Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

No sources are needed and no work cited page
Invent a family living somewhere in the Roman empire and, in their voices, narrate experiences spanning several generations. Situate thisimaginedfamily at some interesting historical or social juncture and write about how your particular Romans reacted to changing circumstances. There are two core requirements. First, employ voices froma family– not just men. Imagine the more typically silent contributions of women, for example, without relegating them to domestic activities only. Second, cover several generations. Rather than a 'day in the life' snapshot, deal with longer term transformations…how your family reacted to changing social status, improving/worsening economic conditions, and shifting residence. It would take an entire semester to cover the imperial period in any detail; the idea for this project is for you to explore it on your own and capture at least a few salient moments from a plausibly Roman vantage.The focus is the imperial period, soyou should start your narrative no earlier than the latter 1st century BCE (you can start much later if you like). The generations you cover should, then, take you at least into the latter 1st century CE; you can, of course, take this much later, as far as the 4th-5th centuries CE). In terms of famous Romans, startno earlierthan the career of Julius Caesar, and take the narrative through the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula at least, and ideally through Nero and beyond.
The Roman empire is well-suited for the kind of paper I want you to write…the hundreds of peoples and statuses that the empire encompassed are perfect for crafting an interesting family story. Some possible angles: start with a man or woman enslaved by the Romans from some distant or not-so-distant land who later buys his/her freedom and whose descendants rise to citizenship and improved status, the kind of social mobility that was unprecedented in the ancient world outside the Romans. Or develop the story of a poor farmer who enters the legions and gets resettled in a colony in some exotic locale on the frontier — a great opportunity but also a situation rife with cultural clashes and uncertainties. You can go the other way as well…a patrician family that gets caught up in the proscriptions (death/exile squads, essentially) of Sulla or Octavian and ends up poor and out of place in some far-flung outpost with the distant hope of someday working its way back to Rome. Whatever transformation you choose,cite specific events in Roman history that were turning points for your family. Don't just write about a Gallic family becoming Roman, but anchor it in the period in which Gaul was conquered, for example. Pay attention to details like when citizenship was offered to various segments of the emerging empire, when certain social advancements (like for freed slaves) became possible, and how imperial policies in the provinces opened up new opportunities. By the same token, make sure that every event is relevant to your family's experiences or in some way reveals their political sentiments in a sophisticated way. That is, I don't want to read a gossip column with offer armchair opinions on imperial intrigue. Make it clear how a given event or policy had a direct and material effect on your family, or offer thoughtful commentary on imperial policy thatsounds rightgiven your family's economic, social, and political position. So don't just write 'I think Nero is a creep.' Such commentary could also open up disagreements in the family that elucidate generational conflict, status fault lines in mixed-class families, and the different experiences of men and women. And on that note, keep in mind that seismic shifts in family circumstances could come from realms other than traditionally masculine war and politics — imagine the historically silent contributions of women, for example, without relegating them to mundane domestic chores.Women arranged marriages and were used as marital pawns to cement family alliances, transfer wealth, and advance social prestige; they mediated family disputes; they ran households and estates. And as was the case with Augustus, the imperial legal apparatus was often keenly concerned with such 'women's work.'
After you've outlined a framework for what these generations will live through, head straight to the information we've already covered. Don't waste time meandering aimlessly around the internet: most of the information you need you already have at hand and in what I've posted on PILOT.Re-read the 'Roman life' sources in the textbook carefully…make good use of them so that you can do more than guess at what Romans experienced — we haveactualRoman sentiments from which to work.Cite thoseAW:Rsourcesin parentheses or with footnotes, just to mark whence you derived a given attitude or the echo of a historical moment.I'll expect that you cite at least 12 sources from the era of Julius Caesar onward in your narrative; see the accompanying announcement for a running list of relevant primary documents. In addition, I've posted relevant chapters from the companion textbook under 'supplemental readings''Roman empire' at right — those pages are rich in social conventions, rituals, and politico-economic structures…everything you need to fill out your narrative. And for one more view, I'll put a sort of quirky video — 'Roman city' — on course reserve at the library (and onlinehere).It features the built environment that Romans lived with a ridiculous but plausible provincial Roman cartoon back-story; it's worth a look. For other details that will make your narrative more realistic, look at the slightly strange online communitynova roma, which is useful at least for Roman naming conventions. Choose Roman names that conform to the 'rules' that Romans followed; naming your characters Bill and Joe (or Billius and Joius) ruins the conceit of an ancient narrative. And if you include dates, do not number them the way we do (that is, BCE / CE), because the Romans certainly didn't reckon time based on the birth of Jesus of Nazareth…not afterwards and (of course) not before he was born. They identified years according to who was consul, so instead of '59 BCE,' use 'in the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus;' see thelist of Roman consulson wikipedia. And from Stanford, amapping appthat allows you to estimate the time and money necessary to travel from any city in the Roman empire to any other one. This can add some realistic detail to your narrative if your family makes a big move at some point.