History 334

Provinces of the Roman Empire

Spring 2007

Meeting Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 1.15-2.30 pm

Place: Seabury 16

Office Hours: T 10-11 am, Seabury 405

Books Available in the Trinity Bookstore (Mather Hall)

Augustus, Res Gestae Divi Augusti. The Achievements of the Divine Augustus, ed. and tr. P. A. Brunt and J. M. Moore (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969)                                         

A. K. Bowman, Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier . Vindolanda and its People (New York: Routledge, 1994)

Cassius Dio, The Roman History. The Reign of Augustus, tr. Ian Scott-Kilvert (Penguin Books, 1987)

Martin Goodman, The Ruling Class of Judaea. Origins of the Jewish Revolt against Rome, A.D. 66-70 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).    

Josephus, The Jewish War. Revised Edition, tr. G. A. Williamson (Penguin Books, 1984)

Pliny the Younger, The Letters of the Younger Pliny, tr. Betty Radice (Penguin Books, 1963)

Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, tr. Robert Graves (Penguin Books, 2003)

Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania, tr. Harold Mattingly (Penguin Books, 1971)

D. J. Woolliscroft and B. Hoffmann, Rome's First Frontier. The Flavian Occupation of Northern Scotland (Stroud: Tempus Publishing, 2006) --ISBN 0-7524-3044-0

Schedule of Classes and Assignments

Assignments

    1. Do the reading. It is absolutely essential that everyone complete the reading for a given class before the class. Readings are listed under the day they are due. Please plan your work schedule accordingly!

    2. Participate in discussion. I expect every student in the class to make at least one substantive contribution to each discussion. Virtually every class will be discussion-based, so you will need to keep up and have thought about your assignments and readings beforehand. A good technique: meet with other members of the class beforehand and have a pre-discussion.

    3. Debates. Each student will participate in one of three debates throughout the semester: (1) Who Ran the Empire? (February 13); (2) Why Another Revolt? (April 5); or (3) Was Britain Worth It? (April 26). For these debates, student groups will meet outside class to divide up tasks; review the material we have read; do any necessary additional research to find useful information; present in class a debate, giving the evidence and arguments about the questions posed. The other two-thirds of the class will listen careful, ask pointed questions, and engage in vigorous discussion. You may wish to arrange to meet with me beforehand. Debates will last the full class period, so be well prepared!

• Who Ran the Empire? On the basis of the material we have looked at -- material documenting Augustus' reign, Pliny's correspondence with Trajan, and Marcus Aurelius' interventions at Athens -- consider the degree to which the central government, represented by the emperor, exercised authority over the provinces. How much freedom of action did the emperor have? How much the provincials? What did this mean for the ability of the Roman government to govern?

• Why Another Revolt? Only a couple of generations after the disaster under Vespasian, the Jewish inhabitants revolted again against the Roman state again under Hadrian; the result was expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem, the renaming of the city, the imposition of pagan cult and pagan settlers, and a massive diaspora. Why should the Jewish population have again tried to throw off Roman authority? What relation, if any, exists between the disturbances in Egypt, Cyrenaica, and elsewhere of 115 CE and the Bar Kochva Revolt? Do our sources actually tell us enough about the revolt even to answer these questions?

• Was Britain Worth It? From the conquest of Claudius to the end of our period, Britain seems to have been a drain on the Roman state. The rebellion of Boudicca, the expensive fortifications and military outposts, the poverty of the island -- all would seem to have mitigated against Roman expenditure of "blood and treasure" to keep this dominion. (Indeed, not long after the period we are covering the Romans abandoned Britain permanently.) What motivated the Romans to stay in Britain? What advantages did they obtain? Did any ever argue against maintaining Roman authority there?

    4. Short Papers. Each student will write three (3) short papers (roughly 6 pp): (1) On Augustus' Res Gestae (due February 8); (2) on Suetonius (due March 6); and on the Jewish Revolt (due April 5).

• Paper 1: Augustus' Res Gestae. Using the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, assess the image of the emperor that Augustus was trying to project. Do you believe he intended to set a model for his successors? How does the picture Augustus offers of himself differ from the pictures presented by Suetonius and Cassius Dio in the light of 150 years of experiences of Roman emperors?

• Paper 2: Suetonius on Good and Bad Emperors. Augustus set the standard for Roman emperors, as we have seen. Following him the emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the Flavian dynasty have been conventionally seen as "good" and "bad." Choosing one "good" emperor and one "bad" emperor (list follows), discuss how Suetonius depicts them in comparison with Augustus, especially with regard to their treatment of the provinces. "Good" emperors: Tiberius (?), Claudius. "Bad" emperors: Caligula, Nero, Domitian.

• Paper 3: Both Josephus in the Jewish Wars and Goodman in The Ruling Class of Judea offer explanations for the outbreak of the Jewish War of 66-71 CE. How does Goodman's explanation differ from Josephus'? In what ways is Goodman's "freedom of action" to explain the war limited by the fact that Josephus is our chief source? How does Goodman try to get beyond Josephus?

    5. Research Paper. Each student will write a research paper of 12-15 pp using primary source material and secondary literature. The paper will be developed on the following schedule:

• Meet with me individually to choose a topic: Week of February 5-9 (sign-up sheet circulated meeting of February 1)

• Source Analysis Due: February 22. This is a short paper (~ 3 pp.) that analyzes the main source(s) for your research paper. The analysis must include: authorship (if known), date, contents of source, value for your project, and possible problems/drawbacks.

• First Draft Due: Thursday, March 1, 4 pm

• Final Version Due: Tuesday, May 3, 4 pm

All papers must be submitted as Word attachments to emails. Please do not submit printed versions without first clearing it with me!

Schedule of Classes

January 23 (T): First Class

Part I -- The World of the High Roman Empire

January 25 (Th): From Augustus to Septimius Severus -- A Quick Overview of High Roman Imperial History

    Augustus and the Roman World

Augustus (Octavian) as the first real emperor, left an enormous impress on the empire, not least as the model for how an emperor should rule and behave. This week we look at two views of Augustus: that of Cassius Dio, whose books 51-56 preserve the best account of Augustus' reign, and that of Suetonius Tranquillius, whose biography of the emperor affords glimpses into his personal as well as professional life. Augustus himself left a document, the Res Gestae, inscribed on his tomb (but known to us mostly from a copy in Ankara, Turkey), giving his own take on his reign; you will have a look at that for your first paper.

January 30 (T): Who Was the Emperor? The Model and Burden of Augustus: Read and discuss Cassius Dio, pp. 62-258 (Books 51-56)

Vienna Cameo -- Augustus being crowned ®   

February 1 (Th): Another View of Augustus: Suetonius, Life of Augustus

Paper 1: Using the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, assess the image of the emperor that Augustus was trying to project. Do you believe he intended to set a model for his successors? How does the picture Augustus offers of himself differ from the pictures presented by Suetonius and Cassius Dio presents in the light of 150 years of experiences of Roman emperors? Due: February 8

    February 5-9: Individual Meetings to Choose a Topic for the Research Paper

Emperor and Province

The relationship between the central Roman state, embodied in the person of the emperor, and the provincials, presents various faces. This week we look at two different aspects of that face: the extraordinary correspondence between Pliny the Younger and the emperor Trajan during Pliny's special commission in the province of Bithynia, and the interactions between Marcus Aurelius and Athens, much having to do with local Athenian politics and undertaken at a time when Marcus was embroiled in challenging wars on the Danube.

February 6 (T): Emperor and Province, I -- The Case of Pliny in Bithynia: Read and discuss Pliny, Book 10 (letters to and from Trajan)

February 8 (Th): Empire and Province, II -- Marcus Aurelius and the Athenians

    Read and discuss the documents under "Marcus Aurelius and Athens" on BB.

    Paper 1 Due Today

February 13 (T): Debate: Who Ran the Empire?

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    I will be out of town for three class meetings, February 15-22. Please note that you have an obligatory assignment for the meeting of February 15; attendance will be taken. You are expected to use the other days to work on the draft of your research paper, due March 1, and your second research paper, due .

February 15: (Th): Library Session with Pat Bunker -- Meet at 1.15-2.30 (regular time slot) in the Blume Lab in the Library.

February 20 (T): No class -- Work on your research paper and second short paper

February 22 (Th): No class-- Work on your research paper and second short paper -- Source analysis for research paper due

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The Roles of the Roman Army

Films like Gladiator fill our heads with images of the Roman army -- terrifying, invincible, implacable. These images are, like many myths, partly true and largely false. In this section we examine the Roman army in two contexts: on expeditio (the technical term for a military expedition in which the emperor participated personally) under Trajan in his two great expansionist enterprises, in Dacia and Mesopotamia; and at camp along the desert routes east of the Nile, guarding caravans and transports of building stone, staving off boredom with gardens and prostitutes, laid up sick and injured. Problems on incomplete and contradictory evidence will bedevil us.

March 1 (Th): The Roman Army at War -- Trajan in Dacia and Mesopotamia

    Read and discuss  the texts and documents on BB.

 First Draft of Research Paper Due

March 6 (T): The Roman Army in Camp -- Duties, Downtime, Sickness, and Death

    Read and discuss Woolliscraft and Hoffmann, Rome's First Frontier, pp. 21-172, and documents on BB.

Second short paper on Suetonius due

The Social World of the Empire

This section examines the view that the Roman order offered expanded opportunities for social advancement, particularly for provincials. We'll consider this proposition by looking at a series of documents and texts, including the famous Dream of Lucian, that have been cited as evidence for this phenomenon.

March 8 (Th): Social Advancement

    Read and discuss and the documents on BB.

Part II -- Roman Palestine

March 13 (T): Varieties of Judaism

    Read Josephus, The Jewish War, pp. 133-138, and documents on BB.

March 15 (Th): The Social World of Judea before the Revolt: Read and discuss Goodman, Ruling Class of Judea

March 20-22 (T Th): Spring Break: No Classes

March 27 (T): The Revolt

    Read and discuss Josephus, The Jewish War, and Suetonius, Life of Vespasian and Life of Titus

March 29 (Th): Judea, the Jews, and the Romans between the Revolts

    Read and discuss and the documents on BB.

April 3 (T): The Bar-Kochva Revolt

    Read and discuss and the documents on BB.

April 5 (Th): Debate: Why Another Revolt?

Paper 3 due

Part III -- Roman Britain

April 10 (T): Romans In and Out of Britain

    Read and discuss Suetonius, Caligula (Gaius) 43-48, Claudius 18, and the documents on BB.

April 12 (Th): The Social World of the Britons

    Read and discuss and the documents on BB.

April 17 (T): Agricola and the Making of Roman Rule

    Read and discuss: Woolliscraft and Hoffmann, Rome's First Frontier, pp. 13-18, 175-234; Tacitus, Agricola.

April 19 (Th): The Vindolanda Texts

    Read and discuss: Bowman, Life and Letters

April 24 (T): Villas and the Rural Economy

    Read and discuss and the documents on BB.

April 26 (Th): Debate: Was Britain Worth It?

May 1 (T): Last Class -- Assessing the Provinces and the Empire

May 3, 4 pm -- Final Paper Due