History 111
History 111
Foundations of Greek and Roman History
Fall 2005
MWF 11-11.50
MCEC 246
Seabury 405
(860) 297-2393
NB: This syllabus is almost complete. It should be a reliable guide to lectures and assignments, but a few details may change before classes start. DO NOT USE THIS SYLLABUS FOR THE CLASS UNTIL THIS NOTICE DISAPPEARS!
Enrollment limit: 45. Please contact me for your PIN to enroll. Spaces are reserved for Classics majors who need this course to satisfy their history requirement.
Course Description
There were too many civilizations in the ancient world to be encompassed in one course; indeed, the Greek and Roman worlds, to which we are limiting ourselves in this one, may seem themselves too sprawling to be dealt with in one semester. But there are interconnections between the Greek and Roman worlds that help to justify studying them together. This course, which presupposes no knowledge at all of the ancient world, will lay a foundation for further study by providing an introduction to the politics, society, economy, and culture of Greece and Rome, in the context of historical change and continuity over time. We will read a wide variety of primary source material (and one interpretative article); lectures will provide context, narrative, and an introduction to historiographic problems. You will come out of the course not only with a basic familiarity with the events, social structure, and source materials for ancient Greece and Rome, but also with experience in reading and analyzing historical documents, evaluating scholarly works, and writing papers.
The books listed below are available for purchase in the Mather Book Store. Please note: for the most part we will be reading only selections from each. I have tried to get the least expensive edition possible for each book. If you prefer to read the selections in the Library, a full set of these readings will be found on reserve.
Donatist Martyr Stories. The Church in Conflict in Roman North Africa, tr. Maureen A. Tilley. (Liverpool 1997)
Herodotus, Histories, tr. Aubrey de Selincourt (New York 2003)
Hesiod, Theogony and Works and Days, ed. and tr. M. L. West (Oxford 1999)
Livy, The Early History of Rome (Books 1-V), tr. Aubrey de Selincourt (New York 2002)
Plutarch, Greek Lives. A Selection of Nine Lives (Oxford 1999)
Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire, tr. Ian Scott-Kilvert (New York 1980)
Sallust, The Jugurthine War and the Conspiracy of Catiline (New York 1982)
Thucydides, Histories, tr. Rex Warner (New York 1954)
There will be a Reading Packet available online on the Blackboard site for the class. Readings to be found in it are marked (BB) in the syllabus.
Special Themes and Topics
Organizing Theme. To tie together a
number of the topics and themes that we will encounter again and again in the
course of the semester, we will look three times at developments in the Argolid.
This region, located in the northeastern Peloponnesos a few hours by car from
Athens (but a much longer trip in antiquity!), was the site in the Bronze Age of
several important polities (most notably Mycenae and Tiryns), and later came
under the control of a single state, Argos.
We can
explore regional development, state-formation, the interplay between politics
and religion, the impact of the advent of Rome, and the end of antiquity all in
this one region, using a full range of written and archaeological sources.
Right: Argive Heraion.
Small Places. The last two class sessions will be devoted to looking at two "small places" outside the mainstream of Greek and Roman history as a way of exploring, through archaeological work, the life ways of ordinary people.
Assignments
Discussion. This class is unfortunately far too large to have regular discussions. But I invite questions and discussion in lectures. Do not hesitate to ask questions!
Teaching assistant. The teaching assistant (TA) for this class is Ken Kukish. Please do not hesitate to make use of him! He holds regular "office hours" in 000-000. It is your responsibility to know who your TA is.
Paper. One short (3-4 pp.) paper will be due on assigned topics. The topics will focus largely on the sources we are reading. Papers will be produced in stages: (1) a draft will be due to your TA (typically) on the day on which the reading assignment is due; (2) the TA will critique it and hand it back to you (typically) the following Monday; (3) you will revise and hand in the revised paper and the draft to me (typically) the following Friday. (Some variations occur because of holidays and exams.) The three dates refer to (1) the date on which the draft is due to Ken Kukish, the TA; (2) the date at which Ken will return the draft with comments; (3) the date at which the revised paper and the draft are due to me.
The papers deal with primary source material -- that is, material produced in antiquity which can be used as evidence to help us understand aspects of Greek and Roman life -- politics, religion, society, economics, culture, and so on. The fundamental question which you should consider in writing your paper is: what does this source contribute to our understanding? To answer this question you will also need to consider problems posed by the source. If, for example, you were writing about the Linear B texts, you would want to consider the effect of their fragmentary state, that they deal with only a single year, that they are accounts intended for internal consumption (not written with a future audience in mind), and no doubt other factors too. You will want to think about intended audience and possible bias. Your paper should not be just a summary of the contents of the text but should present an argument. You want to think about your source like an historian -- what values, limitations, and pitfalls does it present to us now as historians?
Please note: Due to the very large size of this class late papers cannot be accepted except in extremely unusual circumstances. (Forgetting the assignment or heavy assignments in other classes do not constitute "unusual circumstances." Don't even ask!) Please plan well ahead to allow yourself plenty of time to get the assignments done on time.
Mid-term Exam. There will be a mid-term exam on Friday, October 21.
Final Exam. The final, which is cumulative, will take place on December 14, 2005, 12-2 pm, in the usual room.
Part I. Introduction
September 7 (W): Geography
September 9 (F): Chronology
September 12 (M): Bronze Age Greece
Reading: Selections from the Linear B tablets (BB)
September 14 (W): Homer
Reading: Homer, Iliad, Book 2 (the Catalogue of Ships) (BB)
September 16 (F): From Dark Age to Geometric Period
September 19 (M): Hesiod, Works and Days
Reading: Hesiod, Works and Days, pp. 37-61
September 21 (W): Archaic Greece: The Emergence of the Polis
Reading: None this session
September
23 (F): Sparta
-- at right, sanctuary of Artemis at Sparta
Reading: Plutarch, Life of Lykougos
September 26 (M): The Persian Empire and the Persian Wars
Reading: Herodotos, Histories, Books 7-9
September 28 (W): Herodotos -- NB: Circumstances may require me to be out of town for this session and the session of September 30. If so I will revise the schedule accordingly. My apologies for any difficulties this change may cause.
Reading: Herodotos, Histories, Book 1
September 30 (F): A Case Study: The Argolid, 900-400 BCE -- See the note for September 28.
Reading: Jonathan Hall, "How Argive Was the Argive Heraion? The Political and Cultic Geography of the Argive Plain, 900-400 B.C.," AJA 99 (1995) 577-613 (BB); Thucycdides, pp. 363-382 (5.25-51)
October 3 (M): The Classical Age
Reading: Selections from Thucydides, Histories, pp. 87-102 (1.89-117), 143-151 (2.34-46), 236-245 (3.69-85), 400-408 (5.84-116), 414-430 (6.8-32), 525-537 (7.72-87)
October 5 (W): The Emergence of Athenian Democracy
Reading: Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, chapters 42-69 (BB)
October 7 (F): A Woman’s Life in Fourth-Century Greece: Neaira
Reading: Demosthenes, Oration 59 (BB)
October 10-11 (M-T): Trinity Days. No classes
October 12 (W): Alexander and his Successors -- at right, Temple of Ammon at Siwa Oasis
Reading: Plutarch, Life of Alexander
October 14 (F): Kings and Poleis
Reading: Inscriptions (BB)
October
17 (M): Ptolemaic Egypt
-- at right, temple of Philai
Reading: Selections from Papyri (BB)
October 19 (W): Society and Economy of the Hellenistic World
Reading: Herondas, Mimes (selections) (BB)
October 21 (F): Mid-term Exam
October 24 (M): From Village to Polis: Early Rome
Reading: Livy, pp. 107-189 (Book 2)
October 26 (W): Roman Expansion in the Italian Peninsula
Reading: Livy, pp. 287-363 (Book 4)
October 28 (F): The Social Rules of Roman Life
Reading: Polybius, pp. 302-352 (Book 6)
October 31 (M): Rome Against Carthage
Reading: Polybius, Book 3
November 2 (W): Rome and the Greek East
Reading: Polybius, Book 5, Book 7.11-14, Book 8.8-23, Book 18.1-27, 44-46, Book 24.11-13
November 4 (F): A Case Study of Roman Imperialism: Popilius Laenas and Antiochos IV in Alexandria in Egypt
Reading: Popilius readings (BB)
November 7 (M): Rome in the Argolid
Reading: Livy (selections); inscriptions (BB)
November 9 (W): From Sulla to Augustus: The Collapse of the Roman Republic
Reading: Sallust, Catiline Conspiracy
November 11 (F): The Reforms of Augustus
Reading: Res Gestae
November 14 (M): The Making of an Imperial Capital
November 16 (W): Structures of the Roman Empire
Reading: Roman Military Documents from the Euphrates Frontier (BB)
November 18 (F): Greek Elites under Roman Rule
Reading: Plutarch, Moralia (BB)
November 21 (M): Egypt under Rome [Note: Circumstances may require me to be out-of-town for this class meeting. Please do the reading. We will cover this material and that scheduled for November 28 on the latter day.]
Reading: Roman Egypt documents (BB)
November 23-27 (W-Sun): Thanksgiving Vacation
November 28 (M): From Diocletian to Constantine: Remaking the Roman Empire?
Reading: TBA
November 30 (W): Early Christianity
Reading: Donatist Martyr Stories, selections pp. 1-49, 61-87 (BB)
December 2 (F): The Argolid in Late Antiquity
Reading: TBA
Part IV. Two Small Places
NB: No reading for this week
December 5 (M): Olynthos
December 7 (W): Volubilis
A review session will be scheduled a day or two before the final exam.
December 14: Final Exam, 12-2