Bookmark this page as your main entry point to the course website. That way, you’ll be sure to see any changes and other information I’ve posted here.

These announcements are also sent out by email to all actively enrolled students on my roster. If you are actively enrolled and are not receiving these emails, it may be that your email system is filtering emails from me (in which case, please whitelist me so you do receive them). Or, I may have the wrong email address for you. If you do not find the emails from me in your filtered emails folder, please send me an email and confirm your address so I am able to reach you with information and updates about the course.

Current AnnouncementsRSS feed

Welcome to Week 1!

25 January 2026

Statue of an unknown young Roman.

This is a quick note to welcome you all to the beginning of History of Ancient Rome! I’m looking forward to exploring the Roman world with all of you, starting with our first meeting on Thursday. The meeting is in-person, 6:00 – 8:40 p.m., in Carman 209.

This week we’re exploring core stuff like Roman names, the periods of Roman history, and key themes of the course—all of which is not only material we’ll be relying on regularly throughout the semester, but gives us some really useful insights into the Roman character. What strikes you as most interesting or unexpected about the Romans? What do you want to know more about?

One thing I like to bring up in the first meeting is how we’re connected to the Romans. What parts of your life link us back to the days when Rome ruled the Mediterranean world—and why was that part of the Roman world so enduring that we still have it with us two thousand years later?

Syllabus and video: As a reminder, the syllabus, assignments, and requirements are all on the course website, which is on my website, markbwilson dot com. Make sure you’ve looked through the site and that you’ve watched the welcome video, which talks about how the course works and answers some common questions.

Books: Also make sure you have the book. The Schultz text will be getting regular use right away, and options for getting it (potentially cheaper) are on the Books page. The reading assignments on the Schedule page of the website are what you need to have read (and thought about) before coming to class.

Email me: Many of you replied back to the welcome-to-the-course email I sent you after you enrolled, confirming that I have a good email address for you. If you didn’t, could you do me a favor and reply back to this one and let me know that I can use this address, or that a different email is better for you? Thanks. I’ll be sending out lots of emails, including weekly previews and information on assignments, so it’s important I’m able to reach you.

Sign up for your presentations: There is a sign-up page on the course website for the two presentations on a primary source you’ll be doing: one in the first half of the semester, and one in the second half. These presentations are just you introducing a reading to the class, along with your take on what the author is trying to say and what you think it means, as a way of kicking off our discussion of that reading.

Get your first sign-up out of the way now and choose a reading that seems interesting to you. To get to the page, click on “Presentations” in the side menu, then “Signup #1”. As always, I'm grateful to those who pick the earlier ones! If you have questions, we’ll talk more about presentations and the rest of the course components at our first meeting.

I’m looking forward to meeting (and remeeting) you all and starting our Roman journey. See you Thursday!

Link to Schedule page

Welcome to Week 0!

19 January 2026

Just a quick note to say hello and to check around for any questions you have about the course. I’m looking forward to setting out on our journey of exploration next week.

If you haven’t already done so at some point, please reply to one of my emails or email me at mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu to confirm I have a good email address for you. I like to send out news and course updates by email, and I want to make sure I can contact everyone. If you receive an email from me but there is an email address you prefer I use instead of that one, please definitely reply and tell me that. Thanks!

I’ve made the Brightspace page for the course available, so you should be able to see it in your Brightspace course listing. Note that we are using Brightspace this semester only for uploading papers and posting weekly responses. Everything else is on the course website, which is located at markbwilson dot com. Make sure to check that out if you haven’t yet, and to order the required text. There’s a link to the course website on the Brightspace navigation banner and home page.

That’s it for now. See you soon!

Welcome to History of Ancient Rome (Spring 2026)

16 December 2025

Statue of an unknown young Roman.

Welcome to History of Ancient Rome! I’m looking forward to an interesting semester exploring the cultures and transformations of the ancient Roman world, from its origins as a humble city-state on the fringes of civilization to the fall of the western empire.

Right now, I need you to do three things.

First, look over the course website, which will be our base of operations. Watch the quick welcome and orientation video (linked here and also on the overview page). Look through each of the pages on the website to see how the course will work and how the readings and discussions are set up. Any questions about how it works, please send me an email.

Second, get the book now if you can. A lot of you will be ordering books online, and you need to make sure you have the books and are ready to go when the course starts on January 29. On the “Books” page I’ve tried to give you lots of different options for getting what you need, but consider ordering now if there’s going to be any kind of shipping involved. (If you come across a legitimate online/e-text version of one of the assigned readings that’s not already listed, please let me know.)

Finally, please email me so that I know I have a working email address for you. You can just reply, reply and say “hi”, or reply with a question or concern, but I want to make sure I can contact everyone. If you receive an email from me but there is an email address you prefer I use instead of that one, please definitely reply and tell me that.

Email me anytime with questions at mark.wilson@lehman.cuny.edu. I look forward to starting our Roman journey together.

Link to Overview page