Hellenistic History

Classics/History 221

Hellenistic History

Fall 2006

207 481 Main Street

TR 2:00-3:15

Required Texts:

Peter Green. Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age (California 1993) [also on reserve]

Polybius. The Rise of the Roman Empire (Penguin 1980) [also on reserve]

David Phillips. Political Oratory from Classical Athens: A Sourcebook aka Athenian Political Oratory: 16 Key Speeches (Routledge 2003)

Plutarch. The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives (Penguin 1973)

Arrian. The Campaigns of Alexander [also on reserve]

Other books on reserve:

Connor, W. Robert. Greek Orations. Michigan 1966
Chaniotis, Angelos. War in the Hellenistic World. Blackwell 2005
Green, Peter. Alexander to Actium. California 1990
Grant, Michael. From Alexander to Cleopatra. Scribner 1982
Gruen, Erich S. The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome. California 1984
Strauss, Barry. The Battle of Salamis. Simon & Schuster 2004
Walbank, F. W. The Hellenistic World. Harvard 1993

Some books on the Hellenistic age

Some instructions on using L'Année philologique bibliographical database for classical studies

August
29-31 Classical Greece and Hellenistic Greece; Sources

Green Preface; Phillips: Lysias Against Agoratus, Against Eratosthenes, For Mantitheus

September
5-7 Macedonia and the Greeks

Phillips: Demosthenes First Philippic, Second Olynthiac, Third Philippic; Letter of Philip
Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes

Demosthenes vs Philip [bibliography]

Kings of Macedon to the death of Alexander III

12-14 Orientalizing

Plutarch Life of Alexander 44-77 (pp. 301-334)
Alexander's Campaign: Arrian books 1-3 (pp. 41-200)

  Cross-cultural lack of communication:
  Alexander's aims in Persia
  The burning of Persepolis
  Alexander's desire to proceed eastward
  What is the point of proskynesis and who objected
  The mass marriage and Persian army units

19-21 Greece in the New Age

Phillips: Hypereides For Euxenippus, Against Demosthenes
Hypereides Funeral Oration (xerox)
Plutarch Lives of Phocion, Timoleon
Polybius 2.37-56, 2. 64-71, 5.34-39

  Western Greeks
  Phocion
  Accommodation to circumstances; Sparta takes a stand
  The Lamian War

Some bibliography on the Lamian War

26-28 The Ruler-Cult before and after Alexander

[Thucydides 4.70-74, 78-88, 102-135, 5.1-11 (Brasidas)
Plutarch, Life of Alcibiades, Thucydides 5.43-46, 6.15-29, 88-93 (Alcibiades)
Plutarch Life of Lysander (Lysander)]
Green chapter 23

  What apotheosis involves, and who believes in it*:
  Reverence for real people, after death
  Reverence for real people, in life
  Alexander the living god*
  Alexander the god after death
  Deifying Ptolemies* and Seleucids: Antigonids?

The Successors

Plutarch, Life of Demetrius
Green chapters 1-3, 8

  Soap operas and winning strategies:
  'Loyalists' (unitarians?) vs the personally motivated
  Descendants of Philip and Alexander
  Marriage alliances*, the role of women (or of a specific woman)
  Interesting lesser players (or early losers): Perdiccas, Eumenes, Polyperchon

Rulers of the three major Hellenistic Kingdoms
Map of the Macedonian Empire

October
3-5 Hellenistic Kingdoms

Green chapters 9-10, 12
Polybius 15.26-36

  Group dynamics on three continents*
  New federal states:
    Achaean League*
    Aetolian League*
    Relations between Achaeans and Aetolians

5 Library instruction meeting (at library)

Here is a web page made by Patricia Mardeusz for this class

Directions: The classroom is on the first/main floor of the library. Students should enter the library, walk towards the Reference Desk. They should walk past the Reference Desk (which will be to the left) and towards the back of the Reference Collection area, towards the windows. The classroom is the last room on the right.
Other directions:
1. Be on time. 75 minutes is a fairly short time period.
2. There is no food or drink allowed in the classroom.
3. Bring to the class, any questions you have about using the library in general. This will be a great chance to get your questions answered.

10-12 Hellenistic Letters and Science

Green chapters 4-6, 11, 13, 15 (and 26-28)
[Epicurus; Callimachus, Theocritus, Apollonius]

  Hellenistic science and machinery (engineering)*
  Medicine*
  Geography*
  Astronomy/Astrology*
  What happened to epic?*
  The Library at Alexandria*
  The learned muse

17-24 Rome, Macedonia, Greece (no class 10/26)

Plutarch Life of Pyrrhus; Polybius 1.1-10, 2.2-12, 3.1-7, 3.16, 3.18-19, 4.17-45, 5.101-105, 7.9-14, 8.8-12, 15.20, 18.1-15, 18.44-46, 24.11-13
[Plutarch, Lives of Agis and Cleomenes]

Alternative site for Agis and Cleomenes
Green chapters 14, 16-18, 24

  Pyrrhic victories*
  Rome and Carthage before the first Punic war*
  Starting the first Punic war: Romans and Mamertines*
  Sparta's absolutely last stand*
  Spartan oliganthropia (loss of manpower)*
  Illyrian pirates*
  Philip V, Demetrius, and Perseus*

31 Magic

Green chapter 33

2 Rome and the Seleucids

Polybius 31.11-15
Green chapters 25, 30

  Chasing Hannibal*
  Where does one draw the line?*
  Freedom as propaganda*
  Rome vs Rhodes*

November
7-9 Social Structures

Theocritus Idylls 15, 17; Apollonius Argonautica 3.1-158 (xerox)
Green chapters 21, 22, 29
M. Grant From Alexander to Cleopatra 194-213

  Social Life*
  Economic Life*
  Slavery*
  Slave trade*
  Utopias*

14 Lecture by Prof. Mierse on Bactria

Green chapter 19
Also read some of Frank Lee Holt, Thundering Zeus: the Making of Hellenistic Bactria (this is available as an electronic book through Bailey/Howe Library)

16 Political and other Philosophies

Polybius 6; Cicero, The Dream of Scipio
Green chapters 34-36

  Constitutions and mixed constitutions
  Epicurus and his school*
  Stoicism: Zeno and early Stoicism*
  Stoicism for Republican Rome*
  The Academy*

28-30 The Freedom of the Greeks (and the Romans)

[Plutarch Life of Sulla]
Green chapter 31

  Rome and Pergamum*
  Roman reformers*
  The Social War*
  Mithradates VI*

December
5-7 Rome and the Ptolemies*

[Plutarch Life of Antony]
Green chapter 37

Ptolemy Auletes*
Cleopatra VII*

Every member of the class must complete all readings for each week with the exception of those in square brackets; those and other assignments in both ancient and modern authors will be the responsibility of individuals, according to their interests. Each student will contribute special expertise to at least five seminar sessions. This does not mean that any student will be required to conduct the class or to present a long, uninterrupted oral report. Rather, the person who reads further in, for example, the philosopher Epicurus will be a resource during class discussion: this is one place where readings in parentheses are pertinent. Please volunteer as early as possible.

Requirements of the course:
30%    Minimum preparation for each class (= all readings listed above)
35%    Five special topics for seminar sessions
15%    One short (5-10 pages) written analysis of a primary source (narrative history, biography, other literature, inscriptions or other material remains)
20%    One final research project of the student's choice, due by 15 December 3:00 p.m.

Office: 481 Main Street, Room 301
Office hours: Monday 2:45-3:30, Wednesday 3:00-4:30 and by appointment
Telephone: 656-4607 (office) e-mail: bsaylor@uvm.edu