Borderlands: Art and Culture between Rome and Iran

Catalog description

We tend to think of borders as hard and fast lines on a map, separating two distinct spheres of territory under different political authorities. In the ancient world however, borders formed regions of uncertain control, places defined by zones of influence projected from cities, with authorities and actors adept at playing both sides. This was especially true in the Classical and Late Antique Middle East, a region contested by the great empires of Rome and Iran. This class examines the art and architecture produced both by and between Rome and Iran. By studying the depictions (and appropriations) of the other, and the visual and material record of liminal places such as Palmyra, Commagene, Hatra, and Dura-Europos, this course investigates the forms of cultural expression in contested places, and how they forged an international visual language of power, prestige, and sacrality.