The Ancient Marketing of Rome's Third Century Crisis

About this course:

Roman historians often look at the years between 235 and 284 as a half century in which the empire nearly succumbed to a perilous combination of internal dysfunction and barbarian invasion. There is something to this story—there were after all, more than 50 different people who claimed imperial power in this 49-year span—but a closer look at the evidence suggests that the third-century crisis was not as severe or long-lasting as many believe. In this course, we reconsider this Imperial Crisis and explain why it was in the interests of those living through it to make it seem worse than it was. This course uses the Hybrid format which allows students to participate remotely and/or in the classroom. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.