Is Rome On The Rise?

[Neos Dionysos]

Well of course, God bless the science geeks. But my thoughts aren't of the zero sum variety, liberal arts suffering at the gain of the sciences, but rather what constitutes a common core of an educated individuals knowledge. I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with works from the classical era making a reappearance in a common-core curriculum.

 

No argument here. I'm a big fan of the common-core, and the study of the ancient mediterranean should be a part of that. For someone to graduate from college without reading Perikles' funeral oration...well, I just shudder.

 

Perhaps this is a bit off topic but...

 

Cato I seem to recall you stating having a PhD, but not whether or not you teach... (I'd take a stab yes), in either case the school you earned your BA at, (or the one you teach at), for core requirements are there any for Classical Studies? Is there even a department of it or is it a mere sub-division of History?

 

This question goes out to everyone as well...

 

At my school the Classics Department is a very small, almost independant affair and who is greatly at odds with the History department, (gotta love bueracracy, it's mainly because of those heading the departments), in either case, few people at my school even know we HAVE a Classics department and none of thier classes are for any core requirements, in fact the only historical requirements is US history, from Colonial to modern, that's it.

 

I think Rome is making a "comeback" if you will because it has so long been skimmed over and merely glanced at in school's by people, growing up I learned of Alexander in grade school I learned all about him and all that he did in one paragraph in our textbook and Rome was a page worth, naming Carthage, (I don't even think Hannibal was mentioned), Caesar, Augustus and Constantine... that was it. Suddenly we are in the "Dark Ages" and learning about Charlemagne. This was basically my education through high school, (which only added some narrative), but got me very interested and why I know of many people my age or younger who have a huge fascination or hobby with Rome or the Classical Period... I think that's the reason why it is on the rise, a rediscovery of what has been only hinted to us in past education.

[Ursus]

My first thoughts were similar to your post. A good read is the "Closing of the American Mind" by Allan Bloom. Love it or hate it it was one of the first to lament the abandonment of a traditional 'liberal education' which included more classical elements.

 

 

I have also been recommended a work along those lines called _Who Killed Homer?_ though I've never read it.

 

In my college, the common core was a compromise. So many units of both Western Humanities and Multicultural studies were required, which is perhaps the most reasonable course.

[M. Porcius Cato]

Cato I seem to recall you stating having a PhD, but not whether or not you teach... (I'd take a stab yes), in either case the school you earned your BA at, (or the one you teach at), for core requirements are there any for Classical Studies? Is there even a department of it or is it a mere sub-division of History?

For my BA alma mater, there was no requirement to take classics, but if you were so inclined, you could fulfill most of your humanities requirements through the classics department (which I did). Where I teach (not the classics btw, I'm purely an amateur just like most everyone else on this forum), students have to take at least 25 credits in the Arts and Humanities, and Classics counts. In both places, ancient history, ancient art, and Greek and Latin were taught by separate departments.

[Augustus Caesar]

Is it really any wonder we feel that Rome and its culture etc is getting a renewal of interest when so much of our lives now are governed by decisions made 2,000 years ago? Our arts, culture, laws and goodness knows how many other parallels are easily seen to be drawn from Roman concepts. Now I know that a lot of their ideas etc were taken from Greece, Carthage and others but this does not detract from the question asked or our answers here.

 

After all the empire lasted a very long time overall and didn't actually really finish until the fifteen hundreds although the western empire ended in the supposed year of 410AD. Influences can be found the world over whether or not Rome conquered some of these territories. Architecture is a very fine example and one need look no further than our American cousins and see the political setup and architecture there. So many countries and cultures have tried to copy Rome it seems that the idea of Rome and its dream is embedded in our souls. Is this where America gets her dream from?

 

Human beings will virtually always hark bark to their roots and want to seek further truth in their lives and will go back to a time when they felt comfortable with themselves and maybe it's true of history. There is so much recorded history from this period and so much we know from archaeology and even common sense thinking that we sometimes may feel guilty of allowing it to become too romantic an idea that Rome was all so powerful but a great place to be. When we see that the great empire was sometimes so far removed from this romantic idea we seek solace in another area of their history.

 

With so many people now understanding Rome and its diverse history (think about all the areas one could pick up a specialised subject in a quiz say) it is little wonder to me at all why it is the most fascinating period of our planets eras. Some folk are interested in only the emperors and some in the legions whilst others like the finds like a mosaic in a dig. But they are all interlinked and we can inevitably discuss with each other all our interests because they so easily overlap and there are over 1,000 years to cover too.

 

The original question asked about the revival of Roman topics everywhere but I feel that this will happen for a long time to come. It will wane again and only the dedicated will keep the subject in the mix of, say, forums like this and web sites like my own. The media are a fickle bunch and will jump a bandwagon when it is there. Rome's history will never die and we can only learn and discover more. With all these discoveries etc the media will again be looking at ways of capitalising and the general feeling of 'Rome's in favour again' will surface. Movies may well be made but there is really a finite number of subjects known you can makes films about before they start doing what they are doing now... make remakes!

 

There are so many famous names from the Roman period too and it is so easy to want to learn about them. Look at today when celebs find themselves on the front cover of magazines simply to satisfy our thirst for knowledge of who they are with, why and what they are doing next etc. Imagine..... Julius Caesar, the greatest general that ever lived, suddenly walks into a pub... the media would be all over it in a flash. We'd know more about him in one day than it would take for a historian to find out in two thousand years. Thus would end the romanticism and mystery. Maybe that's where it all lies.... in the romance and the history and the thirst for more knowledge.