The Ancient Anthropocene: An Unnatural History of Roman Environments

This course will reflect on the significance of the Anthropocene over the short- and long-term by casting an environmental lens on the archaeology and history of Rome. It will draw from diverse paleo-environmental, archaeological, art historical, and ancient textual evidence to: interrogate Roman mentalities towards the environment; investigate how Roman technologies and organizational systems enabled the Romans ability to bring about enduring ecological transformations; and explore the confluence of socio-political events and natural phenomena. This course has two objectives: first, to learn the role of the environment in the history of Rome, and vice versa; and second, to compare the Romans relationship with the environment to our own, in particular how ideas, tools, and structures affect our interactions with the natural world.