Course Descriptions

Destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD, Pompeii has fascinated generations of scholars, travelers, filmmakers, and archaeology lovers. This course is a close examination of the archaeological remains of Pompeii. We will look at roads, sewers, public markets, temples, burial monuments, houses, brothels, bathhouses and political buildings. We will focus on the archaeological remains, but we will explore them through the study of specific themes of social and political life in antiquity. We will also challenge some long held assumptions about this site.  Pompeii is traditionally viewed as the quintessential example of a Roman town; yet, as a very famous Roman historian once said, “it is at once the most studied and the least understood of sites.”