Aristocracies and Central Power: Political Relations and Cultural Influences

The course aims at exploring the relationships, during the Imperial period, between Rome - the centre of the power and residence of the Emperor - and the political élites throughout Italy and the provinces of the Roman Empire. The classes will revolve around a series of lectures that Prof. F. Hurlet (Univ. Paris Nanterre) will devote to the study and critical reappraisal of modern scholarship on the theme of the "Augustan aristocracy". The following classes will then delve into some the most significant aspects of the multifaceted relationships which bound central power and local élites, from the political as well as cultural point of view, throughout the imperial period.