Roman Republic and Empire

Catalog description

This course focuses on how the Roman Republic developed an elaborate political and legal system, during which time Rome conquered Italy and began to look eastward to Greece, westward to Spain, and northward to Gaul (France) and Germania (Germany). Over time, it outgrew the institution of the Republic and transformed into the Roman Empire but only after nearly a century of civil war. The early Empire enjoyed a period of stability and peace but this too would fail. Ultimately, the Empire would dissolve into what we now know as early medieval barbarian kingdoms.