Fall 1995
During the five centuries of its existence the Roman Republic (something of a misnomer) grew from a tiny state on the banks of the Tiber river surrounded by hostile peoples into the master of the Mediterranean World. The process of growth entailed severe social and economic dislocations both at home and abroad which eventually tore Roman government and society apart. This course examines some of those developments and some interpretations of them offered by modern commentators.
%Ernst Badian, Roman Imperialism in the Late Republic. Ithaca 1968. Michael Crawford, The Roman Republic, 2nd ed. William V. Harris, War and Imperialism in Republican Rome, 2nd ed. Oxford 1985. %R. Ross Holloway, The Archaeology of Early Rome and Latium. London 1994. *N. Lewis and M. Reinhold, Roman Civilization. Sourcebook I: The Republic, 3rd ed. New York 1990. Velleius Paterculus and the Res Gestae Divi Augusti (Loeb Classical Library) *Polybius. The Rise of the Roman Empire. Harmondsworth 1979. %E.T. Salmon, The Making of Roman Italy. Ithaca 1982. Lily Ross Taylor, Party Politics in the Age of Caesar. Berkeley 1949.
(2) Informed and vigorous participation in discussions is required of all students. This requires close and critical reading of all assignments. I encourage discussion among you outside of class.
(3) Every student will present a paper based on the readings for at least two (2) sessions in Section II below. You are expected to: (i) outline the problem or issue which the session treats; (ii) discuss the primary sources; and (iii) review and evaluate the various views of scholars on the topic. You may read your paper or present orally a prÿe¬ÿcis. The paper should be 4-6 pp. and is due on the day presented. Your paper will serve as a basis for discussion for the balance of the period.
(4) An in-class exam on November 2.
(5) A research paper of roughly 15-18 pp. developed on the following schedule: (i) meet with me the week of October 2 to develop topic; (ii) thesis statement and brief bibliography (10-12 items) including primary source(s) and at least two journal articles due on October 17; (iii) oral presentation of roghly 10-15 minutes on November 28; (iv) paper due on last day of class, December 7.
I. Introduction. August 31: Lecture, Library orientation.
II. Survey of Republican Roman History: Problems and
Issues. September 5-21.
In a series of six lectures, I will sketch out the history of
the Republic from 510 BC to the end of the reign of Augustus. The
emphasis will be on political and social developments, and
particularly on the interplay between imperialism and internal discord.
Assignments: (1) Read Crawford, The Roman Republic;
(2) work on first paper, due September
28.
III. Readings in Roman Republican History. September 26-
November 30.
For the bulk of the course, we will read and discuss primary
source material and secondary treatments of various aspects of or
problems in Republican history. Typically, each week we will read a
set of primary sources (usually but not always from Lewis and
Reinhold) and either a secondary book or a series or articles. Some
material will be on reserve in the Library, but some will be on the
open shelves. For those items, the following Reading Rules apply:
(1) Read in the Library. Do not check books out.
(2) When done with a book, return it at once to its correct
location on the shelves. Do not return it to the
Circulation Desk or leave it on a table.
Failure to follow these rules will impede other students' reading.
I will not accept as an excuse for not participating in class
discussion (see below) that you "couldn't find" the books. Doing
the reading is your responsibility. To help with communication
among you, I will provide you with a list of your classmates' telephone
numbers. Registration in this course entails acceptance of these
reading rules.
Papers will be presented on various readings listed below. A
full schedule will be available by our second class meeting
(September 5).
Sept. 26: The XII Tables, in Lewis and Reinhold, pp.
107-116. Walter Eder, "The Political Significance
of the Codification of Law in Archaic Societies,"
in Social Struggles in Archaic Rome. New Perspectives
on the Conflict of the Orders, ed. Kurt Raaflaub
(Berkley 1986) 262-300 (DG83.3 S59).
Sept. 28: Holloway, Archaeology of Early Rome (all)
Oct. 3: Lewis and Reinhold, pp. 75-93, 330-331; Livy 8.11-14
(handout); Velleius 1.14.2-4 (conquest of Italy); CIL
10.6554 and ILS 5004, 6183 (handout)
Oct 5: Salmon, Making of Roman Italy (all) (DG77 S6)
Oct. 17: Polybius on the Roman constitution, Bk 6 (pp.
302-352); on the outbreak of war with Carthage,
1.7-12, 3.6-15, 17, 20-32
Oct. 19: Harris, War and Imperialism (all)
Oct. 24: Lewis and Reinhold, pp. 474-484 (Cato on farming);
Erich Gruen, Culture and National Identity in
Republican Rome (Berkeley 1992) 52-83 (DG77 G78)
Oct. 26: Lewis and Reinhold, pp. 251-262, 275-283; P.W.
Potter, The Changing Landscape of South Etruria,
pp. 120-137 (DG223.2 P67); D. Rathbone, "The
Development of Agriculture in the `Ager Cosanus'
during the Roman Republic: Problems of Evidence
and Interpretation," JRS 71 (1981) 10-23 (DG11 J7);
Martin W. Frederiksen, "The Contribution of Archaeology
to the Agrarian Problem in the Gracchan Period,"
Dialoghi di archeologia 4-5 (1970-71) 330-357;
Keith Hopkins, Conquerors and Slaves (Cambridge 1977)
1-74 (HT863 H66).
Oct. 31: Lewis and Reinhold, pp. 472-474, 484-486, 487-493;
John D'Arms, Commerce and Social Standing in Ancient
Rome (Cambridge, Mass., 1981) 1-71 (HF377 D37);
Nicholas K. Rauh, Sacred Bonds of Commerce (Leiden
1993), pp. 1-75 (DF261 D3 R38)
Nov. 2: In-class written exam
Nov 7: Lewis and Reinhold, pp. 331-409, 262-269 (Roman
administration abroad); L.P. Wilkinson, Letters of
Cicero. A Selection in Translation (London 1966) 70-107
(PA6308 E5 W5); Richard J. Evans and Marc Kleijwegt,
"Did the Romans Like Young Men?" ZPE 92 (1992) 181-195
(handout).
Nov. 9: Badian, Roman Imperialism (all) (DG254.2 B3 1968b)
Nov. 14: Plutarch, "Life of Marius," (handout); Erich Gruen,
The Last Generation of the Roman Republic (Berkeley
1974) 358-404 (DG254.2 G78); Taylor, Party Politics
1-24.
Nov. 16: Lewis and Reinhold, pp. 269-275, 283-329 (late
Republican collapse)
Nov. 21: Taylor, Party Politics (all)
Nov. 28: Reports on research papers
Nov. 30: Erich Gruen, The Last Generation of the Roman
Republic, pp. 6-120, 405-497 (DG254.2 G78); Joshua
Mandel, "The Nature of the Struggle between Rival
Camps in the Last Days of the Roman Republic," Rivista
storica dell'Antichita 13-14 (1983-84) 275-311.
Dec 5: Velleius Paterculus, pp. 173-329 (II. lvi-cxxxi),
and the Res Gestae (all)
IV. Conclusions.
Dec. 7: Open Discussion and Conclusions