Rome Syllabus--F2004

REQUIRED TEXTS:

The Immense Majesty (Africa)
The Pot of Gold and Other Plays (Plautus)

ONLINE READINGS:

I have not yet found a reasonably priced anthology of Roman history and literature. Consequently, we will be using “online” readings instead. There will be online readings for many/most class sessions. Please be sure to keep up with theses readings.

BLOG:

For each class day that includes a “primary source” reading assignment(almost every day the class meets!), I would like you to add an entry to the class blog (http://08history422.blogspot.com).

Since part of the goal here is to make sure you are prepared for class discussion, late blog entries will not be accepted. There will be a few extra credit blogs here and there throughout the semester, but only enough to makeup for three of four missed blog assignments. Please *don’t* fall behind on the blogs.

If you do not have easy internet access, I can give you an alternative to the blog assignments. See me *early* in the semester if keeping up with the blogs is going to be a problem for you.

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES AND READINGS:

9/4   Introduction (Africa I)

9/9   The Roman Monarchy (Africa II, Selections from Livy)
9/11 The Struggle of Orders (Africa III, Selections from Livy)

9/16   The Punic Wars (Africa IV, Selections from Livy)
9/18   The Gracchi (Africa V, Selections from Plutarch)

9/23   The War with Jugurtha (Selections from Sallust)
9/25   Marius (Africa VI, Selections from Plutarch)

9/30   Sulla (Selections from Plutarch)
10/2   Plautus: The Swaggering Soldier

10/7   More Plautus: The Prisoners, one other Plautus play
10/9   ******* EXAM I *******

10/14   Pompey and Crassus (Selections from Plutarch)
10/16   Cicero (Selections from Cicero and Sallust)

10/21   Caesar (Selections from Caesar and Plutarch)
10/23   2nd Triumvirate (Selections from Plutarch)

10/28   Augustus (Selections from Suetonius)
10/30   The Julio-Claudians I (Africa VII, Selections from Suetonius)

11/4    The Julio-Claudians II (Selections from Tacitus)
11/6    Catullus and Horace (Selections from Catullus and Horace

11/11   *** Veteran’s Day—No Class ***
11/13    Ovid and Virgil(Selections from Ovid and Virgil’s Aeneid)

11/18    ******* EXAM II *******
11/20    The Flavians/Five Good Emperors

11/25   Severans/ Soldier Emperors (Africa VIII, Herodian of Antioch)
11/27    *** Thanksgiving Day: No Class ***

12/2    Christianity in the Roman Empire (Selections from Luke)
12/4    Constantine (Selections from Eusebius)

12/9    Rome in the 4th, 5th and 6th Centuries (Ammianus Marcellinus)
12/11   Conclusion: The Legacy of Rome (Selections from Procopius)

FINAL EXAM:

Friday, December 19, 2:15—4:15 p.m.

GRADING:

    Your grade for this course will be based primarily on your three major exams and your blog entries, each of which will count approximately 20% when I determine your final grade. In addition, I will take into account attendance and participation.

     PLEASE NOTE: Any student caught cheating in this class at any time will receive a failing grade for the course. Cheating includes the use of any notes during midterm or final exams. Please place no marks of any kind on or in your blue book before I give the signal to begin taking the exams.

    It is not cheating to study with another student or to prepare essays or ID's together. Papers and blog entries, on the other hand, must be entirely your own work. Plagiarism definitely is cheating. If you have any doubts as to what constitutes plagiarism, see me.

NSU DISABILITY POLICY:

Northern State University recognizes its responsibility for creating an institutional climate in which students with disabilities can thrive. If you have any type of disability for which you require accommodations, please contact Karen Gerety at the NSU Office of Disability Services (626-2371, Student Center 217) as soon as possible to discuss your particular needs.

BOARD OF REGENTS ACADEMIC FREEDOM POLICY:

Under Board of Regents and University policy student academic performance may be evaluated solely on an academic basis, not on opinions or conduct in matters unrelated to academic standards. Students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study and to reserve judgment about matters of opinion, but they are responsible for learning the content of any course of study for which they are enrolled. Students who believe that an academic evaluation reflects prejudiced or capricious consideration of student opinions or conduct unrelated to academic standards should contact the academic dean administratively in charge of the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.

ATTENDANCE:

    I expect all students to attend class faithfully, to keep up with the readings, and to participate in class discussion. I do take attendance into account when figuring out your final grade.

EXAM FORMAT:

     All exams: 8 ID's, 1 essay

     ID's will be selected from the terms put on the board at the beginning of each lecture. You will be asked not only to identify the terms, but also to explain their historical significance. I am impressed when students can include plenty of detailed information, but I am even more impressed when students can show how the ID terms relate to important themes discussed in this class.

     Essay questions will deal with major themes discussed in the lectures. Most often, the exam question will be a generalization I have made in class with the additional word, "comment."

     A student who studies hard and does the required reading should have plenty to say in response to each of these questions. You will be given 75 minutes for each midterm and two hours for the final exam. Most students will need the full time to do a good job.

     What is a good job? I tell students over and over again that a good essay consists of a series of good generalizations based on the exam question and backed up with specific support from the lectures and the readings. I am particularly impressed when students include in their essays references to primary source material.

MIDTERM I--STUDY GUIDE

POTENTIAL ID'S:

LIVY, AENEAS, ROMULUS, LUCRETIA, HORATIUS, ETRUSCANS

FASCES, CONSULS, PATRICIANS, PLEBIANS, STRUGGLE OF ORDERS, TWELVE TABLES, SECESSIO, LEX HORTENSIA, TRIBUNES, CAMILLUS, GAULS, FIRST PUNIC WAR, SECOND PUNIC WAR, HANNIBAL, FABIUS MAXIMUS, THIRD PUNIC WAR

EQUESTRIANS, PROLETARIAT, TIBERIUS GRACCHUS, GAIUS GRACCHUS, MARCUS LIVIUS DRUSUS, SENATUS CONSULTUS ULTIMUM

SALLUST, JUGURTHA, POPULARES, OPTIMATES, MASINISSA, MARIUS, SULLA

MARIUS, SULLA, CIMBRI AND TEUTONES, SATURNINUS AND GLAUCIA, MARCUS LIVIUS DRUSUS, SOCIAL WAR, MITHRIDATES OF PONTUS, CINNA, PROSCRIPTION

PLAUTUS, THE SWAGGERING SOLDIER, THE PRISONERS, TOPPYR (the other Plautus play you read)

POTENTIAL ESSAYS:

A. Only a very little can be said with any certainty about the earliest period of Roman history. Still, the little we do know is very important in helping us to understand subsequent history. Comment.

B. The growth of Rome from a small city state into a great empire during the period of the Roman Republic is one of the most amazing success stories in all history. In some ways, it is surprising that Rome even managed to survive during this period. On the other hand, close examination shows that Roman success in the days of the Republic was no accident. Comment.

C. The Roman Revolution was largely the indirect product of Rome's many wars, particularly the Punic Wars. Yet there was another cause as well: the selfishness and short-sightedness of the ruling class of Rome, the senators. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the story of the Gracchi brothers. Comment.

D. Though in some respects a relatively unimportant war, the War with Jugurtha was an important turning point in Roman history. In addition, the Jugurthine War is one of the most fascinating stories in Roman history. Comment.

E. Marius and Sulla were both true patriots, and it is clear that each man saved Rome for horrible disaster. Nevertheless, both men also brought disaster on the Roman people.   Comment.

F. While the plays of Plautus (and Terrence) are entertaining, they are not nearly as profound or significant as the plays of the great Greek playwrights. However, they are an immensely valuable historical source--though a source that must be used with some caution. Comment.

STUDY GUIDE--MIDTERM II

POTENTIAL ID'S:

POMPEY, CRASSUS, CAESAR, CICERO, CATILINE, SERTORIUS, MITHRIDATES OF PONTUS, SPARTACUS, CLODIUS, FIRST TRIUMVIRATE

CAESAR, GALLIC WAR, CLEOPATRA, BRUTUS, PLUTARCH

ANTONY, CLEOPATRA, BRUTUS, LEPIDUS, OCTAVIUS, ACTIUM

PRINCIPATE, PRAETORIAN GUARD, AGRIPPA, JULIA, TIBERIUS, RES GESTAE DIVI AUGUSTI, SEJANUS, CALIGULA, CLAUDIUS, NERO

CATULLUS, LESBIA, AVE ATQUE VALE, VIRGIL, AENEID, DIDO, TURNUS, LAVINIA, LATINUS, OVID

POTENTIAL ESSAYS:

A. The conservative reforms of Sulla might have guaranteed senatorial hegemony for years to come, but a series of threats to the security of the Roman state in the 70's and 60's B.C. gave ambitious young men all the excuse they needed to subvert Sulla's constitution and bring senatorial control of Rome's affairs to an end. Comment.

B. Gaius Julius Caesar was certainly capable and talented, but the Optimates had good reason for viewing him as a threat to republican government. But ultimately, perhaps, the Optimates themselves were every bit as much to blame for the end of the Republic. Comment.

C. The story of the Second Triumvirate has the makings of a great drama: suspense, adventure, and romance. But it also has something of a "game show" quality. Comment.

D. In some ways, Augustus and the Julio-Claudian emperors who succeeded him were rather successful rulers. But the stories of these rulers have elements of tragedy--tragedy both for the rulers themselves and for the people of Rome. Comment.

E. Though Roman poetry is largely an imitation of that of the Greeks, the best of the Roman poets are all strikingly original--not so much in the forms they employ, but in their insights into the human condition. Comment.

FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

POTENTIAL ID'S

YEAR OF THE FOUR EMPERORS, GALBA, OTHO, VITELLIUS, VESPASIAN, TITUS, DOMITIAN, NERVA, TRAJAN, HADRIAN, ANTONINUS PIUS, MARCUS AURELIUS

COMMODUS, SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, PARTHIANS, CARACALLA, JULIA MAMEA, PHILIP THE ARAB, DECIUS, VALERIAN, SASSANIDS, GOTHS

LUKE, ACTS, THEOPHILUS, THE ROAD TO EMMAUS, PILATE, FESTUS, FELIX, LAZARUS, PRODIGAL SON, MARY, JESUS OF NAZARETH

DIOCLETIAN, GALERIUS, EDICT OF TOLERATION, CONSTANTINE, EDICT OF MILAN, CONSTANTINOPLE, ARIANS, NICAEA

CONSTANTIUS, JULIAN THE APOSTATE, THEODOSIUS, ARIANS, NICAEA, NESTORIANS, MONOPHYSITES, ZENO, ALARIC, STILICHO, JEROME, ST. AUGUSTINE, JUSTINIAN

POTENTIAL ESSAYS:

A. During the year following Nero's death, it began to look like the governmental arrangement made by Augustus was going to be no more effective than republican government had been. However, the events of the next 111 years (69 A.D.-180 A.D.) showed that the principate could be an effective form of government--if only a way could be found to insure that the right type of man became emperor. Comment.

B. The century following the death of Marcus Aurelius was a time of nearly constant crisis. The problems facing the empire during this period were far too great for even the most competent of emperors to solve, especially the problems created by the fickle (yet essential) Roman army. Comment.

C. The eclipse of paganism and the triumph of Christianity is in some ways one of the greatest surprises in history. The material in Luke and Acts is particularly important in helping to explain how this change came about. Comment.

D. In some ways, Diocletian earned for himself the title he claimed, “restorer of the world.” However, the real turning point in Roman (and world) history was the reign of Constantine. Comment.

E. The Roman emperors of the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries were probably right in seeing unity as essential to the success and perhaps even the survival of Rome. Ironically, however, their attempts to create unity often created as many problems as they solved. Comment.