ART 285 - Making of Imperial Cities: Babylon, Rome, and Constantinople

From the ancient world to the early modern era, Babylon, Rome and Constantinople served as the centers of great empires, and thus controlled vast demographic, material, intellectual and artistic resources. This course will explore the formation and transformation of these metropolises through centuries. What kind of social, political and economic conditions stimulated their rise? In what ways did their urban layout change through time? What forms of art and architecture defined them as imperial centers? Keeping these main questions in mind, this course will explore the impact of politics, religion and other historically and culturally specific conditions on the formation of the three cities that has inspired Western imagination for millennia. Alternate fall semesters. (4 Credits)