Books for PurchaseHistory 116
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic
300 BCE -- 70 CE
By about 300 BCE the Roman state had in place its republican institutions, and began the expansionist process by which the Romans came to control the Mediterranean basin. Four hundred years later, the Roman empire extended from Britain to Egypt, but the state running that empire had undergone fundamental social, political, and cultural changes. This course traces the processes that created the empire and transformed the Roman world, with special emphasis on the interplay of political and social phenomena. We will look closely at primary sources on which our knowledge of these changes is based.
Assignments
Reading -- Reading assignments listed underneath each class meeting date must be read before class. Students will be expected to discuss these readings in class. (The modus operandi will be come clear after the first week or so of class meetings.)
Seminar -- In groups of about 8, students will read an assigned academic article and meet with me outside of class time to discuss it. Meetings will last an hour; every student will be expected to participate in the discussion. Group assignments and reading for each group can be found on the class Blackboard site under "Assignments" (BB). You are responsible for knowing when your session is and doing the reading. The readings are available on Blackboard (BB).
Paper on seminar reading -- Write a short (3 pp) paper reacting to the discussion in the small group seminar. See Assignments on Blackboard (BB) for more information.*
Source-comparison paper -- We happen to be reading this semester two sources that do the same thing: Plutarch's Life of Caesar and Suetonius' Life of Caesar. Your assignment, in 4-5 pp., is to do a critical and analytical comparison. Due date: March 6. See Assignments on Blackboard (BB) for more information.*
Mid-term exams -- There will be two mid-term exams, on February 21 and March 27.
Final exam -- Tuesday, May 6, 9-11 am
*All papers are to be submitted as Word attachments sent to my email. Please, no paper papers!
Books for Purchase
Augustus, Res Gestae
Josephus, Jewish War
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars
Petronius, Satyricon
Plutarch, The Fall of the Roman Republic. Six Lives
Polybius, The Rise of the Roman Empire
Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome
Christopher S. MacKay, Ancient Rome. A Military and Political History
At Right: Fragment of the Forma Urbis Romae, a marble plan of the city of Rome. 1186 fragments remain from the original, which was made during the reign of the emperor Septimius Severus. For more information, see the Forma Urbis Romae Fragment Database.
Schedule of Classes
January 22 (T): First class -- introduction: an overview of Roman history
Rome on the Eve of the Great Expansion
January 24 (Th): Roman relations with the cities and peoples of Italy
Reading: MacKay, pp. 40-56
January 29 (T): Military technology
Reading: Polybius 6.19-42, pp. 318-338; Josephus, Jewish War 3.70-109, pp. 194-197; Sallust, Jugurthine War, selections related to army organization (BB). Study also Trajan's Column (BB).
January 31 (Th): What does it mean to be a Roman? Social status, etc.
Reading: MacKay, pp. 23-39
Small Group Seminar 1: "Teach Yourself How To Be a General" -- see Assignments on Blackboard (BB) for details.
Rome against Carthage
February 5 (T): Who were the Carthaginians?
Reading: Serge Lancel, Carthage. A History (Oxford: Blackwell, 1995) 110-133, 193-207(BB)
February 7 (Th): Punic Wars
Reading: Polybius, 1.1-2.1, pp. 41-112, 3.1-118, pp. 178-276; MacKay, pp. 61-75
Rome against the Eastern Mediterranean
February 12 (T): Who were the Greeks?
February 14 (Th): Why did the Romans become involved in the East?
Reading: MacKay, pp. 76-88
February 19: (T): Administering the empire: the case of Provincia Asia
Reading: Mackay, pp. 93-100; documents (BB)
Small Group Seminar 2: "Class Conflict and the Third Macedonian War" -- see Assignments on Blackboard (BB) for details.
February 21 (Th): First hour exam
The Civil Wars and the Augustan Solution
February 26 (T): The Civil Wars, I
Reading: Plutarch, Marius and Sulla, pp. 3-55, 56-104; MacKay, pp. 130-158
February 28 (Th): Trinity Days -- No Class
March 4 (T): The Civil Wars, II
Reading: MacKay, pp. 143-169; Plutarch, Crassus, Pompey , and Caesar, pp. 110-154, 160-248, 254-322; Suetonius, Julius Caesar, pp. 1-44
Small Group Seminar 3: "Fulvia Reconsidered" -- see Assignments on Blackboard (BB) for details.
March 6 (Th): The Augustan Solution
Reading: MacKay, pp. 182-191; Suetonius, Augustus, pp. 45-107; Augustus, Res Gestae
Due: Plutarch and Suetonius paper
Interlude -- Making an Imperial Economy
March 11 (T): Feeding Rome
Reading: Documents on (BB)
March 13 (Th): Financing -- Two Roman Bankers
Reading: Documents on (BB)
March 18 and 20: Spring Break -- No Classes
March 25 (T): The Army and the Economy
Reading: Documents on (BB)
March 27 (Th): Hour exam -- Note: I will be out of town this day
April 1 (T): The Infrastructure of Trade to India
Reading: Documents on (BB)
Small Group Seminar 4: "A Resurvey of 'Roman' Contacts with the East" -- see Assignments on Blackboard (BB) for details.
Nero -- End of the Julio-Claudians
Gold coin showing Nero and his mother Agrippina
April 3 (Th): In Nero's court
Reading: Petronius, Satyricon; Tacitus, Annals, pp. 252-344; MacKay, pp. 192-209 (background to Julio-Claudians).
April 8 (T): Nero's Foreign Policy
Reading: Tacitus, Annals, pp. 234-259; documents on BB.
April 10 (Th): War with the Jews
Reading: Josephus, Jewish War, 2.408-7.444, pp. 164-408
April 15 (T): Historical Memory: Tacitus, Suetonius, the Apocalypse of John, Lucian, and the false Neros
Reading: Apocalypse (BB), Suetonius, Nero, pp. 213-248;
Small Group Seminar 5: "The False Neroes of the First Century" -- see Assignments on Blackboard (BB) for details.
Year of the Four Emperors
April 17 (Th): Why was Nero overthrown, and why did the Senate choose Galba?
Reading: Tacitus, Annals, pp. 368-397; Suetonius, Galba, pp. 249-261; MacKay, pp. 210-222
April 22 (T): The generals' claims
Reading: Suetonius, Otho and Vitellius, pp. 262-269, 270-280
April 24 (Th): Why Vespasian won
Reading: Suetonius, Vespasian, pp. 281-295
April 29 (T): Last Day of Class
Final Exam -- Tuesday, May 6, 9-11 am
Rome Reborn is a project of the University of Virginia to create a computer model of Rome in 320 CE (the reign of Constantine, and so well after the end of this course).
