2018-2019 Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

HIST068 CM - Disasters in the Ancient Mediterranean

The timeless monumentality of the ancient Mediterranean often conveys a sense of durability and resistance to change, but ancient societies were also proverbial for disasters, both natural and human. Poised on a fragile balance between plenty and crisis, disasters strained resources at every level, but ancient communities were nevertheless surprisingly resilient. This course explores a wide range of disasters - earthquakes and volcanoes, floods and drought, plague and famine, fires and riots, sieges and sackings, military catastrophes and genocide - to better understand the capacity of ancient communities to respond to adversity. How enduring was the impact of disaster, what resources were mobilized in response, and what were the psychological strategies for coping?

Offered: Every other year

Credit: 1

Course Number: HIST086 CM