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Rome
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What is Rome?

Rome as a subject of academic study spans disciplines including ancient history, classical studies, art history, political science, and religious studies. Students encounter Rome in courses that trace the foundations of Western civilization, examine the dynamics of empire and power, and analyze the spread of Christianity and the institutional Church. The sheer breadth of Roman history — from the legendary Seven Kings of Rome through the Republic, the expansion of the Roman Empire, and its eventual fall — makes it one of the most analytically rich topics in world studies. Its entanglements with neighboring civilizations, particularly Carthage and Greece, and its lasting influence on Italy and modern governance give scholars multiple entry points for sustained academic inquiry.

The papers collected on this topic reflect a wide range of approaches. Comparative essays examine Rome alongside other powers, such as the Han Dynasty, or trace architectural and artistic legacies through formal analysis. Historical narratives focus on specific conflicts like the Punic Wars or biographical subjects like Julius Caesar. Other papers take cultural and mythological angles, exploring Greek and Roman mythology or the role of structuralism in classical myth. Some essays engage with Rome's religious transformation and the rise of Christianity, while art historical work analyzes specific objects and monuments in their imperial context.

A strong essay on Rome requires a clearly bounded thesis — focusing on a specific period, figure, conflict, or legacy rather than attempting to survey the entire civilization. Primary evidence drawn from ancient historians and material culture carries particular weight. The most common pitfall is conflating Greek and Roman traditions without acknowledging where they genuinely diverge.

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Paper Masters
Exoticism in 19th and 20th Century Opera: Carmen and Madama Butterfly
Exoticism in 19th and 20th Century Opera Exoticism was a cultural invention of the 17th Century, enjoying resurgence in the 19th and 20th Centuries due to increased travel and trade by Europeans in foreign, intriguing continents. The "West," eventually including the United States, adapted and recreated elements of those alluring cultures according to Western bias, creating escapist art forms that blended fantasy with reality. Two examples of Exoticism in Opera are Georges Bizet's "Carmen," portraying cultural bias toward gypsies and Basques, and Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly," portraying cultural bias toward the Far East. Butterfly's "exotic geisha" imagery of the Far East and Carmen's "earthy Spanish gypsy" imagery originating from the Middle East blossomed from escapist original source material that was borrowed and embellished to create some of the finest operas of the modern art world. Though the premieres of both operas were poorly received, both "Carmen" and "Madama Butterfly" survived to become classic, enduring masterpieces.
Essay Doctorate
Western Imperialism: Justification vs. Colonial Reality
This essay shows that imperialism was largely lauded by Western colonializers. According to them they were educating the illiterate; teaching the savage the ways of Jesus Christ; showing the primitive how to till and cultivate his soil as well as manage his business; and, in all ways, positively affecting the inferior race with the gentility and keener intelligence of the superior. Others admitted their stake of personal self-interest, but pegged on the same rationalizations: they were benefitting the inferior savage by occupying his land.
Research Paper Doctorate
Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning Review
Grendler, Paul F. Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning 1300-1600. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991.
Paper Undergraduate
The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark: A Critical Review
Dennis McDonald's The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark (2000) is a book that was always guaranteed to upset orthodox Christian theologians and biblical literalists and fundamentalists everywhere, since its main thesis held that the author of the first gospel used the Iliad and the Odyssey as literary models. He compares Mark to the apocryphal Acts of Andrew, a Gnostic book, and describes it as a "hypotext" that "relies somehow on a written antecedent" (McDonald, p. 2). Specifically, Mark used Books 22 and 24 of the Iliad as models for the death and burial of Jesus, in which Achilles brutally kills Hector and then releases the body to his father, King Priam of Troy. Hector's soul went to Hades and never returned, but of course Jesus was resurrected on the third day, even if his rather dim disciples in Mark failed to recognize him initially.
Paper Doctorate
Music and Politics: The Argentine Tango's Cultural Roots
The tango is a form of dancing that originates in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a popular dance form that has spread internationally since its inception in the early nineteenth century. As with all cultural forms, there is a distinctive history and style that accompanies this form of expression. The very creation and performance of tango are political acts. The tango flourishes in South America and in Europe. The tango culture is also quite popular in North American and Asia. There are, for example, multiple tango festivals that occur in Turkey, a country that is both in Asia and in Europe. The paper will discuss the cultural expression of tango, a form of music and dance, as well as the political circumstances under which it was created and the ones it expresses.
Paper Doctorate
Life and Politics in Ancient Rome: HBO's Rome Analyzed
Rome: A brief study of life and politics in ancient Rome
Case Study High School
Julius Caesar vs. Augustus: Rise and Fall of Roman Power
The history of ancient Rome is divided into eras based on the leader at the time. Two such leaders were Julius Caesar and Octavian, later Augusts, Caesar. The two men were alike in genealogy, close in time and…
Paper Doctorate
Constantine and Eusebius: Christianity's Rise in Rome
There are many great rulers in history, among them men and women of great fortitude, power, allegiance, wealth and intrigue. Yet, there are few who ring more interesting to a modern reader than Constantine I, who is widely held as the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity and spread its favor across the then known world. This work will briefly discuss Constantine I (27 February 272–22 May 337 AD) and his only remaining biographer Eusebius (263-339 AD) who was really writing the history of the church rather than on the greatness of a single human leader. The work will first briefly explore who these men were, according to history then it will discuss their relationship to one another, the impact that relationship had on each and finally how that relationship influenced the enculturation of Christianity in the Roman Empire.
Research Paper Doctorate
High Renaissance Art: Da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo
The Renaissance is referred to as a period of time where there was a great cultural movement that began in Italy during the early 1300's. It spread into other countries such as England, France, Germany, the Netherlands,…
Research Paper Doctorate
Thomas Cranmer: Archbishop, Reformer, and Anglican Founder
As the Archbishop of Canterbury during the tumultuous reign of Henry VIII, Thomas Cranmer was in an extraordinary position to effect changes in England's political and religious direction.