True Lies in the Roman Empire: Science and Fiction

In this course we will examine the history of key features of Roman cultural and social life during the 'golden age' of imperial Rome in the second century AD. We begin with a review of imperial expansion in the later first century AD, using the historian Tacitus both as a source for Roman views on their own imperialism and as an example of an historical genre that emphasised empirical data rather than overt political glorification of empire. We will then explore select intellectual and literary contributions of the late first and second centuries AD through the filter of 'fact and fiction'. This is the century of a developed interest in the application of empiricism to medicine and industry; an intense interest in the surrounding (conquered) natural world. It is also the century of the first 'science fiction' novel and more broadly of fiction-writing as a fully-developed and highly-prized literary genre. The contributions of Roman provincials to this impressive and popular cultural flowering will be discussed by detailed studies of works in the tutorial programme. Lastly, we will look at the social fabric of mainstream Roman society during this period: the nature of the Roman household, including marriage, romance and divorce. Using both legal texts and a selection of the literary texts already studied, we will also consider the position and role of slaves in the domestic life of Romans.