Updated 5/iii/01

[Click here to go directly to the Schedule of Readings and Lectures.]

Lectures:
 

T/Th

9:30-10:20

Physics 204

Mr. Hays

Discussion Sections:

F	10:00-10:50	Cabell 123	Mr. Briggs
F	11:00-11:50	Cabell 119	Mr. Hays
F	1:00-1:50	Cabell 324	Mr. Briggs
F	2:00-2:50	Cabell 320	Mr. Briggs

Instructors

Mr. Gregory Hays
Office: 450 Cabell Hall
Office Hours: W 3:30-4:30; TH 11-12
Click here to e-mail
Phone: (92)4-6536
Home Page: <http://www.people.virginia.edu/~bgh2n/>

Mr. Adam Briggs
Office: 428 Cabell Hall
Office Hours: M 2-3; Th. 11-12

Required Textbooks

The following texts are on order at the Campus Bookstore:
 

• Chris Scarre, Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome (Penguin)
• Livy, The Early History of Rome, trans. A. de Selincourt (Penguin)
• Lucretius, The Way Things Are, trans. R. Humphries (Indiana)
• Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, trans. G. Long (Dover)
• Ovid, Fasti, trans. A.J. Boyle and R. Woodard (Penguin)
• Ovid, The Erotic Poems, trans. Peter Green (Penguin)
• Plautus, Four Comedies, trans. E. Segal (Oxford/World's Classics)
• Tacitus, Agricola and Germania, trans. H. Mattingley and S.A. Handford (Penguin)
• Virgil, The Aeneid, trans. R. Fitzgerald (Vintage)

In addition, there is a course packet (= CP) available at Brillig Books.

Course Requirements
 

Midterm Exam	20%
Final Exam	30%
5 pp paper on Plautus	15%
7-8 pp. paper on Aeneid	20%
Informal Writing/Participation	15%

Electronic Resources

The course web page can be found at:

... but if you're here you probably know that already.

You may also subscribe to the class discussion list by sending an e-mail message from your home account to <majordomo@virginia.edu> with the following text:

subscribe clas202-romanciv
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Paper Topics

To assist you in planning for the semester, the topics for the two papers are printed below.

Paper #1 (5 pp.)
Due Tuesday, February 20 in lecture

Read Plautus's The Haunted House and analyze it using the approaches we have applied to The Braggart Soldier and Menaechmi in lecture and discussion sections. How does The Haunted House reflect Roman cultural values, e.g. those relating to the role of fathers, or the position of slaves? How does it undermine those values? Would the audience have left the theater questioning their social values, or does the play ultimately reinforce the way the (Roman) world works?

Paper #2 (7-8 pp.)
Due Thursday, April 12 in lecture

Choose an episode from the Aeneid and explicate it as it relates both to Roman culture generally and to the poem. The episode should be brief (between 20-30 lines and a few pages) and relatively self-contained. An example might be the killing of Mezentius (10.1071-1276). From a cultural perspective, the episode offers an example of the father/son relationship and filial pietas so important to the Romans; the figure of the Etruscan tyrant Mezentius recalls other historical or legendary figures. Within the poem the relationship between Mezentius and Lausus echoes other paternal relationships (e.g. Aeneas/Anchises, Evander/Pallas). In addition, the scene establishes Mezentius as a three-dimensional and morally complex character, and foreshadows the killing of Turnus in Book 12.

The midterm and final exams will consist of 1) brief identifications of important names, places and terms; 2) short answers on historical and cultural topics; 3) a section in which you will be asked to identify and interpret important texts or images (taken from Scarre or from the lectures); 4) a brief passage from a work you have not previously read, which you will be asked to read and analyze in light of the issues and material we have covered in the course.

The final examination will be cumulative, i.e. it will cover the entire course.

Informal Writing

At the beginning of each section (except the first and last) you will be expected to submit a one page journal entry (typed or handwritten) in response to the assigned reading for the section. You might, for example, pick out and comment on a particular passage or passages that strike you, reflect on the reading in relation to other aspects of Roman culture or of our own culture, or try to answer one or more of the questions on the syllabus. But these are only suggestions; what you write is up to you. These assignments will not be formally graded, but in conjunction with class participation they will account for 15% of your course grade.

General Policies

Attendance

Lectures: Regular class attendance is essential to success at the University. Although attendance in lecture will not be formally taken, you are expected to attend all lectures. Note that the lectures include material not covered in the reading; previous student evaluations have identified lecture attendance as the single best preparation for the exams.

Sections: Because a successful discussion section depends on full attendance and preparation by all participants, a formal attendance policy will be in effect for discussion sections. Absence for good reason (e.g. illness, family emergency, religious holidays, travel for athletic competition) will count as excused and will not be penalized. To claim an excused absence, you must submit a written, pledged explanation for the absence (in as much detail as you feel is appropriate) to your section leader by the next class meeting (i.e. the following Tuesday). All other absences are unexcused. More than two unexcused absences from section may result in dismissal from the course. Note that attendance at section means not only that you are physically present, but that you have done the reading and submitted the weekly informal writing assignment.

The final exam for this course is on Saturday, May 5. If your travel plans do not permit you to take the exam on this date, you should not enroll in this course.

The drop deadline (Jan. 31) is listed on the syllabus.

Late Papers

All extensions on papers are at the instructor's discretion. However, extensions of up to 48 hours will normally be granted on application, provided you apply before the paper is due. Papers more than 48 hours late or without a formal extension will not normally be accepted.

Workload and Expectations.

As the Student Handbook sagely observes:

"University life is very different from high school and learning is much more independent. The general rule to follow is that for every hour you spend in class you should be spending 2-3 hours outside of class studying and preparing."

Academic Integrity

The normal guidelines of the Honor System apply.  All written work (including exams) is to be pledged and signed. Students are reminded that they are responsible not only for upholding the standards of the University themselves, but for ensuring that other students also uphold those standards. If you have reason to think that an honor violation has occurred, it is your duty to contact an Honor Advisor.
 
 

WEEK 1:  OTHER TIMES, OTHER CULTURES

Jan. 18 (Th): Introduction to Roman Civilization

Reading: No reading

Questions:

• Why study Roman civilization?
• What kinds of sources do we depend on for knowledge about Roman civilization?
• What kinds of problems do these sources involve?
• Where is Rome? How did its location influence Roman history and culture?

Jan. 19 (F): Problems of Cultural Analysis

Reading:

• Kolakowski, "Emperor Kennedy Legend" (CP)
• Tacitus, Claudius on admitting provincials to the Senate (CP)
• [Inscription] Claudius on admitting provincials to the Senate (CP)
• Geertz, "Found in Translation" (CP) [note that pp. 44/45 and 46/47 are reversed in the course packet]

• On Kolakowski:
• What errors do the scholars in Kolakowski's essay make in interpreting the "Emperor Kennedy" legend?
• What theories or philosophies do Doctors Rama, Gama and Ngama represent?
• What is the relationship of theorizing and evidence in this essay?
• On Claudius's speech(es):
• How does the inscription recording the emperor Claudius's speech compare to speech as reported by the historian Tacitus?
• What arguments does Claudius use in each version?
• What might explain the differences between the two versions? Which is more reliable?
• On Geertz:
• Section I of Geertz's essay quotes a long description of a Balinese ritual by a 19th century European traveler. What lessons does Geertz draw from the description?
• Section II of Geertz's essay argues that studying World War I has something in common with studying the Balinese ritual described in Section I. What?
• What attitude is described by the term 'cultural relativism'? What does Geertz think of it?
• Geertz says that the rituals of Balinese culture "set off diverging commotions in our minds" (p. 50) What are these 'diverging commotions'? What 'diverging commotions' does ancient Rome set off?

January 23 (T): Early Rome

Reading: Scarre, Atlas, 12-27

Questions:

• Who were the Romans? Where did they come from?
• What other Italian and non-Italian cultures influenced early Rome?
• How was early Rome organized politically?
• What were the major stages of Roman expansion?
• Who were Hannibal, Scipio, and Pyrrhus?

Jan. 25 (Th): Roman Values

Reading:

• Earl, "Morality and Politics" (CP)
• Livy, Early History of Rome, pp. 33-34
• Polybius, "A Roman Funeral" (CP)

• What do we mean by cultural values? What are our own cultural values?
• What is meant by the terms virtus, fides, gravitas and pietas?
• What was the role of tradition (mos maiorum) in Roman culture?
• How did the Romans view novelty and innovation?
• How did conservatism manage to co-exist with innovation in Roman society?

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #1

Reading: Plutarch, "Marcus Cato" (CP)

Questions:

• What aspects of Cato's character does Plutarch emphasize?
• What was Cato's attitude to Greeks and Greek culture?
• How did Cato treat his slaves? How does Plutarch feel about his treatment of them?

WEEK 3:  ROMAN VALUES

Jan. 30 (T): Roman Families and "The Roman Family"

Reading:

• Rawson, "Adult-Child Relationships" (CP)
• Dixon, "Sentimental Ideal" (CP)

• General/Lecture:
• What constitutes a family (for us, for the Romans)?
• Was the 'typical' Roman family nuclear or extended?
• Were slaves part of the family?
• What do Roman houses suggest about family life?
• What is signified by the term patria potestas?
• On Dixon:
• What is Dixon's central contention in this article?
• What view or views is she arguing against?
• What kinds of evidence does she cite?
• What definition of "family" is implicit in the article? What kinds of familial relationships does she discuss? What does she omit?
• Does Dixon think that Roman families were generally happy?
• On Rawson:
• What was the Roman attitude to contraception and abortion?
• What ceremonies and rituals marked births in Rome?
• How were Roman children 'socialized'?
• What role did the Roman state play in child-rearing?

Feb. 1 (Th): History & Myth

Reading:

• Livy, Early History of Rome, pp. 34-63 [Founding to Numa]
• Ovid, Fasti, March Introduction (pp. 54-59) [Romulus]
• Ovid, Fasti, March 1 (pp. 59-66) [Rape of Sabine Women; Numa]
• Livy, Early History of Rome, pp. 114-120 [Horatius; Cloelia]
• Livy, Early History of Rome, pp. 162-165 [Fabii]
• Ovid, Fasti, February 13 (pp. 32-34) [Fabii]

• How historically reliable is Livy's history of early Rome?
• What functions did stories about the past play in Roman civilization?
• At what points does Livy shift his focus from the past to contemporary Rome?
• Who are Romulus, Remus, the Sabine Women, Horatius, Numa, Cloelia and the Fabii?

Feb. 2 (F): The Rape of Lucretia

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #2

Reading:

• Livy, Early History of Rome, 88-101
• Ovid, Fasti, February 24 (pp. 48-53)
• Livy, Early History of Rome, 219-249

• What cultural values does the story of the Rape of Lucretia emphasize?
• What resemblances are there between Livy's story of Lucretia and Tarquin and the later story of Verginia and the Decemvir Appius Claudius? How are these resemblances to be explained?
• How does Ovid's account of the Rape story compare to Livy's? Are there differences in presentation or message?

WEEK 4: IDEAL AND REALITY

Feb. 6 (T): Roman Comedy

Reading:

• Plautus, Menaechmi
• Erich Segal, "Menaechmi: A Roman Comedy of Errors" (CP)

• General/Lecture:
• Who wrote Roman comedies?
• How, when and where were they performed? for what sort of audience?
• What was their relation to Greek comedy?
• What types of 'stock characters' are typical of the genre?
• How reliable is comedy as a historical source?
• On Segal:
• Segal sees the Menaechmi as constructed around a central opposition. What is opposed to what?
• How does Segal read the play's ending?

Feb. 8 (Th): Slaves & Masters

Reading:

• Patterson, "Authority, Alienation and Social Death" (CP)
• Saller, "Slavery and the Roman Family" (CP)
• Seneca, Moral Letters 47 (CP)
• Seneca, Moral Letters 107 (CP)

• General/Lecture:
• Where did the Romans get their slaves?
• What functions did slaves perform in Roman society?
• Did slaves ever revolt?
• How did Roman slavery resemble or differ from Greek slavery? How did it resemble or differ from 19th century New World slave societies?
• On Saller:
• What does Saller mean by the "circulation of children", and what does slavery have to do with it?
• Why might it be in an upper-class Roman man's interest to take a slave concubine?
• How did the presence of slaves in an upper-class household affect the relationship of husband and wife?
• How might the use of slaves as nurses have affected relationships between spouses and between parents and children?
• On Patterson:
• What is the distinction Patterson draws between "power" and "authority"?
• What does Patterson mean by calling slavery "a highly symbolized domain of human experience"?
• What is the difference between Patterson's "intrusive" and "extrusive" concepts of slavery? (which is typical of Roman slavery?)
• In what way are slaves "liminal" (or marginal)?
• Patterson describes four basic features of the symbolic "ritual of enslavement". How do these manifest themselves in Rome?
• How does the term "fictive kinship" relate to slavery?
• How do "rituals of reversal" (like the Roman Saturnalia) reinforce the institution of slavery?
• How did religion and slavery interact at Rome?
• On Seneca:
• How does Seneca urge Lucilius to interact with his slaves in letter 47?
• What evidence does the letter offer for normal treatment of slaves in imperial Rome?
• How does Seneca explain traditional customs like the Saturnalia in section 14? What other explanations are possible?
• How does Seneca explain the phenomenon of slaves running away in letter 107? What kinds of phenomena does he compare it to?

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #3

Reading:  Plautus, The Braggart Soldier

Questions:

• How would someone imbued with traditional Roman values (Cato the Elder, say) react to the play and its title character?
• Why is the play set in Greece rather than in Rome?
• How useful is the character of Palestrio as evidence for Roman slaves?

WEEK 5 POLITICS & THE LATE REPUBLIC

Feb. 13 (T): Politics: Theory and Practice

Reading:

• Polybius, "The Republican Constitution" (CP)
•  [Quintus Cicero] "On Campaigning for Office" (CP)

• Did Rome have a constitution in the American sense?
• What are Plebeians and Patricians?
• What are consuls, praetors, quaestors?
• How do senators differ from equestrians ('knights')?
• What is a "new man" (novus homo)?
• How did the institution of clientela function?
• How did the Roman assemblies function?
• How did Roman politicians ascend the political ladder?
• What role did bribery and violence play in Roman politics?
• In what ways was Cicero typical of Roman politicians? How was he atypical?

Feb. 15 (Th): The Late Republic

Reading:  Scarre, Atlas, 28-35

Questions:

• Who were the Gracchi?
• What was the Social War?
• What were the causes and results of the civil war between Marius and Sulla?
• Who were Pompey, Crassus, Caesar, Cicero?
• What were the First and Second Triumvirates? How did they differ?
• What happened at the battle of Pharsalus?

Feb. 16 (F): The Best Defense ...

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #4

Reading:  Cicero, "For L. Murena" (CP)

Questions:

• According to Cicero the case against his client is threefold: 1) accusations against Murena's lifestyle; 2) the unlikelihood of his having defeated Ser. Sulpicius legitimately; 3) the charge of bribery. What is his response to each charge? How successful is each response?
• What emotions does Cicero seek to evoke in his listeners?
• What argument unrelated to the charges does Cicero rely on to secure Murena's acquittal?

WEEK 6: RELIGION

Feb. 20 (T): The Gods of Rome

Due: Paper #1

Reading:  Ogilvie, "Sacrifice"; "Divination" (CP)

Questions:

• General/Lecture:
• What categories do the various Roman gods fit into?
• How were new gods incorporated into the Roman pantheon?
• On Ogilvie:
• Why did the Romans sacrifice? What and where did they sacrifice? How did they go about it?
• What is 'divination'?
• What role did Stoicism and astrology play in reinforcing belief in divination?
• How did the roles of an augur, a pontifex and a haruspex differ?
• What kinds of phenomena did the Romans consider to be omens or 'prodigies'?

Feb. 22 (Th): Religion and Society

Reading:

• Ovid Fasti, Feb. 15 (pp. 35-41) [Lupercalia]
• Ovid, Fasti, April 4 (pp. 87-93) [Megalensia]
• Ovid, Fasti, May 2 (pp. 118-124) [Floralia]
• Ovid, Fasti, May 9 (pp. 126-128) [Lemuria]
• Ovid, Fasti, June 9 (pp. 145-152) [Vesta]

• What did the Romans expect from religion? How did Roman religion differ from modern monotheistic faiths like Christianity or Islam?
• What happened at the Lupercalia, Megalensia, Floralia and Lemuria?
• What functions did religious festivals serve?
• How did Roman society go about incorporating foreign gods?
• What did Roman priests do? Who served as priests?

Feb. 23 (F): Analyzing Religion: the Parilia

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #5

Reading:

• Ovid, Fasti, April 21 (pp. 105-109) [Parilia]
• Mary Beard, "A Complex of Times" (CP)

• On Ovid:
• What happened at the Parilia?
• What did the Parilia commemorate?
• On Beard:
• What is Beard's main thesis about the meaning of the cycle of Roman festivals?
• What approach to interpreting Roman festivals is she reacting against?
• What does the title phrase "a complex of times" refer to?
• What does Beard think is the meaning of the Parilia?

WEEK 7: PAIN & PLEASURE

Feb. 27 (T): Midterm Exam

For details see above.

March 1 (Th): Epicureanism

Reading:  Lucretius, The Way Things Are, Book II

Questions:

• Who was Epicurus?
• Did Epicureans believe in the gods?
• What did they believe about the physical structure of the universe?
• How popular was Epicureanism at Rome?
• How did Epicurean beliefs affect adherents' lives or behavior?

March 2 (F): Love and Death

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #6

Reading:

• Lucretius, The Way Things Are, Book III  (pp. 86-118)
• Lucretius, The Way Things Are, Book IV lines 961-1287 (pp. 147-157)

• What happens to us when we die?
• Why shouldn't we be afraid of death?
• How does Lucretius feel about love and sex?

WEEK 8: THE AGE OF AUGUSTUS

March 6 (T): Augustus

Reading:  Scarre, Atlas 46-49

Questions:

• Who were Octavian, Antony, Cleopatra?
• What happened at the battles of Philippi and Actium?
• How did the Second Triumvirate differ from the first?
• What was Augustus's constitutional position within the Roman state?
• What form did Augustus's program for moral and religious renewal take? How successful was it?
• What was Augustus's foreign policy?
• How did the Augustan regime make use of art and literature to get its message across?

March 8 (Th): Romans & Greeks

Reading:  Balsdon, "Greeks" (CP)

Questions:

• What did Romans dislike about Greeks? What did they admire?
• The Greeks divided humankind into two classes, Greeks and Barbarians. Which category do Romans fall into?
• What professions or social roles did Greeks often fill?

March 9 (F): Writing Workshop

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #7 (on a topic of your choice)

Reading:

• Roman Values in the Haunted House
• Plautus' Play on Principles in The Haunted House

WEEK 9: VERGIL I

March 20 (T): Vergil and the Aeneid

Reading:

• Vergil, Aeneid 1
•  Donatus, Life of Vergil (CP)

• General/Lecture:
• What do we know about Vergil's life?
• What was Vergil's relationship to the regime of Augustus?
• What do we know about the Aeneas myth before Vergil?
• Why does the Aeneid have twelve books?
• How is the Aeneid structured?
• Is the Aeneid finished?
• On Aeneid I:
• How does Vergil describe Aeneas in the opening lines of the poem?
• What is our first impression of Aeneas in person? Does he behave heroically?
• Why does Juno hate the Trojans?
• What is the significance of the pictures in the temple at I.614ff.?
• Why does Vergil include the scene with Venus and Amor at I.895ff. (why not just say that Dido fell in love with Aeneas?)

March 22 (Th): The Literary Background

Reading:  Vergil, Aeneid II-III

Questions:

• General/Lecture:
• What is an epic, and what kind of epic is the Aeneid?
• What did Vergil owe to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey?
• What did he owe to Apollonius of Rhodes's Argonautica?
• Who were Vergil's epic predecessors in Latin?
• On Aeneid II-III
• How heroic is Aeneas in Book II?
• What is the significance of the Buthrotum episode at III.396ff.?

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #8

Reading:  Vergil, Aeneid IV

Questions:

• Who invented the story of Aeneas's encounter with Dido?
• What role does the Dido episode play in the poem?
• Does Aeneid IV reflect badly on Aeneas? Did Vergil intend it to?

WEEK 10: VERGIL II

March 27 (T): Aeneas in the Underworld

Reading:  Vergil, Aeneid V-VI

Questions:

• Why does Palinurus die?
• What does the Sibyl tell Aeneas about the Golden Bough? What happens when Aeneas plucks it?
• How is Vergil's underworld organized?
• Is Aeneid VI consistent with Roman ideas about death and the afterlife?
• Who is Marcellus, and why is he so prominent?
• What are the functions of the Gates of Horn and Ivory? Why does Aeneas exit the underworld by the Ivory Gate?

March 29 (Th): The Aeneid and History

Reading:  Vergil, Aeneid VII

Questions:

• General/Lecture:
• In what ways is later history (i.e. later than Aeneas) incorporated into the poem?
• Does Aeneas stand for Augustus?
• What does Aeneid IV have to do with Antony and Cleopatra?
• On Aeneid VII:
• Who is responsible for the war between Trojans and Latins?
• What impression does the catalogue of Italian allies at the end of the book give us?

March 30 (F): The Shield of Aeneas

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #9

Reading:

• Vergil, Aeneid VIII
• Homer, Iliad XVIII.368ff. (CP)

• How does Vergil's description of Aeneas's shield compare with Homer's description of Achilles's?
• What is the significance of the story of Hercules and Cacus (VIII.248ff.)?
• What is the relationship between Mezentius and the Etruscans?

WEEK 11: VERGIL III

April 3 (T): Vergil's Gods

Reading:  Vergil, Aeneid IX-X

Questions:

• General/Lecture:
• Are the gods in the Aeneid intended to inspire real belief, or are they abstractions?
• Does Vergil present the gods as admirable figures?
• On Books IX-X:
• What is the significance of the Nisus and Euryalus episode in Book IX?
• Why does Turnus leap into the Tiber?

April 5 (Th): The Influence of the Aeneid

Reading:  Vergil, Aeneid XI-XII

Questions:

• How did the Aeneid inspire later artists?
• What sections of the poem have been especially influential?
• Why does Dante choose Vergil as his guide through the underworld?
• Is Vergil the "poet of empire"?

April 6 (F): Final Judgments

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #10

Reading:  Adam Parry, "The Two Voices of Vergil's Aeneid" (CP)

Questions:

• General:
• Is the Aeneid an optimistic or pessimistic poem?
• Is the Aeneid pro-Augustan or anti-Augustan?
• Is the ending of the poem a satisfying conclusion? Is it consistent with the overall message of the poem?
• On Parry:
• How does the lament for Umbro differ (according to Parry) from its Homeric models?
• What are the "two voices" of Parry's title?

WEEK 12: WOMEN IN LIFE AND LITERATURE

April 10 (T): Roman Women

Reading:

• Simone de Beauvoir, "Author's Introduction" to The Second Sex (CP)
• Juvenal, Satires 6 (CP)

• General/Lecture:
• What political rights did Roman women have? What legal rights?
• What role did women play in religion?
• On Juvenal:
• Satire 6 is often referred to as a satire on (or against) women. Is that description accurate?
• To what degree is Juvenal evidence for Roman views of women?
• What kind of behavior by women seems to annoy Juvenal most?
• On De Beauvoir:
• What is De Beauvoir's point about the different uses of "man" and "woman" (or to put it another way, why does this course not include a lecture on "Roman Men"?)
• How does de Beauvoir use the concepts of "alterity" and "the other"?
• How do women differ from other "Others" like slaves or ethnic minorities?

Due:   Paper #2

Reading:

• Ovid, Amores I.5 (One hot afternoon ...)
• Ovid, Amores I.6 (A dweller on the threshold)
• Ovid, Amores I.7 (The abusive boyfriend)
• Ovid, Amores I.9 (Every lover's a soldier)
• Ovid, Amores III.12 (Corinna, Corinna ...)
• Ovid, Art of Love, Book 1
• Sulpicia (CP)
• Elena Shvartz, from "Cynthia" (CP)

• What does the term "elegy" mean in a Roman context? How does it differ from the English word "elegy"?
• Who wrote elegy?
• How do the elegiac poets represent women?
• What is meant by the terms "paraclausythron," "militia amoris"?
• How do Ovid's Amores and Art of Love reflect on the Augustan regime?

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #11

Reading:

• Ovid, Amores II.9 (The weary veteran)
• Ovid, Amores II.12 (The lover's triumph)
• Ovid, Amores II.13-14 (The abortion)
• Ovid, Amores III.7 (Performance anxiety)
• Ovid, Amores III.14 (Be unfaithful ... just don't be obvious)
• Ovid, Art of Love, Book 3

• Is Ovid a feminist? a male chauvinist pig? somewhere in between?
• Is Corinna 'real'?

April 17 (T): The Early and Middle Empire

Reading:  Scarre, Atlas 38-45; 50-87

Questions:

• What kind of emperors were Augustus's four Julio-Claudian successors?
• What happened in 69 AD?
• What major catastrophe marked the reign of Titus?
• Why are the Flavians important in the history of Judaism?
• What links the reigns of the emperors from Nerva to Marcus Aurelius?
• What happened culturally in this period?
• What was the difference between legionaries and auxiliaries?
• How did Hadrian's frontier policy compare with Trajan's?
• What architectural projects did Hadrian supervise during his reign?
• How did Trajan and Hadrian's background differ from previous emperors'?
• What problems did Marcus Aurelius face during his reign?
• How many Romans were literate?
• What materials did the Romans use to write?

April 19 (Th): Waiting for the Barbarians

Reading:

• Balsdon, "Other Peoples" (CP)
• Tacitus, Agricola 10-39

Questions:

• On Balsdon:
• What beliefs did Romans have about peoples to the North and West? to the East and South?
• What stereotypes did the Romans have about Gauls, Syrians, Jews, and Egyptians?
• On Tacitus:
• What is Tacitus's view of Roman imperialism?
• Is his view of the British positive or negative?
• How did Tacitus know what Calgacus said to the British before battle?
• How does Calgacus's speech compare to Agricola's?
• How does the Agricola reflect on contemporary Roman society?

April 20 (F): We Have Met the Barbarian and He is Us

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #12

Reading:  Tacitus, Germania

Questions:

• What positive traits does Tacitus see in the Germans? What negative traits?
• What was Tacitus's intention in writing the Germania? Does it have a 'message' for Roman readers?

WEEK 14: URBAN LIFE

April 24 (T): The City of Rome

Reading: No Reading

Questions:

• How did the physical setting of Rome affect its shape as a city?
• How did the urban landscape of Rome change from the Republic to the mid-Empire?
• Which emperors had the greatest effect on the city's physical infrastructure?
• How was the city organized and administered? What services did the government provide?

April 26 (Th): Baths & Games: That's Entertainment?

Reading:

• Potter, "Entertainers" (CP)
• Seneca, Moral Letters 7 (CP)
• Martial, selections from "On the Spectacles" (CP)

• On Potter:
• What was the origin of gladiatorial games?
• What purpose did they serve in Roman society?
• How did gladiatorial combats differ from beast fights and public executions?
• Did gladiators normally fight to the death?
• Who financed games?
• What social standing did gladiators have?
• On Seneca:
• Why does Seneca disapprove of his correspondent going to watch the games?

April 27 (F): Stoicism and Empire

Due: Informal Writing Assignment #13

Reading:

• Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Book I (all)
• Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Books II-XII (browse, but read at least the following: III.2; III.5; IV.3; IV.49; VI.13; VII.1; VIII.37; VIII.46; VIII.51; IX.3; X.6; XI.7]

• What did Stoics believe about the physical universe?
• What ethical doctrines govern Stoics?
• Why was Stoicism so popular with the Roman upper classes?
• What does Marcus Aurelius have in common with Lucretius (philosophically)? How do they differ?

WEEK 15: CONCLUSIONS

May 1  (T): The Legacy of Rome

Reading: Scarre, Atlas 88-95; 114-121

Questions:

• What characterized military policy during the Severan dynasty?
• What happened in social and political terms under the Severans?
• What major political change did Caracalla push through in 212?
• What was the 'crisis' of the third century?
• What religious phenomenon became increasingly important in the third century?
• What were the reforms of Diocletian? How did he alter the imperial system?
• What were Constantine's two most important actions?
• When did the Western and Eastern empires diverge? What happened to each half?

May 5  (Sat): FINAL EXAM (2-5 PM)

For details see above.