Humanitas: Ancient Rome Program

About this curriculum

Unlike most contemporary approaches to history, which reflect the fashions and biases of the fleeting present, Humanitas offers students something more substantial. Following C.S. Lewis’ stout defense of reading primary sources in “On the Reading of Old Books,” Humanitas will help “persuade the young that firsthand knowledge is not only more worth acquiring than secondhand knowledge, but it is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire.” Geared towards history, humanities, and humane letters courses, the Humanitas series offers a continuous, unfolding narrative of Western Civilization through a collection of carefully curated primary source documents. Full program includes: HUMANITAS: ANCIENT ROME From the founding of Rome to the sack of the eternal city by Alaric the Goth in AD 410, Ancient Rome Books 1 & 2 cover the rise of the Roman Republic and the slow decline and fall of the Roman empire. These books begin with the founding myths, chart the wars with Carthage and the influence of Hellenism, and cover the establishment and breaking of the Roman empire…