Emperors of Rome | Emperor and City (Lecture 27)

Lecture 27: We pause in our narrative to examine, over the course of five lectures, related themes pertaining to the emperors, their activities, and their relations with different groups. First, we examine the emperors and the city of Rome. The special relationship of the emperor to the capital city of the realm is reflected in the adornment of Rome by successive emperors. Each erected increasingly vast structures, most of them public amenities. As examples, we look at the complex of imperial fora and the sequence of huge public bathhouses from Agrippa to Diocletian. We also examine the political aspects of such huge building programs, as well as their social and economic implications.

Essential Reading:
Anderson, Roman Architecture and Society.
Coulston and Dodge, Ancient Rome.

Supplementary Reading:
Aicher, Rome Alive.
Richardson, New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome.