The Ancient World through Early Modern Eyes

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this seminar, we will trace the various ways in which early modern Europeans looked to antiquity for inspiration in their own present, and try to find new ways to examine that legacy. The writings, institutions, and physical remains of ancient Greece and Rome were fundamental to the formation of early modern European culture. "Renaissance" may be a modern term, but sixteenth-century Italians referred constantly to a "rebirth" of literary and artistic achievement. They had no intention of giving up medieval improvements to life like paper and compasses and Hindu-Arabic numerals: rather, they were convinced that better familiarity with the ancients could inspire new solutions to present problems, from the structure of the universe, to the principles of good government, to the criteria by which to judge a valid work of art, architecture, or literature. Their idea of "antiquity" went beyond Greece and Rome to include the ancient Hebrews, Egyptians, Etruscans, Goths, Batavians, Britons, Phoenicians, Ethiopians, Indians, and Chinese. Like human nature, "antiquity" in the early modern period was a two-edged sword. The Roman Empire provided a brutal model of aggression and exploitation (and environmental destruction); as the ancient Roman author Tacitus famously noted: "They create a desert and call it peace." Rome was also, however, a model of inclusion that eventually spanned three continents. Antiquity also provided marvelous opportunities for early modern forgers and impostors, some of whom exerted remarkable influence before their exposure as frauds.