is famous for its many innovations—technological, social, philosophical—that have had an outsized influence on the Eurocentric world. Athens of the 6th and 5th c. BCE saw the birth of democracy, theater, and trial by jury. The conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th c. BCE stretched from Egypt to Afghanistan and created …

Ancient Greece and Rome have inspired filmmakers since the dawn of the Age of Cinema. Their gripping mythology has appeared in numerous renditions of Clash of the Titans, Hercules (Disney or otherwise), and Percy Jackson, and more subtlety in films such as O Brother Where Art Thou and Cold Mountain. Their history and culture lie behind movies such as Gladiator, 300, Pompeii, and any …

If you’ve ever attended a theater performance, listened to an orchestra, or been part of a chorus, you’ve witnessed the legacy of the Classical World. Theater emerged in Athens (Greece) in the 6th century BCE, as part of the worship of Dionysus, the god of overcoming social boundaries (and wine!). Within two centuries it had …

The past is a puzzle with no instructions and mostly missing pieces. Come find out how archaeologists put together what pieces we do have to reconstruct the cultures of Ancient Greece and Rome. Learn how to draw connections using a variety of evidence, including excavation, coins, and sculpture. Explore numerous issues for the study of …