Site MapHelpFeedbackChapter Outline
Chapter Outline
(See related pages)



  1. Historical Overview of Imperial Rome
    1. First century B.C.: civil wars and the end of the Republic

  2. The Augustan Principate
    1. Caesar Augustus: Princeps and imperator
    2. Power and politics in the Roman Principate
    3. Pax Romana
      1. 31 BCE–193 CE
      2. Expansion, order, and stability
      3. Similarities to and differences from the Hellenistic world
      4. The spread of Roman civilization: urban infrastructure and amenities in the provinces
      5. The growing economy

  3. The Crisis of the Third Century
    1. Civil war
    2. The problem with choosing new emperors
    3. The Barrack Emperors
    4. Other imperial problems: economy, inflation, poverty, Christian persecution

  4. The Reforms of Diocletian and Constantine
    1. Diocletian's Tetrarchy: more government
    2. A bigger army and new military strategies
    3. Stabilizing the economy
    4. Constantine's new eastern capital
    5. The era of the dominate
    6. Diocletian's persecution of Christianity in 303
    7. Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313 legalizes Christianity

  5. The Later Roman Empire in West and East
    1. The declining significance of the western capital
      1. The barbarian threat
      2. The federate problem leads to the loss of the west
    2. The rising significance of the eastern capital
      1. The eastern emperors' objectives
      2. Emperor Justinian's achievements

  6. The Triumph of Christianity
    1. The growth of the church
      1. The church plays important roles in late Roman society
      2. Church leadership: Apostolic succession and the Petrine Idea
    2. Early Christian controversies: heresy
      1. Arianism
          2. a) 325: The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea gives rise to the Nicene Creed
          b) Ulfilas, an Arian bishop
      2. Monophysitism
    3. Christian monasticism: the rise of ascetic movements
      1. Antony
      2. Pachomius
    4. Christianity and the Roman state
      1. Complex relationship
      2. Emperor Anastasius and Pope Gelasius I: imperial power versus ecclesiastical authority

  7. Roman Imperial Civilization
    1. Secular Latin literature
      1. Augustan Rome: the Golden Age of Roman letters
          2. a) Characteristics of the age
          b) Virgil and the Roman epic: Aeneid
          c) Horace: poetic satire d) Ovid: "love" poetry, Art of Love, Metamorphoses
          e) Livy: Roman historian
      2. After Augustus: The Silver Age of Roman letters
          3. a) Characteristics of the age
          b) Seneca: dramatist
          c) Juvenal: poetic satire
          d) Tacitus: Roman historian, orator, and politician
    2. Philosophy
      1. Stoicism
          2. a) Seneca: Letters on Morality
          b) Epictetus
          c) Marcus Aurelius: Meditations
      2. Blending Greek philosophical schools: Neoplatonism
          3. a) Founded by Plotinus
          b) Reconciles problem of Platonic dualism
    3. Science and medicine
      1. Greek influence and Roman original contributions
      2. Celsus: On Medicine
      3. Galen's medical treatises
    4. Law
      1. Rome's most original contribution
      2. The idea of natural law (derived from Stoicism)
      3. The evolution of Roman law
          4. a) The Twelve Tables
          b) The Emperor makes law
          c) Jurisconsults
          d) The legal codifications of the second and third centuries CE

  8. The Transition from Classical Humanism to Christian Civilization: Christian Literature
    1. Literature, theology, and history
      1. The decline of secular writing in the later empire
      2. The Fathers of the Church: classical tradition and the new religion
          3. a) Ambrose: Sermons, commentaries, letters, and hymns
          b) Jerome: the Vulgate Bible
          c) Augustine: Confessions and City of God
      3. Eusebius and a new literary genre: the church history
    2. Poetry
      1. Paulinus of Nola
      2. Prudentius
      3. Caelius Sedulius: Paschal Song

  9. Roman Fine Arts
    1. Uses and influences
      1. Roman practicality
      2. Etruscan and Greek influences
      3. Roman architectural legacy assured via the survival of the Christian tradition
    2. Architecture
      1. Materials and style
      2. Changing types of building materials
      3. Architectural innovations: rounded arch, barrel vault, groined vault, and dome
      4. The prototype of the Roman temple: the Maison Carrée
      5. The round temple: the Pantheon
      6. The city of Rome and urban planning: the forum
      7. Amphitheatres: the Flavian Amphitheatre/Colosseum
      8. Bridges and aqueducts
      9. Diocletian revitalizes architecture in the third century: Dalmatian palace
      10. The last pagan triumphal arch: Arch of Constantine
      11. Christian architecture: churches and the basilica form
    3. Sculpture
      1. Late Republican realism
      2. Sculpture as imperial propaganda
      3. Augustus and the Hellenic revival: idealism vs. realism
          4. a) Prima Porta portrait of Augustus
          b) Ara Pacis
      4. Post-Augustan Hellenic-inspired sculpture
          5. a) Arch of Titus
          b) Trajan's Column
      5. Later Roman sculpture: departure from idealism, realism, and classicism
          6. a) Diocletian's Tetrarchy
          b) Colossal statue of Constantine
      6. Christian sculpture
          7. a) By the end of the third century, it is symbolic in content and impressionistic in style
          b) Sarcophagi
    4. Paintings and mosaics
      1. Painting
          2. a) Wall painting techniques and subject matter
          b) Landscape wall painting at the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta: Augustan prosperity and peace
          c) Christian wall paintings of the fourth century: catacombs
          d) The illustrated book: pagan miniatures painted for Vergil's Aeneid
      2. Mosaics
          3. a) Techniques, styles, placement, and subject matter
          b) Pagan versus Christian mosaics
            (1) Pagan mosaics: Villa Romana del Casale
            (2) Christian mosaics
            1. Church of Santa Costanza
            2. Church of Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian
            3. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
            4. Church of San Vitale
    5. Music
      1. Heavily influenced by Greek forms and ideas
      2. Practical origins
      3. Imperial influence on the development of music as an important art form in Rome
          4. a) Pantomimes
          b) Military music
          c) Greek and Etruscan instruments
      4. Christian music in late Rome
          5. a) Influenced by Greco-Roman musical principles and Jewish liturgical tradition
          b) Chanting and unaccompanied singing
          c) The hymn: a new musical genre
          d) Contributions of Ambrose, an early hymn composer

  10. The Legacy of Pre-Christian Rome






To learn more about the book this website supports, please visit its Information Center.
(c)2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.


Matthews: Western HumanitiesOnline Learning Center

Home > Chapter 6 > Chapter Outline