Freshman Seminar: Rome and China
Catalog Number: 19686 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Emma Dench and Michael J. Puett
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
The Roman Empire (at its peak c. 200 BCE-c. 200 CE) and the Han Empire (202 BCE-220 CE) were exact contemporaries but only dimly aware of one another, and actual contact between the two imperial powers was limited to small-scale trading of a few luxury commodities, especially silk and glass. The comparison of the two, with emphasis on the ways in which their own respective inhabitants viewed and experienced imperial power as reflected in texts and archaeological evidence, will help us to appreciate the rich and fundamental differences between two modes of rule that we label ’empires’.
Note: Open to Freshmen only.
Emma Dench and Michael J. Puett
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
The Roman Empire (at its peak c. 200 BCE-c. 200 CE) and the Han Empire (202 BCE-220 CE) were exact contemporaries but only dimly aware of one another, and actual contact between the two imperial powers was limited to small-scale trading of a few luxury commodities, especially silk and glass. The comparison of the two, with emphasis on the ways in which their own respective inhabitants viewed and experienced imperial power as reflected in texts and archaeological evidence, will help us to appreciate the rich and fundamental differences between two modes of rule that we label ’empires’.
Note: Open to Freshmen only.