Being a Roman Governor: Tacitus and Pliny

3 units

This course focuses on two prose works of the early imperial period: Tacitus' AGRICOLA, about his father-in-law's term as governor of Britain under Domitian; and Book 10 of the letters of Pliny the Younger, his correspondence with Trajan while Pliny was governor of Bithynia-Pontus. Though in completely different genres and styles, these works share a common theme: the governance of a distant Roman province under the Principate. In addition to a close reading of the texts and discussion of the historical and literary issues they raise, we will look at legal and documentary evidence relating to Roman government of the provinces. We will also engage with the current scholarly debate about what is often called "Romanization," including not only mutual acculturation and accomodation but also their opposites, resistance and revolt.