ANCH 017. First-Year Seminar: Pompeii: In the Shadow of Vesuvius

Destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE, Pompeii continues to captivate the Western imagination as the prototypic image of apocalyptic disaster. In this course we will use Pompeii to explore how we think about the past. We will study the physical remains of the ancient town in order to better understand social, political and commercial life in the Roman world. We will also consider the site’s role in the development of archaeology as a discipline, from its origins in the eighteenth century as a scientific form of treasure-hunting, up to the present day, when scholars are questioning the ethics of excavating at all. Finally, we will consider how the last days of Pompeii have been imagined and even romanticized in various forms of mass media, such as novels, films and television programs.
Social sciences.
Writing course.
1 credit.
Catalog chapter: Classics
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/classics

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