n this Autumn Quarter sequence, students investigate, in situ, the history of a city central to the ancient and early-modern eras of Western civilization. "Rome: Antiquity to Baroque" traces Rome's development from antiquity to the seventeenth century from its early status as the capital of a vast empire to its revived glory as the center of western Christendom. In addition to the many visits to sites within and in the vicinity of Rome (the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, Hadrian's Villa, the Vatican), a weekend excursion to the fabled ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum is a highlight of this program.

City as Essential Text

ome has been a city at least since it gained a name from Romulus, and during most of its history has been the capital of something greater than itself. This course traces the constant reinvention of the city, from city-state to seat of empire, from See of St. Peter to Renaissance Papal State, from medieval commune to capital of modern Italy. Rome is an unusual site in which written history can be compared at point after point with an urban fabric that tells its own story. The main themes of the course are those which can be well served by this double focus: the formation of political structures to manage international relations as well as purely local needs, the role of religion in the growth of the state, the development of art and architecture for both public and private consumption. The history of Rome also provides a famous model for examining the concept of cultural decline. Above all, however, this course seeks to use Rome and surrounding regions as a museum in the open air and to explore the viewer's participation in public performances of power from pre-Roman to early modern times.