CLA 111 - Big Screen Rome (W) (1)

Hollywood has long had an interest in using ancient Rome as a lens for understanding contemporary America. Earlier Hollywood films, for example, have explored the rich and famous (Antony and Cleopatra), slave revolts (Spartacus), chariot races (Ben Hur), raucous parties (Fellini’s Satyricon), the rise of Christianity (Quo Vadis), and the fall of empires (The Fall of the Roman Empire). This course will explore Roman history and culture through the words, stories, plays, and histories of eyewitnesses and other ancient authors and then, in viewing five to six films, will ask why the Romans continue to command such interest in the popular imagination and film. Offered in alternate years or every third year.
(Writing Requirement)