Latin 319 - Power, Politics and Scandal

'Tacitus and Suetonius are the two principal authorities for understanding the impact of the Roman emperor's position and authority on the transformation of the political culture of the early empire from republic to monarchy. This course will focus on the content of Roman imperial historiography and biography--politics and the abuse of power, dynastic succession, scandal and court intrigue--as well as its form--source material, narrative structure and prose style--by reading closely selections from Tacitus' Annals of Imperial Rome and/or Histories and Suetonius' Lives of the Twelve Caesars.'

Prereq: Latin-222