History 358

The title of this course, borrowed from Edward Gibbon’s great book, is a double misnomer: the Roman empire neither “declined” nor “fell,” at least not in the period we cover (3^rd-7^th centuries CE). Instead, it changed from a pan-Mediterranean state into two large sections (East and West) which subsequently followed different historical trajectories. This course explores some of the major themes of this transformation: changes in the character and role of the state; emergence of Christianity as an accepted, then dominant, religion; impact of pressures from populations living outside the formal boundaries of the empire (the so-called "barbarians"); the response of local elites to the challenges and dangers of the new society; the loss of Egypt and much of the Middle East to the newly-Muslim Arabs in the seventh century.

Please note -- this syllabus is not complete. It is posted now to give students a sense of the range of topics covered and work assigned. The final version will be posted around the beginning of the spring semester.

Interpreting Late Antiquity. Essays on the Postclassical World, eds. G. W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, and Oleg Grabar

Pachomian Koinonia. The Life of Saint Pachomius and his Disciples (Cisterian 1980)

Procopius, The Secret History, trans. G. A. Williamson (Penguin 1982) -- Note: Procopius, The Secret History, can also be downloaded from Amazon.

Michele Renee Salzman, The Making of a Christian Aristocracy. Social and Religious Change in the Western Roman Empire (Cambridge, Mass., 2002).

al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari. Volume 5. The Sasanids, the Byzantines, the Lakhmids, and Yemen, trans. C. E. Bosworth (Buffalo 1999)

Ahmad Tafazzoli, Sassanid Society. Warriors, Scribes, Dehqans (Bibliotheca Persica Press 2000)

The following books are out of stock and may or may not arrive in time for class:

Averil Cameron, The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, 395-600 A.D. (London 1993)

The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, tr. Frank R, Trombley and John W. Watt (Liverpool 2000)

Donatist Martyr Stories. The Church in Conflict in North Africa, ed. and trans. Maureen Tilley (Liverpool 1997)

Lives of the Visigothic Fathers, ed. and trans. A. T. Fear (Liverpool 1998) -- out of print and unavailable

Victor of Vita, The History of the Vandal Persecution, ed. and trans. J. W. Moorehead (Liverpool 1992)

Stephen Williams and Gerard Friell, Theodosius. The Empire at Bay (New Haven 1998)

In addition to the books listed above readings and other resources -- including maps -- will be found posted on the Blackboard site for this class. The link to Blackboard is given as BB.

Assignments

1. Participation. This class is predicated on full participation by every student. Come to class having read the assigned readings and ready to discuss them. I expect everyone to have something substantive to say in every class.

2. Quizzes. There will be two quizzes toward the start of term: (1) Chronology Quiz, which will test your sense of the chronology of the period (c. 250-650), and (2) Geography Quiz, which will test your familiarity with the geography of the world in which the events of Late Antiquity took place. You will be given guides to study for both quizzes. Both quizzes must be passed with a grade of 70 or better to pass the course. You may take the quizzes as many times as necessary to pass, but we will use class time for testing only once per quiz. Subsequent retests will have to be arranged on your own time.

3. In-class Reports. Every student will present one brief (5-7 minute) in-class report on a reading. The purpose of these reports is to give background and offer ideas and questions for discussion. You will be expected to have done some additional work beyond the reading itself as background (for example, reading also the relevant article in the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium). The additional readings are given with each report. If you feel nervous about giving oral presentations, Leif Fellinger, an auditor in the class, has agreed to help. He has long experience with giving presentations and helping people to feel comfortable. If you would like to talk to him you can email him at lfellinger@comcast.net.

4. Reaction Papers. Each student will present two (2) reaction papers of 2-3 pp. in the course of the semester. These papers react to the discussion and reading for a given day. The papers may be done whenever you like, but one paper must be presented before March 16. It is your responsibility to make sure you turn these papers in.

5. Mid-Term Exam. There will be a mid-term exam during the second half of class on March 8 (75 minutes).

6. Take-Home Final Exam. The final exam will consist of a take-home essay of no more than eight (8) pages addressing the following question: "Does 'Late Antiquity make sense as an historical period? Why or why not?". This essay is due by noon on Monday, May 9, to be delivered to my box in the History Department office or by preference electronically.

Schedule of Classes

Please note that this course is a 300-level course even though it meets only once a week in a seminar-style format. In essence, we will typically cover two main topics each meeting, separated by a 15 minute break. Your reading will reflect this "two-in-one" arrangement; please be conscientious about keeping up and spreading the work out over the six days between meetings.

January 25: Introduction -- The world of Late Antiquity: An Overview of Three Centuries

February 1: Class cancelled -- we will make this class up by meeting on March 1 of Trinity Days

Reading: Potter, pp. 85-172, 217-298; Salzman, Making, pp. 19-68 (chapter on the Senatorial aristocracy); Scriptores Historiae Augustae: Life of Aurelian (BB); Edict of Diocletian in P. Cair. Isidor. ! (BB)

Herodian -- Caroline Inman -- introduction by C. R. Whittaker to the Loeb edition and Books I, IV, and V

Zenobia -- Andrew Baird -- SHA Thirty Tyrants chapters 15-17, 30; Richard Stoneman, Palmyra and its Empire. Zenobia’s Revolt against Rome (Ann Arbor 1992) (DS 99 P17 S86)

Diocletian's Economic Reforms -- Peter Canning -- Stephen Williams, Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (London 1985), pp. 115-139 (DR 313 W54 1985)

February 15: Christianity Before Constantine -- Persecution, Martyrdom, and the Making of the Church

Reading: Acts (BB, as "Acts"), Donatist Martyr Stories, pp. 1-49 (BB, as "Donatist Martyrs"); Eusebius, History of the Church, pp. ix-xxxv (Introduction), 117-126 (4.14-17), 139-150 (5.1-3), 208-220 (6.39-46), 256-302 (8.1-11); Potter, pp. 337-340, 402-410.

Lactantius, The Deaths of the Persecuted (BR65.L23 D43513 1984) -- Justin Holiday

Wayne A. Meeks, The First Urban Christians. The Social World of the Apostle Paul (New Haven 1983) (BR 166 M44) -- Camilla Rich

Reading: Potter, pp. 301-439; Eusebius, History of the Church, Book 10 (all); Eusebius, Life of Constantine (BB); Interpreting Late Antiquity, pp. 196-218.

In Praise of Later Roman Emperors. The Panegyrici Latini, tr. C. E. V. Nixon and Barbara Saylor Rodgers (Berkeley 1994), no. 7, Anonymus Panegryic for Constantine (PA 6166 P 36) -- Kenneth Leighton

March 1: The Fourth Century -- A Reconfiguration of the Roman World? Note: This class is being held on Trinity Days to make up for the missed class on February 1. [The readings for this class are rather long -- plan accordingly.]

Ammianus Marcellinus, pp. 41-64 (Bk 14), 88-148 (16-18.3), 178-184 (19.11-12), 186-192 (20.4-5), 207-233 (21.1-16), 295-299 (25.4), 410-443 (31.1-16) (not a continuous narrative)

The Theodosian Code and Novels and Sirmonidan Constitution, trans. Clyde Pharr (Princeton 1952) Table of Contents; I.1-2; family law: III.5.1-14, 7.1-3, 8.1-3, 16.1-2, IX.7.1-9; military law: VII 1.1-18, 12.1-3, 13.1-22; religious law: XVI.1.1-4, 2.1-47, 5.1-16 (BB)

John Matthews, Laying Down the Law. A Study of the Theodosian Code (New Haven 2000), pp. 1-30, 168-199 (BB)

(1) The Dispute about the Altar of Victory in the Senate: Symmachus, Relatio III; Ambrose, Epistules 17 and 18 (BB) --

Reading: Tafazzoli, all;The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars, AD 226-363. A Documentary History, eds. Michael H. Dodgeon and Samuel Lieu (London 1991)

The Book of a Thousand Judgments. A Sassanian Law Code, ed. and trans. Anahit Perikhanian and Nina Garsoian (Mazda 1997), pp. 12- (BB); al-Tabari, pp. 1-164, 252-267; Ammianus, pp. 248-249 (22.12), 255-295 (23.1-25.3), 301-312 (25.6-10).

Res Gestae Divi Saporis (BB, from the edition of: P. Huyse, Die dreisprachige Inschrift Šabuhrs I. an der Ka'ba-I Zardušt (ŠKZ) (Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum III.1.1). 2 vols. [London 1999] 000-000). The Babylonian Astronomical Diaries (last volume) (Reger will bring to class). Z. Rubin, "The Roman Empire in the 'Res Gestae Divi Saporis' -- the Mediterranean World in Sasanian Propaganda" in Ancient Iran and the Mediterranean World. Proceedings of an International Conference in Honour of Professor Jozef Wolski, held at the Jagiellonian University, Cracow, in September 1996, ed. Edward Dabrowa (Krakow 1998) 177-185 (BB).

A distinctive new Christian phenomenon arose in the third and fourth centuries -- the practice of living out of society. Initially monasticism subsisted in a pagan world, and grew out of pagan antecedents (like the Pythagorean practices of people like Apollonios of Tyana); later, once Christianity became the established religion of the empire and paganism was outlawed, monasticism took its place as a fundamental institution of the new order.

Reading: Pachomian Koinonia, pp. 297-423; Theodosian Code XVI.3.1-2, 10.10-12 (BB); Interpreting Late Antiquity, pp. 82-106; Potter, pp. 489-496; James E. Goehring, Ascetics, Society, and the Desert. Studies in Early Egyptian Monasticism, pp. 13-35 (BB);

Philippe Rousseau, Pachomius. The Making of a Community in Fourth-Century Egypt -- Matthew Trofatter

March 29: East Is East and West Is West, I -- Losing the West: Three Case Studies, Britain, Visigothic Spain, and Vandal North Africa

Britain

Neil Faulkner, The Decline and Fall of Roman Britain (Stroud 2000) pp. 97-180 (BB)

Gaul

Claudius Rutilius Namatianus, "A Voyage Home to Gaul" (De suo reditu), in Minor Latin Poets, pp. 753-829 (PA 6121 A4 vol. 1)(BB)

Sulpicius Severus, "Life of St. Martin," in Fathers of the Church. A New Translation, vol. 7 (New York 1949), pp. 101-145 (BR 60 F3 N5)(BB)

Ralph W. Mathisen and Hagith S. Sivan, "Forging a New Identity: The Kingdom of Toulouse and the Frontiers of Visigothic Aquitania (418-507), in The Visigoths. Studies in Culture and Society, ed. Alberto Ferreiro (Leiden 1999) pp. 1-62 (DP96 V58 1999)(BB)

North Africa

Andreas Schwarcz, "The Settlement of the Vandals in North Africa," in Vandals, Romans and Berbers. New Perspectives on Late Antique North Africa, ed. A. H. Merrills (Aldershot 2004) pp. 49-57 (DT 198 V36)(BB)

Isidore of Seville, History of the Kings of the Goths, in Conquerors and Chroniclers of Early Medieval Spain, tr. Kenneth Baxter Wolf (Liverpool 1999) pp. 79-109 (DP 96 C66 1999)(BB) -- Colin McDougall

Claudian, "The Gothic War" -- Eads Johnson: Claudian, "The Gothic War," in Claudian, vol. 2, pp. 125-173 (PA 6372 A2 vol. 2); Alan Cameron, Claudian. Poetry and Propaganda at the Court of Honorius (Oxford 1970) pp. 156-188 (PA 6374 C3)

Walter Goffart, Barbarians and Romans, A.D. 418-584. The TRechniques of Accommodation (Princeton 1980) pp. 3-126 (DG319 G63) -- Michael DeLeonardo

April 5: East Is East and West Is West, II -- Syria and Mesopotamia in Crisis: Amida and Edessa

Reading: Ps.-Joshua the Stylite, pp. 1-119 (BB); Ammianus, pp. 148-177 (18.4-19.9), 192-196 (20.6-7).

Fergus Millar, The Roman Near East (Cambridge, Mass. 1993) pp. 437-488.(DS 62.25 M53) -- Daniel Cote

St. John Simpson, "From Tekrit to the Jaghjagh," in Continuity and Change in Northern Mesopotamia from the Hellenistic to the Early Islamic Period, eds. Karin Bartl and Stefan Hruser (Berlin 1996), pp. 87-126 (DS 69.5 F7) -- Chris Esser

Michael Rostotzveff, Dura-Europos and Its Art (Oxford 1938) (DS 99 D8 R7) -- Julia Pitassy

It has been a long-standing view that Late Antiquity saw a transformation of agricultural -- not in technology, but in the social system of the Greco-Roman world. Whereas for millennia the land had been worked by the peasant proprietor (see Hesiod, Works and Days), in Late Antiquity peasants were reduced to workers tied to the land by taxation, law, and obligation. The evidence for this interpretation comes from legal texts, inscriptions, and other sources. In this session we explore this question.

Reading: Theodosian Code V.11.8-12, 12.1-3, 13.1-4, 14.30-36, 15.15-21, 16.30-35, 17.1.1-3, 18.1-3, 19.1 (BB)

Roger S. Bagnall, The Kellis Agricultural Account Book (Oxford 1997) (QUARTO S427 B34) -- Sara Yoo

Jairus Banaji, Agrarian Change in Late Antiquity. Gold, Labour, and Aristocratic Dominance (Oxford 2001) pp. 6-22, 89-133, 171-212 (DG 105 B36) -- Joseph Ricci

Keith Branigan, The Roman Villa in South-West England (Bradford-on-Avon 1977) (DA 145 B83) -- Jeffrey Hodge

Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity, by Charlotte Roueche, publishes (with commentary) inscriptions from Aphrodisias in Karia.

Archaeological work over the past two decades has revealed a late antique town in the Dakhla oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. Kellis has preserved houses, public buildings, and written materials that permit a textured reconstruction of life in a small town. The results of this work are being published as the Dakhleh Oasis Project Monographs. Some volumes are on reserve in the Library. Please read the pages as indicated

James E. Knudstad and Rosa A, Frey, "Kellis: The Architectural Survey of the Romano-Byzatine Town at Ismant el-Kharab," in Reports from the Survey of the Dakhleh Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, 1977-1987, eds. C. S. Churcher and A. J. Mills, Dakhleh Oasis Project Monograph 2 (Oxford 1999) 189-214 (BB)

Iain Gardner, Kellis Literary Texts, I. Dakhleh Oasis Project Monograph 4 (Oxford 1997)

K. A. Worp, Greek Papyri from Kellis, I. Dakhleh Oasis Project Monograph 3 (Oxford 1995)

K. A. Worp and A. Rijksbaron, The Kellis Isokrates Codex. Dakhleh Oasis Project Monograph 5 (Oxford 1997)

Roger Bagnall, The Kellis Agricultural Account Book. Dakhleh Oasis Project Monograph 7 (Oxford 1997)

Iain Gardner, Coptic Documentary Texts from Kellis, I. Dakhleh Oasis Project Monograph 9 (Oxford 1999)

K. A. Worp, Greek Ostraca from Kellis. Dakhleh Oasis Project Monograph 15 (Oxford 2004)

Bertrand Lancon, Rome in Late Antiquity (New York 2000) (DG311 .L3613 2000) -- Sean Baker

J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz, Antioch (Oxford 1972) pp. 40-101, 119-131, 192-207, 356-365. (DS 99 A6 L54) -- Emily Malbon

Alison Frantz, Late Antiquity, A.D. 267-700 (The Athenian Agora vol. XXIV) (Princeton 1988), pp. 52-94 (Quarto QUARTO DF287.A23 A5) -- Andrew Whalen

The texts of Justinian's great legal compilations can be read on line (in Latin): the Codex Justianianus, the Digest (in two parts: Part I and Part II), and the Institutiones. (Caution: These are large files!)

Procopius, Buildings, in History of the Wars, Secret History, and Buildings, ed. and tr. Avereil Cameron (New York 1967) (DF572 .P999 1967b -- NB: this book must be ordered from Wesleyan or Conn College) -- Eric Hutchinson

Justinian's Legal Project -- Tony Honore, Tribonian (Ithaca 1978) (JC 96 T7 H6) -- Tyler Nims

May 3: The Structure of the East in the Sixth Century -- The End of Antiquity? The Arab Invasions

Final Take-Home Exam Due: Monday, May 8, delivered to my box in the History Department office by noon.

De Imperatoribus Romanis is a useful site with biographies and other information arranged by reign of Roman emperors.

Late Antique Archaeology Conference gives a sense of the contributions of archaeology to the study of Late Antiquity -- an increasingly important field for developing new evidence.

Spring 2005

Assignments

Schedule of Classes