This course focuses on prose and poetry of the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, the Roman Empire. This was a cosmopolitan and vibrant period for literature during which Roman authors tried to navigate a new political reality with all of its opportunities and dangers. We will read authors reacting to or carefully ignoring the Julio-Claudian and Flavian imperial houses, bad emperors and good ones. Our goal is to understand these texts within their cultural, political, and literary context. This will include close reading of the Latin, and an introduction to the historical period and modern scholarship.