FWS: Subversive Myth and Politics in Imperial Rome

Catalog description

This course traces increasing restrictions on freedom of speech from the late Roman Republic to the imperial era. It thus offers a select survey of the most influential period of Latin literature with a specific political agenda. Also, since early first century statuary and architecture played a vital role in imperial propaganda, students look at how Octavian portrayed himself in the guise of specific gods, and observe the not always flattering depictions of these gods in Augustan poetry. In sum, students gain an intimate familiarity with the political climate of the late Roman republic and early imperial age in a synthesis of literature, history and iconography organized around the dueling themes of freedom of speech and censorship.