The Long Goodbye - how the roman empire ended
We began this course with a look at how the Roman Empire fired the imaginations of past generations. Nineteenth century painters have left us with so many, often unconscious, preconceptions about so much.
One of the biggest mental hurdles to get over is the notion of Roman-ness (the Romans called it 'romanitas') being inherently better than 'barbarianism'.
There's a lot to consider here, and plenty of it colours the way we react in the modern age.
The Romans were completely confident that their way of life was the summit of civilisation and that they were doing the wild folk a bit of a favour by extending to them the opportunity to take part. Aside from all the gold, slaves and other useful commodities that such a takeover would bring.....
Now does this chime true for anything that's happened since, say, 1919? Middle East, for example?
Google 'sack of Rome' and choose the 'images' option. You'll get a page full of rampaging wild men imagined and drawn from the Renaissance onwards.
One of the biggest mental hurdles to get over is the notion of Roman-ness (the Romans called it 'romanitas') being inherently better than 'barbarianism'.
There's a lot to consider here, and plenty of it colours the way we react in the modern age.
The Romans were completely confident that their way of life was the summit of civilisation and that they were doing the wild folk a bit of a favour by extending to them the opportunity to take part. Aside from all the gold, slaves and other useful commodities that such a takeover would bring.....
Now does this chime true for anything that's happened since, say, 1919? Middle East, for example?
Google 'sack of Rome' and choose the 'images' option. You'll get a page full of rampaging wild men imagined and drawn from the Renaissance onwards.