Classics/History/Humanities 122: Spring 2006

The Roman World Beth Severy-Hoven

Syllabus

Office: 312 Old Main ~ Office phone: 696-6721

Office hours: Tuesdays 1-2pm, Fridays 2-3pm, AND BY APPOINTMENT

severy@macalester.edu

Course homepage: http://www.macalester.edu/courses/clas22

Course Description

This courses introduces you to the Roman world, which at its height stretched from Britain to Iran, from Germany to Africa, and lasted well over a thousand years. You will develop critical thinking skills while working with Roman literature in translation, art, architecture and other archaeological remains. The structure of the course is chronological, but we will examine major themes across time and space, including the development of Roman literature out of and in response to Greek culture; the effects of the civil wars and the resulting political change from a republic to an imperial monarchy; Roman conceptions of gender, sexuality, slave and free status, citizenship and ethnicity, and how these social categories were used to legitimize or exercise power.

Goals, Expectations and Evaluation

I have designed the course readings and assignments with the goal that students:

! develop their abilities to read texts closely and critically, to pose meaningful questions, investigate multiple interpretations, and communicate their conclusions effectively to others in spoken and written forms, and

! become familiar with the major works and themes in ancient Roman literature and material culture.

To these ends, the course will emphasize writing and discussion. We will use writing in part as a method to think and learn about the course material. For example, to help you read more carefully and prepare to participate in class discussion, 8 informal response papers are required over the course of the semester (at least 4 before Spring Break). These 1-2 page musings on the day’s reading – potentially including a summary, comments, critique, concerns, comparison to other readings, answers to the discussion questions or proposals for new questions – must be submitted before discussion for credit. For all reading assignments, questions are provided on the syllabus to help direct your reading and responses, as well as our discussion.

I encourage creative writing as a form of response, such as composing a new section of the Aeneid, imagining Antony’s propaganda against Octavian, or trying your hand at comedy. We will also have one group project early in the semester aimed specifically at exercising your historical imagination and encouraging you to consider the literary, rhetorical and socio-historical context of any ancient evidence. More information on this assignment will be provided in class.

Two short, formal essays are required. These are your opportunity to present a fully-developed and well-evidenced written argument on a particular issue. We will spend time discussing argumentative writing, including both its form and content, as well as the critical stages of writing: planning, drafting and revising. Late paper policy: if a paper is not turned in by the designated time, one letter grade will be deducted from the one otherwise earned. For every additional day the paper is late (24 hrs.), another letter grade will be deducted.

Class participation includes reading the assigned material, thinking about the questions posed on the syllabus and otherwise preparing, coming to class regularly and on time, as well as actively participating in the group discussion. Your eight response papers will count toward your participation grade. Attendance will be kept; not only will you not receive credit for participation if you are absent, after four absences your grade will suffer directly. More than six absences may cause you to fail the course. A quiz on places, people and events in Roman history will be given on Tuesday, February 7; this and any pop quizzes on reading and class material will count toward your preparation and participation grade. Late and make-up work will not be accepted.

And last but not least, a final exam (Friday, May 5, 8:00-10:00am) will allow you to have the final word on the issues we have explored over the semester. If you have difficulties with the date of any scheduled quiz or exam, consult with me in advance. Likewise, if your abilities necessitate special exam conditions or other considerations, I encourage you to discuss these with me as soon as possible.

Final grades will be calculated based on the following formula:

Class Preparation & Participation: 25%

Group Project 20%

Essays 40%

Final Exam 15%

Textbooks

Books you are asked to read for the course are available through the textbook center in the Lampert Building on Snelling and Grand. The list of assigned books is also available on the course website. Please consult with me immediately if you have difficulties obtaining any of them. Some reading assignments will also be provided through electronic reserve through the Macalester library website or other sources online. Since we will be discussing these readings extensively, you must bring a hard copy of the text to class, although you may share with one other colleague. Consider these print-outs another, and quite inexpensive, textbook.

Classics/History/Humanities 122: The Roman World

Spring 2006, Beth Severy-Hoven, Macalester College

Scarre, C. The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Harmondsworth: Penguin 1995)

D’Ambra, Eve. Roman Art (Cambridge University Press 1998)

* Reading provided electronically; see course homepage at http://www.macalester.edu/courses/clas22.

Wk	Date	Reading/Topic	Questions
1	Tue 1/24	Welcome and Introduction
	Th 1/26	Plautus, Miles Gloriosus Scarre, pp. 12-27	Who is the audience? What or who is being mocked? Who are the ‘stock’ characters?
2	Tue 1/31	Plautus, Captivi	Does the play challenge or reinforce the slave system? Why is it set in Greece?
	Th 2/2	Watch film in class: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
3	Tue 2/7	Discussion of plays and film Scarre, pp. 28-31 Quiz on Places, People and Events	What are the similarities and differences between the plays and the film? How does the film reflect 1960s Hollywood?
	Th 2/9	Cicero, Against Catiline 1 (Cicero, Selected Political Speeches, pp. 71-93)	What evidence does Cicero present concerning the conspiracy? List all the other ways he tries to discredit Catiline.
4	Tue 2/14	Cicero, Against Catiline 2 (Cicero, Selected Political Speeches, pp. 93-101.)	How does this speech to the people differ from the one to the senate? How does he work to discredit Catiline?
	Th 2/16	Browse translation of Catullus’ poetry, reading closely at least 1, 8, 11, 13, 15, 16, 21, 23, 26, 37, 51, 58, 65, 68, 72, 75, 76, 83, 85, 86, 92 and 104.	How do the poems reflect and how do they challenge the dominant Roman ideology of sex and masculinity?
5	Tue 2/21	1. Catullus 63 & 64 2. *Marilyn Skinner, “Ego Mulier: The Construction of Male Sexuality in Catullus” in Roman Sexualities, J. Hallett & M. Skinner, eds, Princeton (1997) 129-50.	How do these poems subvert prevailing Roman notions of masculinity? What is Skinner’s answer as to why Catullus does this?
	Th 2/23	*Plutarch, Life of Antony Scarre, pp. 34-35	What are Plutarch’s sources of information? How useful is he as a source on Cleopatra, Octavian and Antony? How might his status as a Greek living under the Roman empire affect his story?
6	Tue 2/28	Presentation of Group Projects
	Th 3/2	*Augustus, Res Gestae D’Ambra, pp. 9-37 Scarre, pp. 38-49, 78-79	How does Augustus present himself and what he had accomplished? How does the Ara Pacis present the same ideas in art? How do both react to the world of the civil wars seen in Plutarch?
7	Tue 3/7	*Livy, History of Rome, preface and book 1	Why does Livy write ancient history? How is his story of the past relevant to his present? Why does his account of the monarchy begin and end with a rape?
	Th 3/9	Vergil, Aeneid, books 1, 2, 4, 6 (read summaries of intervening books online)	Of all the legends and heroes of early Rome, why did Vergil choose Aeneas?
First Paper Due Thursday, April 9, by 4:30pm, in envelope outside 312 Old Main.
8	SPRING BREAK - NO CLASSES
9	Tue 3/21	Vergil, Aeneid, books 8, 11, 12 (read summaries of intervening books online)	What is Vergil’s attitude toward Augustus? Which passages are key to your evaluation of this?
	Th 3/23	Ovid, Art of Love	Is this an elaborate joke? Politically dangerous or challenging? How does Ovid present the role of the poet?
10	Tue 3/28	D’Ambra, pp. 39-57, 93-125 Scarre, pp. 36-37	Online project on portraiture - see course homepage.
	Th 3/30	*Petronius, “Trimalcho’s Dinner Party” from Satyricon	Who is mocked, why and how? What is Petronius’ social status? How does the work relate to his political context? Might we recover anything of a freedman subculture from this?
11	Tue 4/4	D’Ambra, pp. 127-45 Presentation in class on Domestic Art and Identity in Pompeii
	Th 4/6	*Suetonius, Life of Nero Tacitus, Annals XIV.1-16	How do Tacitus and Suetonius present Nero? Why?
12	Tue 4/11	*Ellen O’Gorman, “No Place Like Home: Identity and Difference in the Germania of Tacitus” Ramus 22.2 (1993) 135-54.	Questions provided on course homepage.
	Th 4/13	Tacitus, Agricola Scarre, pp. 50-51, 54-57, 60-64	In the first few paragraphs, what does Tacitus reveal to be his evaluation of recent history and his most pressing interests? How might these be seen to underpin the rest of the biography, especially his account of the Britons? What else does this work reveal to us about Roman imperialism?
13	Tue 4/18	*Paul, First Letters to the Corinthians *Luke (?), Acts of Apostles	How does Paul present his community relative to Roman authority? How has the presentation of Paul changed by the time Acts was recorded? Who are the heroes and villains of the story? Why?
	Th 4/20	*Josephus, Autobiography, 1-5, 74-76; Jewish Wars preface, book 5, 6.1.2, 6.1.5-6, 6.2.1 Scarre, pp. 58-59, 74-77	How does Josephus present himself and his community relative to Roman authority? Who are the heroes and villains of his story? Why?
14	Tue 4/25	Apuleius, The Golden Ass, books 1-6	What do you think the story is about? What can we learn from it about life in the high empire?
	Th 4/27	Apuleius, The Golden Ass, books 7-11	Now what do you think the story is about? How does the ending encourage you to rethink earlier moments in the story?
15	Tu 5/2	Wrap Up Second Paper Due in Class

Final Exam: Friday, May 5, 8:00-10:00am