Lektürekurs The British Empire in the light of the Imperium Romanum

-Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves!- -What have the Romans ever done for us?- -Same Game - Different Era- -We are the Greeks to their Romans- In this class we will critically reflect on strategies of appropriation that cast the British Empire in Roman robes as well as on strategies of distanciation that mark the British Empire as different from the Imperium Romanum. Our starting point are recent takes on the Roman Empire such as the ITV2 series -Plebs- and the trilogy -Romanitas- which are part of a rekindled interest in classical culture which is also apparent, for example, in -The Hunger Games-. Our survey will briefly recall the invasion of Britain by Roman troops under Claudius, and we will discuss new archaeological evidence for the co-existence of Britons and Romans from 43 to 410 AD. We will address the (myth of a) revival of Roman culture in the English Renaissance before we investigate the rise and demise of the British Empire. Finally, we will return to contemporary notions of the Roman legacy in Britain. Texts to be read for class will be provided via the LSF platform. You must have read at least one of Shakespeare's Roman Plays and one additional title from the Wikipedia list of -Fiction set in the Roman Empire- before the end of April. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiction_set_in_the_Roman_Empire B.A.-Nebenfach SLK Diese Veranstaltung entspricht in WP 2 dem Kurstyp -Begleitkurs zu Themen der Literaturwissenschaft m/n/o/p- (WP 2.0.14/16/18/20). Sie erhalten 3 ECTS, wenn Sie entweder eine Klausur (30-60 Min.) schreiben oder eine mündliche Prüfung (15-30 Min.) ablegen oder ein Thesenpapier (3.000-6.000 Zeichen) oder Übungsaufgaben (3.000-6.000 Zeichen) fertigen. Die Prüfung muss benotet sein. Die Wahl der Prüfungsart liegt beim Dozenten. LMU München SoSe 2015 Department III Anglistik und Amerikanistik