HIS 09 — Far from Rome: Everyday Life Across the Roman Empire
Quarter: Winter
Instructor(s): Gary Devore, Michael Shanks
Date(s): Jan 19—Mar 9
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Tuesdays
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Tuition: $495
Refund Deadline: Jan 21
Unit(s): 1
Status: Registration opens Nov 30, 8:30 am (PT)
What was it like to live in the Roman Empire if you never set foot in Rome? This course shifts attention from emperors and imperial politics to ordinary people living across a vast and diverse empire. We'll encounter soldiers shivering through winters along Hadrian's Wall and merchants making their fortunes in the ports of North Africa. We'll see how Roman roads and sea routes connected distant communities, even as people continued to speak local languages and worship local gods. Archaeological evidence offers an intimate window into these stories: a scratched message on a wall tells us as much as an imperial monument. Drawing on clues from inscriptions, shrines, and everyday objects, we'll explore how people worked, worshiped, and raised families—and what it meant to belong to an empire centered thousands of miles away. Together, these glimpses of everyday life reveal a Roman world shaped as much by its distant provinces as by the power of Rome itself.
No prior knowledge of Roman history, archaeology, or the ancient world is required. The course is designed for curious learners of all backgrounds.
GARY DEVORE
Archaeologist
Gary Devore has excavated in the ancient ruins of Pompeii and also at sites near Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England. He was one of the directors and principal investigators of the Binchester Roman Excavations and is a former director of the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia. Devore received a PhD from the University of Bradford, UK, and taught at Stanford for a decade. MICHAEL SHANKS
Professor of Classics and Professor of Archaeology, Stanford
Michael Shanks is a specialist in long-term humanistic views of social change, design, and innovation. He is a senior faculty member in the Archaeology Center; the programs in Writing and Rhetoric, Urban Studies, and Science, Technology, and Society; and the Center for Design Research at Stanford. He pursues fieldwork examining the Roman borders of Scotland, and he also advises businesses and organizations on managing change. Textbooks for this course:
(Optional) David M. Gwynn, The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction (ISBN 978-0199595112)
(Optional) Christopher Kelly, The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction (ISBN 978-0192803917 )
(Optional) Gillian Clark, Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction (ISBN 978-0199546206 )
(Optional) Christopher Kelly, The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction (ISBN 978-0192803917 )
(Optional) Gillian Clark, Late Antiquity: A Very Short Introduction (ISBN 978-0199546206 )