Emperor Trajan and His Times

Calling all ancient history lovers! ICCC is excited to launch a new mini-course in collaboration with Dr. Dustin Gish from the University of Houston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Join us at the Italian Cultural & Community Center for a talk on Emperor Trajan on Wednesday, November 12 at 7:00 p.m., followed by a docent-led tour on Friday, November 14 at 6:00 p.m. of the MFAH's special exhibition, Art and Life in Imperial Rome: Trajan and His Times.

Space is limited, so we encourage you to register early.

Part I:

Wednesday, November 12 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Italian Cultural & Community Center, 1101 Milford Street, Houston, TX 77006

Part II:

Friday, November 14 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Audrey Jones Beck Building, 5601 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005

Price: $62.50 ICCC Members | $75 General Admission

(ticket price includes admission to MFAH for docent-led tour)

The ancient Roman emperor Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 53-117CE) ruled for two decades over the Roman Empire at its greatest extent. Prior to his ascension in 98 CE as the adopted son and heir of his predecessor, emperor Nerva, Trajan had commanded Roman legions across the empire and earned extraordinary success in his military campaigns and popularity in Rome. He was well-known to all when he became emperor and assumed responsibility for the imperial administration of Rome, Italy, and its vast network of 46 provinces, stretching from the British Isles in the north, and coast of the Iberian Peninsula in the west, to the deserts of North Africa and the Persian Gulf. More than 60 million inhabitants lived under Roman law in the age of Trajan, spanning more than 2 million square miles over 3 continents. The reign of Trajan, the first emperor born outside Rome, also marked a high point in Roman imperial architecture, engineering, and artistic patronage, both reflecting the emperor’s ambitions and capitalizing on the empire’s exceptional wealth and power. Major public works and infrastructure projects—including Trajan’s Forum, Market, War Column, and Libraries—were completed under Trajan, and authors like Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, Juvenal, and Suetonius wrote their major works. As the second of five so-called “Good Emperors” of Rome, Trajan’s vision defined what it meant to be Roman in an imperial era.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will host the first major exhibition in the United States dedicated to emperor Trajan and his era. Works of art in this exhibition have been drawn from museum collections in Rome, Naples, and the Vatican, representing some of the finest treasures from Italy’s cultural heritage. The exhibition will explore how art was used during Trajan’s era: both privately, in elite homes, and publicly, in the forums and public buildings as propaganda to promote the empire’s values as it was expanded to its greatest extent. The objects on view tell stories—cultural, social, political, and economic—of life in imperial Rome under Trajan’s rule, including rare marble portrait busts and statues, as well as vivid frescoes and ornate furnishings from the villas of Pompeii. Over 150 art pieces are featured in this exhibit, most on view in the United States for the very first time.

About the Presenter

Dr. Dustin Gish is a Professor of Humanities and Political Philosophy in the Honors College at the University of Houston, where he has taught courses in political theory, philosophy, and literature since 2014. He received his interdisciplinary Ph.D. from the Institute of Philosophic Studies at the University of Dallas, and his M.A. in Liberal Education from St. John’s College (SF). For a decade, Dr. Gish lived in Rome, Italy, and taught courses there at two American universities focused on ancient Roman civilization as well as on the art, history, and philosophy of the Italian Renaissance. He has published extensively on the plays of Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson and the American Founding, Xenophon's Socrates, and the visual rhetoric of Italian civic republicanism.

Please note: tickets for this event are nonrefundable. If you are unable to attend, you may transfer your ticket to a friend.

Click here to become a member of the Italian Cultural & Community Center of Houston.

This program is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

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