I’ve a friend leaving for a month in Rome soon and I’ve been traveling with her vicariously in some ways. That is, I’ve gotten her a couple of books on Rome…
I haven’t read either, but my friend gave them good reviews, excellent in fact…
“…the 2 books on Rome were terrific!”
‘Nuff said.
But that’s not really my point today. Not at all.
I’ve discovered the lectures on iTunes U from various universities. Keeping with the Rome theme I found…
History 106B The Roman Empire from UC Berkeley and taught by Dr. Isabelle Pafford*.
History 106B – Spring 2008 – A history of Rome from Augustus to Constantine. The course surveys the struggles between the Roman emperors and the senatorial class, the relationship between civil and military government, the emergence of Christianity, and Roman literature as a reflection of social and intellectual life.
It’s a very basic survey of the material, but quite interesting. The instructor really seems to love the material and that shows through. She has another podcast out there on The Ancient Mediterranean World which I may work on when I’m done with this one.
Aloha!
From the course description of course on Ancient Mediterranean cultures…
*Isabelle Pafford holds MA degrees in both Classics and Museum Studies from San Francisco State University and she completed her Ph.D. at Berkeley. In addition to interest in the Greek historians, especially Herodotus, Dr. Pafford’s research focuses on the role of money in Greek sanctuaries. Dr. Pafford has been teaching at San Francisco State University since 2005.