Course Schedule

CLAS 349 – Archaeological Evidence for Daily Life in Ancient Greece and Rome

This course focuses on the information about aspects of everyday life of the ancient Greeks and Romans that can be gleaned from archaeological evidence, as opposed to or in combination with written sources, and the various methodologies of the discipline of archaeology that allow us to reconstruct so much of the daily lives of ancient peoples. A comparative approach will be used so that students gain a sense of the shared cultural markers of these two civilizations, as well as their differences and the changes that took place in the Roman period. Topics to be considered are: house and home; clothing and body ornament; food and drink; partying and leisure activities; theater and spectacle; sport and competition; music and dance; shopping and money; schooling and children's lives; men's versus women's lives; the lives of slaves; and the worlds of artists and craftsmen.