Fall Advising Schedule

Information on Final paper

TEXTS:

Having trouble with Roman names? Check this out

Map of the Roman Empire and Map of Roman Provinces

August
26  Introduction. Background of Republican history

Troubles in the oligarchy; the military and its problems

30  Plutarch Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus

Marius' new army and Sulla the darling of Fortune

It may come in handy to know that the Romans had their own political jargon

4  Sallust Introduction pp. 28-33; BJ chapters 1-5 (pp. 35-79)

Reading notes for Sallust

6  Sallust BJ chapters 6-8 (pp. 80-115)

Generals and demagogues

Notes on Marius' career, including information about the war with Jugurtha, the wars in Gaul and N. Italy, and political upheaval in Rome, will be available when this course is next offered

Notes on Sulla's career, including information about the Social War (the rebellion of Rome's Italian allies who did not have citizenship), the war with Mithridates, and the civil war that ensued at Rome, will be available when this course is next offered

9  Sallust BJ chapters 9-12 (pp. 116-148)

11  Introduction to Sallust BC pp. 151-156; Appian, Mithridatic Wars 10-37 (pp. 330-349) (xerox)

Background on Mithridates VI

13  Plutarch Marius

There is an online version of the Life of Marius which you should only use if you don't have the Penguin translation listed above under Texts.

  A Portrait of Marius

Roman justice

There is an online version of the Life of Sulla which you should only use if you don't have the Penguin translation listed above under Texts.

A Portrait of Sulla

If you don't like that one, try this

18  Cicero Pro Roscio Amerino (DS) Introduction, §§1-82 (pp. 3-34)

  A Portrait of Cicero

 20  Cicero Pro Roscio Amerino (DS) §§83-154 (pp. 34-56)

There is an online version of the Oration for Roscius but only use that if you are not able for some reason to read the version of the speech in the book Defence Speeches

Sulla's disciples

There are online versions of the Life of Crassus and Life of Pompey which you should only use if you don't have the Penguin translation listed above under Texts.

  A Portrait of Pompey

Paper 1 due

27  Cicero Against Verres: taking on Hortensius and the Metelli

Verres' misdeeds as city praetor
Verres' misdeeds as judge in Sicily
Verres' misdeeds regarding the grain supply
Verres' thefts of works of art
Verres' idea of appropriate punishments

What Cicero thought of Verres' defense attorney: In Verrem 2.5.175 Tulit haec civitas quoad potuit, quoad necesse fuit, regiam istam vestram dominationem in iudiciis et in omni re publica, tulit!

Foreign wars and domestic strife

There is an online version of the Life of Cicero which you should only use if you don't have the Penguin translation listed above under Texts.

Throwing dust in the eyes of the jurors: an infamous murder trial: Defense of Cluentius

Defending a crime (?) nearly forty years after the event: In Defense of Rabirius

4  Sallust BC chapters 1-5 (pp.175-214)

7  Cicero First Oration against Catiline, Second Oration against Catiline, Third Oration against Catiline

NOTE: For each of these orations, go to the bottom of the page for the tiny link ('next page'). It is probably a good idea to copy the text into one file and print it out, at least for the oration(s) which pertain especially to your character.

For the first two Catilinarian orations only, there are alternative links where the text already appears all on one page: First Oration against Catiline (alternate source), Second Oration against Catiline (alternate source)

11  Discussion of the conspiracy

14  Cicero Pro Murena (DS) Introduction, §§1-42 (pp. 59-86)

16  Cicero Pro Murena (DS) §§43-90 (pp. 86-106); LettersIntroduction & Lettersnos. 1-5

There is an online version of the oration For Murena but only use that if you are not able for some reason to read the version of the speech in the book Defence Speeches

Electoral bribery and prosecutions for it were frequent; see also the oration For Publius Sulla

21  Cicero Pro Archia (DS) Introduction, §§1-32 (pp. 107-121), in defense of a poet, and of literature. Please read the oration itself (pp.110-121; it is only 12 pages long) three times, and take different notes each time, as follows:

1. What is the sense of the oration as a whole?
2. What are the transitions of thought? (or, What is the structure of the argument and how does one topic lead to another?)
3. What is remarkable about individual turns of phrase, expressions, figures of speech or rhetorical expressions?
    Some Rhetorical Terms

There is an online version of the Oration for Archias but only use that if you are not able for some reason to read the speech in the book Defence Speeches

The Three-headed monster

There is an online version of the Life of Caesar but only read that if you do not have access to the Penguin translation cited above under Texts.

A Portrait of Caesar

25  No class; VCLA day

Paper 2 due

Poets and Philosophy

30  Lucretius Books 3-4

November
1  Lucretius Books 5-6

4  Cicero Speech of Thanks to the Citizens (Post reditum ad Quirites) (xerox); Cicero, Letters to Quintus nos.3-4 (Letters pp. 672-679); Plutarch Cicero§§28-34; Catullus Poemsnos. 1, 5-8, 10-18, 21-28, 35-45

6  Cicero Pro Caelio(DS)

8  Catullus Poemsnos. 51-52, 70, 72, 75-77, 79, 83, 85-88, 92, 107

11  Cicero Lettersnos.10-20 (Letters pp. 20-56; the last of the letters to Lentulus Spinther is especially important), Letters to Quintusnos.5-6 (Letters pp. 679-683); Plutarch Cicero§§35-36

13  Cicero Letters to Quintusnos.7 & 9 (Letters pp. 683-686, 688-690), Pro Milone(DS)

Caesar

15  Plutarch Caesar§§15-27; Caesar BGbooks 1-2

18  Caesar BGbook 5

Notes on Caesar's conquest of Gaul will be available when this course is next offered

References to Caesar and Pompey in Cicero's Letters to His Friends and to His Brother Quintus

20  Caesar BGbook 7

Civil war

22  Cicero Lettersnos. 71, 75-99, 111-112, 149-157; Aulus Hirtius BG 8.48-54 (this is in Caesar BG pp. 219-222; Hirtius continued the account of the conquest of Gaul when Caesar did not finish it); Plutarch Caesar§§28-57, Pompey§§56-79, Cicero§§37-39

Notes on the Course of the Civil War (52-44 BCE) will be available when this course is next offered

Paper 3 due

25  Cicero NDIntroduction pp. xi-xxxix and Book 1

December
2  Cicero NDBooks 2-3

4  Plutarch Caesar§§58-69, Cicero§§40-49; Cicero Lettersnos. 325-329, 349

Notes on the Aftermath will be available when this course is next offered

13 at 11:00 a.m.  Paper 4 due (at Classics Dept. office)

Final grade will be based upon: Class participation (25%), Paper 1 (10%), Papers 2 and 3 (20% each), Paper 4 (25%)

Office location: 481 Main Street room 301

Office hours:  Mon. 10:00-11:00, Wed. 8:00-9:00, Fri. 8:00-9:00 and 12:00-1:00, and by appointment
Telephone 656-4607
e-mail: bsaylor@zoo.uvm.edu

There are four papers required, with choice allowed for two of them. Students should choose topics as early as possible and consult with me on direction, other works necessary to complete a successful paper, and any problems that arise. Most topics require reading ancient works other than those assigned for class. I recommend drafts for all papers; when submitting a draft, students should allow sufficient time before the due date, although I can return usually drafts the next class period after I receive them.

Papers are due by the end of class time (9:55) on the date stated in the syllabus for each paper, unless otherwise stated (e.g. for the last paper). Late papers will lose one letter grade (10%) for each weekday (not class meeting day) they are late. Late papers will not be accepted after one week from the due date.

Due dates: September 23 (Paper 1), October 25 (Paper 2), November 15 (Paper 3), Friday December 13 at 11:00 a.m. (Paper 4)

You may send papers by e-mail but the following conditions apply:
 The paper must arrive by the deadline.
 Check to see if I send a confirmation message; e-mails sometimes get lost. If there is no confirmation message, assume that the paper has not arrived.
 You will receive comments and a grade by return e-mail, not by print-out.

1.  Form of Plutarch's biographies (outline): Make a synopsis of any Roman Life by Plutarch, using one of the biographies in the Penguin translation or any of the online biographies at MIT ( Index ). Note the structure, types of information supplied, space granted to each. 2 pages should be sufficient

2-3:  Choose any two. 3-5 pages. What does 3-5 pages mean? It means that a very carefully defined and closely argued paper with a font size that runs small (e.g. Times) and narrow margins will probably be able to fit onto 3 pages, but that it will be difficult to get away with anything less than 5. And you may make any paper as long as seems necessary to you, even if it exceeds the upper limit stated.

A.  In Search of Pompey: An analysis or comparison of the depiction of Pompey in various sources, or an attempt to discover the "true" Pompey.

B. The New Age:
 The "new" poetry of Catullus: political poems, literary criticism, or longer poems (not assigned for class reading)  or
 Epicureanism (or Atomism): Any topic from Lucretius' poem, whether scientific (e.g., mechanics of vision, or of nourishment), poetic (e.g. the poetics of discourse and argument), critical (e.g. the scientific epic and its purpose), or social (e.g. the place of religion in one's life) or
 Stoicism, world view and criticisms in ND Books 2-3

C.  Sallust:
 History vs. rhetoric as a source: the type/quality/quantity/treatment of information in Sallust's Catiline compared to Cicero's Orations against Catiline. Choose one well defined aspect, which need not be Catiline himself or
 History as rhetoric: political platforms and moral lessons in the BJ  or
 Who was Sallust's favorite person, and why?

D. Cicero the orator and counsel for the defense
 Corruption in politics  or
 Corruption in private life or
 The successful counsel for the defense or
 Rhetorical practice or
 Legal principles

E. Caesar's Propaganda
 The Gallic War and the representation of foreign peoples or
 Caesar's defense of his activities in Gaul

F.  Cicero's moral or political philosophy

There is no maximum length for these papers, but students should try to observe an Aristotelian mean.

4.  Final paper: 8-10 pages

Please tell me what your topic will be before you start working on it.

Suggestions for background reading:
J. Boardman, J. Griffin, O. Murray, The Oxford History of the Roman World (Oxford 1991).
M. Crawford, The Roman Republic (Harvard 1982).
T. Africa. The Immense Majesty (New York 1974).
H.H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero 5th ed. (New York 1982). Detailed.
E.S. Gruen, The Last Generation of the Roman Republic (Berkeley 1974). Very detailed.