Classical Roman Civilization – CLAS 23/ HST 22
MWF 2:30-3:20 – Waterman 427Prof. Brian T. Walsh
Office hours: MF 10:00-11:00, W 8:00 & by appointment
Office: 481 Main St. #103
Fall 2002Phone: 6-4626
email: bwalsh@zoo.uvm.edu

 

Objectives:

Through close reading of a variety of primary texts and inscriptions, most of which were written very near in time to the events which they present, as well as a narrative secondary text, students will become acquainted with the complex of historical events and socio-cultural developments which shaped Roman civilization.

 

Requirements and Expectations:

1)All readings should be complete as of the Due date on the syllabus.
2)Each class missed beyond 3 will result in a final grade reduction.**
Grades:
The grading system is designed to reward consistent daily effort and participation.
25%Project (1)
25%Weekly Quizzes (7) & Participation in Discussion
25%Tests (1)
25%Final Examination
N.B. There are no make-ups for missed tests and quizzes.The one (1) lowest quiz grade is dropped. If you miss a quiz, it counts as the ‘dropped’ one.If you miss a test, the other test
will count for more.
Website:
Students should visit the class website (http://www.uvm.edu/~bwalsh/romciv/class23.html) frequently in order to make use of both internal postings and links (Syllabus updates & helpful materials) and external links (e-TEXTS, cultural & historical info).There is a vast amount of pertinent material on the web which we shall be using regularly. 
Texts:
F = Plutarch. The Fall of the Roman Republic
W = Web-based Text (linked from class website)
S = Shelton As the Romans Did (2nd ed.)
A = Africa (narrative)
Suet = Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars
Syllabus:
**Since this schedule will be modified regularly, students should visit the class website.Modifications will be announced by email, which students should check regularly.


LINKS
IMAGES: Architecture, Topography & Landscapes
Roman Forum
Lacus Curtius (EXTENSIVE)

RELIGION – Rome
Religious Buildings
Temples
 

Week 1 – Beginnings & Republic
 
M 8-26

Introduction: Roman Topography and History
W 8-28

Early Rome: From Kings to Consuls: Context

W:Livy:(1) Tarquinius Superbus;(2) The Beginning of the Republic
A:14-25 (Etruscans); 45-54 (The Beginnings)
F 8-30

Roman Society: Structure & Struggle

W:Livy: (1) First Secession of the Plebians
A: 51-4 (plebeian struggle)
S: pp. 4-13 (class structure);203-211 (Govt: assemblies & magistrates)

Week 2 – Expansive Aspirations: The Spread of Rome
 
****HOLIDAY****
W 9-4

From City-State to Peninsular Power

W: Livy: (1) Gauls Attack Rome
A: 54-66 (Veii, Gauls, Samnites)
F 9-6

Carthaginians and Greeks  QUIZ #1 

A: 100-122

Week 3 – Expansion and Cultural Contact
 
M 9-9

Carthaginians II: The 2nd Punic War

W: Livy:(1) Preface & Hannibal;(2)Defeat at Lake Trasimene & Dictator Fabius;(3) P. Cornelius Scipio turns the tide
A: 122-128 (2nd Punic War)
W 9-11

Rome in Greece and Greece in Rome: Contamination & Purity

W: Livy:(1) Trial of the Scipios;(2) Plutarch Cato the Elder
A: 129-141 (‘Roman conquest’ & ‘Digression’);142-148 (‘The Burden of Success’)
F 9-13

Ritual & Repression: The Evolution of Roman Religion

A: 81-91 (‘Roman religion: pietas’)
S: 369-384 (‘ritual’);393-397 (‘Bacchus’);398-400 (‘Cybele, Magna Mater’)

Week 4 – Roman Culture: Tradition & Experimentation
 
M 9-16

Roman Celebration: The Triumph QUIZ #2

W: Livy: (1) 3 Triumphs
W 9-18

Roman Entertainments: Theatre

W: (1) Plautus Pseudolus, 
(2) **OPTIONAL: Braggart-Warrior;
(3) **OPTIONAL: Terence Adelphoe
S: 346-347 (‘Theater events’)
ROMAN & GREEK THEATRE: Links & Images
F 9-20

Roman Entertainments: Spectacle

S: 329-331 (‘Spectacles’ & ‘Caesar’s Games’);337-346 (‘Circus Events’);348-358 (‘Arena Events’)

Week 5 – Domestic Upheaval & The Late Republic
 
M 9-23

Provinces: Clientelae & Corruption 

S: 268-287 (‘The Provinces’)
MAP: all 'Provinces' of Roman Empire
W 9-25

Prosperity & Slavery: Fruits of Empire

A: 149-154
S: 163-185 (‘Slaves’)
***NOTE-TAKING TIPS: Readings***
F 9-27

Roman Revolution: The Gracchi

W: Life of Tiberius Gracchus;Life of Gaius Gracchus
A: 154-160 (‘The Gracchi and Marius’)
S: 151-4 (‘An Attempt at Land Reform’)

Week 6 – Generals & Armies
 
M 9-30

Marius and Rome’s Army

W: Sallust’s Jugurthine War (Marius the ‘new man’)
F: Life of Marius: 14-46
A: 161-164 (‘The Gracchi and Marius’)
S: 243-252 (‘The Army During the Republican Period’)
W 10-2

Sulla’s Domination

F: Life of Sulla
A: 167-171 (‘A Wilderness of Tigers’)
F 10-4

A New Set of Rules: The Rise of Pompey  QUIZ #3

F: Life of Pompey: 158-205

Week 7 – The Shadow of Caesar: Politics & Anarchy
 
M 10-7

Julius Caesar: Architect of the ‘First Triumvirate’

F: Life of Caesar 244-261
A: 172-187 (‘The Old Order Passes’ & ‘The Gravediggers’)
S: 215-220 (‘Political Campaigns’)
W 10-9

Foreign Policy: Caesar’s Gaul & Britain

W: Caesar’s Gallic Wars
(1) Talks with Ariovistus (Chieftain of Germans): Book I, chs. 33-37, 42-46;
(2) The Druids (Magician-Priests of Gauls): Book VI, chs. 13-20;
(3) Caesar's Invasion of Britain: Book V, chs. 8-23
F 10-11

Violence & Discontent: The Ciceronian Perspective

W: Cicero’s Defence of Milo
W: Cicero's Defence of Milo (*use blue arrows at page bottom of Perseus pages to advance)

Week 8 - Anarchy
 
M 10-14

Civil War I & Caesar’s Monarchy QUIZ #4

W: Cicero’s Letters
F: Life of Caesar pp. 271-308
W 10-16

TEST #1 
F 10-18
****HOLIDAY****

Week 9 – Destruction & Renewal
 
M 10-21

Civil War II: Warlords & Triumvirs

W:(1) Cicero Philippics 2;(2)Plutarch’s Life of Antony (through Paragraph which begins:  "This triumvirate was very hateful to the Romans...)
A: 195-201 (‘The Caesareans’)
W 10-23

Augustus: First among Equals

W:(1) Virgil Eclogue 4;(2) Res Gestae of Divine Augustus; (3) Tacitus Annals ch.1 (1st  2 paragraphs only)
Suet: Life of Augustus, Chs. 17-40
A: 201-207 (‘The Caesareans’)
F 10-25

Augustan Culture: Word and Image

W: Selections: Virgil Aeneid (Bk. 6.679-901), Ovid Metamorphoses (Bk. 15.745-879: Caesar, Augustus & Ovid), Horace Odes (Bk 3.5)

Week 10 – Empire & Succession
 
M 10-28

Julio-Claudians: Tiberius QUIZ #5

W: Tacitus Annals, bk. 4.1-34 
Suet: Life of Tiberius, Chs. 10-15, 42-52, 61-67
A: 220-228 (‘The Heritage of Augustus’)
QUIZ QUESTIONS (Week 9 readings)
W 10-30

Julio-Claudians: Caligula & Claudius

W: Seneca Apocolocyntosis
Suet:Life of Caligula, Chs. 9-49 & Life of Claudius, Chs. 10-21; 26-40
A: 228-231
F 11-1

Nero: A Cultured Despot

Suet: Life of Nero
A: 231-235

Week 11 – Life in the Empire
 
M 11-4

Imperial Women  

W: Ovid The Art of Love, Bk. 1. I-IX (incl. "How to Win Her")
S: 288-306
W 11-6

Imperial Pleasures

W: Petronius SatyriconChapters 5-10 (a.k.a. “The Banquet of Trimalchio (the Freedman)”)
S: 74-78;306-329 (Baths – Travel & Resorts – Socializing)
F 11-8

Pompeii & Herculaneum 

S: 59-79 (‘Housing and City Life’)

Week 12 – Upheaval & Restoration
 
M 11-11

Civil War III: The Year of Four Emperors QUIZ #6

W: Tacitus Histories (selection)
A: 233-235
W 11-13

Flavians   

Suet: Life of Domitian
A: 235-238
F 11-15

5 Good Emperors: Nerva & Trajan 

W:Pliny’s Letters (Read any 10 - ONLY Pliny & Trajan correspondence)
A: 238-243

Week 13 – Roman Heights and Depths
 
M 11-18
5 Good Emperors: Hadrian to Marcus Aurelius
A: 243-249
W 11-20
Rome in the 3rd and 4th Centuries
A: 284-314
F 11-22
Rome in the 3rd and 4th Centuries
A: 314-324 ('The Dark Night of the Soul')

Week 14 - Christian Rome
M 11-25
Christians in Rome: Persecution to Primacy
A: 346-357 ('Trials and Triumphs of Christianity')
S: 400-420
 
REVIEW - FINAL 
 
 

Week 15 - Rome in Decline?
M 12-2
Decline and Fall: Myths & Realities
**PROJECT DUE**
W 12-4
REVIEW