ClSt 012S S11

Roman Civilization

Syllabus
Human:

Joshua D. Sosin
Coordinates: MW 1450-1605; SocPsych 128
Access:

Classical Studies
229A Allen Bldg.
Office Hours: TBA
(and any time I am in my office)
Phone: 681-2992 | joshua.sosin@duke.edu

Spiel: This course is an introduction to Roman Civilization. We shall study the literature, history, art and archaeology of the Roman world from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Emphasis is on use of primary sources in translation.

Our chief task in class will be to discuss the readings assigned for that day. I will help guide discussions and offer presentations on various topics, but it is your job to come prepared to ask questions, argue points of view, float interpretations, and have fun. The reading load will sometimes be heavy, but it will not be difficult. Stay on top of the reading, come to class, join the discussion, and you'll do great!

The semester and our activities will break down as follows:

  • Weeks 1-5: We shall read concurrently a textbook on Roman history and a selection of primary sources. I shall give occasional presentations on special topics (law, slavery, religion, literature, etc.).
  • Weeks 5-6: We shift gears, reading and discussing the Aeneid in full.
  • Weeks 7-8: We shift gears again in preparation for the last 6 weeks of the semester. We shall plow through the part of the textbook devoted to the Roman Empire. At the end you will take a test (02 Mar), to show that you have mastered the historical narrative.
  • Weeks 10-16: Armed with your knowledge of the main historical narrative of the Roman Empire, you will have the chance to do Classics without a net. We shall devote the rest of the semester to close reading and discussion of several primary sources arranged around the different worlds of Rome at the center and periphery. I shall give occasional presentations on special topics.

Sources: books to purchase (you can probably find these used);

  1. A. M. Ward, F. M. Heichelheim, C. A. Yeo, A History of the Roman People (5th Edition 2009); ISBN: 0205695264. For any given day's reading from the textbook I shall provide you in advance with a list of sections that you may skim or skip.
  2. The Aeneid, transl. by R. Fitzgerald (1990); ISBN: 0679729526.
  3. Rest are online
Schedule:

Swamp To Augustus
Week
 For Mon. For Wed.
1
  

01/12 - Introductions

Map (away)
2

01/17 - MLK Day No Class

01/19 - Foundations
READ: Livy, ab urbe condita 1 - Map of Latium
READ: WHY 1-2

A rough outline of Livy might be useful

Map of Rom.Emp.

Liver | Faustulus (ANS) [cf. Livy 1 p.38] | Rape of the Sabine women (ANS), again (ANS) [cf. Livy 1 p.44] | Killing Tarpeia (ANS) [cf. Livy 1 p.46] | Numa Pompilius with lituus (ANS) [cf. Livy 1 p.53] | Janus (ANS) | Temple of Janus (ANS) / again (ANS) [cf. Livy. 1 p.54] | Numa Pompilius and Ancus Marcius (ANS) [cf. Livy 1 p.69ff] | Brutus Libertas (ANS) | Tarquin family

Etruscans: Cerveteri tomb / tomb of the reliefs / again / more tombs / more / sarcophagus / painting / Tarquinii Ambush by Achilles / Amazons / augurs / dancer / fishing / piper / tomb of lionesses / Etruscan mirror / again / again / again / Veii Apollo / what does google know about Etruscan mirrors? / sarcophagi? / tombs? / Pyrgi tablets / tabula cortonensis
3

01/24 - Law
READ: WHY 3-6
READ: 12 Tables [just the fragments themselves, not the mass of surrounding material!]

Graphic illustration with explanation of the Roman cursus honorum |

01/26 - Growth
READ: WHY 7-9
READ: SC de Bacchanalibus

WRITE: Charta 1

SC de Bacch. (here) |

Scipio family tree (Wiki)
4

01/31 - Greeks and Religion
READ: WHY 10-11
READ: Plautus, Menaechmi

via Flaminia |

02/02 - Slavery
READ: WHY 12-14
READ: Slave revolts sel.

WRITE: Charta 2

Flamininus (here) | Philip V (here) / again (here) | provinces map | Roman house / with peristyle / House plans at Pompeii / block / Casa del Lab. |

Enna | Aquilius lifts Sicily (here) / again / again / again | Sicily map |

| Roma kills a pig (here) | Italia kills a pig (here) / again (here) | Bull crushes wolf (here)

Rome in the east
5

02/07 - Trouble at Home
READ: Sallust, Catilinian Conspiracy
READ: WHY 15-16

Paving the sea (cf. Sallust pp.183, 189) | again | again | not quite levelling a mountain, but not far from it either: Temple of Fortuna at Praeneste: model / remains / again.

Sulla Imp. (here) | Moneyer (54 BC) Q. Pompeius Rufus honors his maternal grandfather Sulla and paternal grandfather Q. Pompeius Rufus (co. 88) (here) | Moneyer Faustus Cornelius Sulla (Q. 54) recalls Jugurtha's surrender (here) | Caesar: Eleph. (here) | Gaul (here) | Aeneas (here) | Once, twice (here), forever a dictator (here) | again (here) | again (here)

|| Brutus EID MAR (here)

Letters on the fall

02/10 - New Vision
READ: WHY 17, 19
READ: Virgil, Aen. 1-4

WRITE: Charta 3

A rough outline of the Aeneid might be useful

Aeneas' wanderings | Low Ham Mosaic featuring Dido and Aeneas | Catullus 85

Great Looks: A general | Scoppito | Man | Man | Man | Man | Freedman's family || Pompey | again | again | again | again | again || Cicero | again / detail || Caesar | again | again (color) | again |
6

02/14 - New Vision
READ: Virgil, Aen. 5-8

Cumae: entrance to cave (here) / inner chamber (here) / from inside toward entrance (here)

Aeneas fleeing: Louvre F 122 [530-520 BC] (here) | Louvre F 118 [520/510 BC] (here) | Etruscan statue (here) | Copy of Pompeian painting (here) | from I AD relief at Carthage | AR denarius of Caesar 47/6 (here) | Coin of Ilium (here) | Coin of Rome AD 147, 100th anniversary of founding (here) / again, with sow (here) / again, with Mars and Rhea Silvia (here) | wounded Aeneas | Aeneas lamp (here)

Praeneste fountain: Peace / again | Fruitful conquest | Ruler of the world and conquerer of barbarians

02/16 - New Vision
READ: Virgil, Aen. 9-12

WRITE: Charta 4

Read in class: Tibullus 1.10

and also, if there's time: Praise of Turia / Augustus' birthday / in praise of the majority of Gaius / Asia mourns the death of Augustus
7

02/21 - DATA FEED
READ: WHY 20-22 [xli]

Map of Rom.Emp / another | Julio-Claudian stemma (here) | Augustus: portrait / again / again / again / again / Tiberius: portrait / again / again | Gaius: portrait / again | [links from very useful syllabus]

02/23 - DATA FEED
READ: WHY 23-25 [xxxv]

list of emperors / Vespasian gets a job

Claudius: portrait / again / again | Nero portrait / again / again / again / again // Vespasian portrait: Carthage / Naples / again / again / Ostia | Titus Munich / Vatican | Domitian Boston / Capitoline / Naples / Ephesus

Stemmata: Trajan and Hadrian (more detailed stemma [here]) / Antoninus Pius / Marcus Aurelius / and kids

Nerva / again | Trajan / again / again / again / again | Hadrian / again / again / again / again | Antoninus Pius / again / again / again | Marcus Aurelius / again / again / again / again | Commodus / again / again / again || Old Greeks: Antisthenes / Aristotle / Socrates / Sophocles | New Greek: Herodes Atticus [these taken from an excellent site in Erlangen, which does not seem to be live any longer]
8

02/28 - DATA FEED
READ: WHY 27-29 [xli]

Stemma: Severans / third century docs

03/02 - DATA DUMP

Relax
9

03/07 Spring Break

03/09 Spring Break

Rome and Away
10

03/14 - New Empire, Dynasty and Historiography
READ: Res gestae
READ: Tacitus, Annales. I

A rough outline of Tac. Ann. might be useful

No one is everywhere: Augustus: portrait / again / again / again / again / Tiberius: portrait / again / again | Gaius: portrait / again || Praeneste fountain: Peace / again | Fruitful conquest | Ruler of the world and conquerer of barbarians || in praise of autocracy: Augustus' birthday / in praise of the majority of Gaius / Asia mourns the death of Augustus || Emperor, what's that?

03/16 -
READ: Suetonius, Claudius
READ: Suetonius, Nero

WRITE: Charta 5

Power, peace, piety: emperors are cool | Gemma augustea (here) | Armenia capta (here) | signis receptis (here) | civibus et signis mil. a Parth. recup. (here) | kneeling Parthian (here) | more kneeling (here) | Aegypto capta (here) | Divi Filius (here) | Victory on globe (here) | Oct. in mil. dress (here) | Pax (here) | Naked foot on globe (here) | Asia recepta (here) | Temple (here) | Ruler of the world and conquerer of barbarians (Boscoreale cup) | Augur (Lares altar) | with veiled head | procession with genius Augusti |

RGDA text | Temple

Pantheon (here) | Ara Pacis (here) / front (here) / Ara pacis (here) / front rt (here) / rt long (here) / rt long (here) / back left (here ) / enclosure (here) / RGDA inscription | drawing of horologium complex / again / in context / obelisk (here) | Mausoleum / from air / drawing

Claudius and Ostia (here) / Ostia and Rome on map / Portus (Trajan's harbor) model / Portus drawing / plan / Ostia plan /

Domus aurea (Golden House) plan / octagonal room (here) / vaulted ceiling (here) / wall painting (here) /

11

03/21 - Spectacle and the City
READ: Seneca, Moral epistles
READ: Juvenal, Sat. 1-3

Greek Geek dies young (repro | original | text)

people work: shoes | midwife | butcher | carpenter | sculptor | builder | slave with counter | fabric | fabric 2 | Eurysaces / reliefs | various | various 2 | Gallic trade | shipbuilder and smith | produce | banker | shipper

03/23 Administration and the Provinces
READ: Pliny, Ep. X

WRITE: Charta 6

Map of Pontus-Bithynia

Gulf of Astakos NW Nicaea | E Nicaea | Nicaea from above| Mysian Olympus | Mtns. btw. Bithynia and Phrygia | S. of Tieion | Claudiopolis / S. of | E. of Pompeiopolis | Amastris | Amaseia / bridge | Amastris harbor | Sinope harbor | Prusias ad Hypium | Sinope gate | Pliny's lake |

from above: Ephesus / Assos / Perge (google ims) / Aspendus (google ims) / Side (google ims) / Aphrodisias / Hierapolis-Pammukale / Herakleia under Latmos / Patara / Nysa on the Maeander

and much farther afield...Palmyra (google ims)
12

03/28 - Tourism
READ: Lucian, Alexander the False Prophet
READ: Lucian, On the Syrian Goddess

Map of Pontus-Bithynia | Coast / again | Ionopolis coin / again / again | statuettes | acephalous Glykon | Tomis group | Glykon

Map of Syria | Baalbek plan / temple of Jupiter / of Dionysus / inside / again / again (reconstruction) / quarry | Delian phallus | Dura from above / synagogue Red Sea / Moses | Maison Carée, Nimes | Palmyra temple of Bel / drawing | Coin of Caracalla with Haddad, Atargatis, and Semeion on rev / coin of Maximinus with military standard / frieze with military standards

Mithraeum / in Rome / in Ostia / in Capua / Tauroctony Vatican / another / Barberini fresco / Heidelberg / Rome

Worship your god Alexemenos / confession inscription / another

Pompeii: Exotic cup / again| Nile Mosaic / another (source) / another / detail / another / another | Temple of Isis / again (from wp) / Priests of Isis

seeing the sites

03/30 - Freedmen
READ: Petronius, Satyricon

WRITE: Charta 7

Bath Pompeii caldarium / tepidarium

Roman house / with peristyle / of Menander / plan, villa of Mysteries, Pompeii / impluvium / House of Surgeon atrium / room off peristyle, house of Amorini / peristyle

Out: City from above / now / plan | aerial of forum / raking | water grid / public water | block | house drawing | street view | front drawing | thermopolion / again | brawl (amphitheater) | bread | mill |

In:Cave canem mosaic | Exotic cup / again | skeleton cup / again / Princeton (here) / Warren cup | Nile Mosaic | Priests of Isis | "nature" | couple | pastoral | terra sigillata | still life with glass / glass / again | painting with perspective | still life with cat | from house of Vettii | Theseus kills Minotaur | Telephus nurses | Achilles learns | Zephyr and Chloris | triclinium | Dinner with guest | bed / again

flickr harvest: img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img / img /

High and low: Aeneas lamp (here) | Tityrus lamp (here) | erotic lamp (here)

P.Oxy. VI 903
13

04/04 - Rustic Love
READ: Longus, Daphnis and Chloe

04/06 - Urban Love
READ: Ovid, Amores I
READ: Tibullus. Elegies I
READ: Propertius, Elegies I

WRITE: Charta 8
14

04/11 -

04/13 - Rolling up Sleeves
READ: Galen (NOTE: Empiricism is optional)
READ: Vitruvius (NOTE: You should observe, see, enjoy the commentary, but you do not need to read the commentary)

Pergamon Asklepieion from above | Askleipieion, Kos, from above | artist's rendering and plan |

Bridge at Alcantara | Bridge at Salamanca | Arles from the air / model | Bath at Bath | Pont du Gard / distribution venue | Aqueduct at Segovia Aspendos theater / inside | Library at Ephesus / plan / mosaic / pipe / theater | Perge from the air / water system | Market gate at Miletos | Hypocaust at Cypriote Salamis | Zeugma mosaic of Daedalus and Icarus / of Achilles in drag

Pantheon /

Africa: Map | Thamugadi / plan / cardo | Cuicul Temple SS | Oil "factory" nr. Tebessa | Underground peristyle at Bulla Regia | Amphith. at Thysdrus | Theater at Leptis Magna | Volubilis: arch of Caracalla / city in landscape / again | | Latrine at Dougga / theater | Amphitheater at El Djem / triad at Sbeitla / Plan of Timgad

Bog people: Lindow | Grauballe | Windeby | Weerdinge | Tollund head / body

Frontinus, de aquaeductu urbis Romae / Strategemata | Quintilian | Aulus Gellius | Columella |

WRITE: Charta 9
15

04/18 - Law
READ: B. Nicholas, pp14-44
READ: Digest bk.14 (ca15pp; skip passages crossed out with red line)
READ: Digest bk.25 (ca12pp; skip passages crossed out with red line)
READ: Digest bk.43 (ca33pp; skip passages crossed out with red line)

Gnomon of the Idios Logos

04/20 - Documents
READ: Selected inscriptions and papyri (skip passages crossed out with red line)

P.Oxy. 25.2435 / 'Bolzano Victory Monument' /

WRITE: Charta 10
16

04/25 - Third and Fourth Centuries
READ: WHY 29-31
READ: Lamoreaux, JECS 3 (1995) 143-167.
READ: Sel. from Maas, Readings in Late Antiquity

04/27 - Cities and Not
READ: Sayings of the Desert Fathers

 Final Exam: Mon., 2 May, 0900-1200 [schedule].

Sweat: You can earn a total of 500 points over the semester; they break down as follows:

Participation: 200 pts. This course is a seminar. I provide readings, framework, and occasional presentations; you are responsible for discussion.

Chartae: 150 pts. You will write 10 chartae, 375-word response papers; how long is 375 words? Roughly this long. We shall discuss the assignments in greater detail in class.

  1. charta i:You vs Text [Identify at least two things from our readings that have struck you as interesting, surprising, odd, difficult to understand--anything that really caught your interest for any reason (cite specific passages please). This exercise asks what seems interesting, in one or more texts, in the light of what you think or know. Feel free to circle or otherwise highlight the sentence or clause that contains the crux of your observation.]
  2. charta ii: You vs Text
  3. charta iii: You vs Text
  4. charta iv: Interlude: Free Write: What did you like most about the Aeneid? What did you like least? Why? Spend thirty minutes; do not pause; do not take your fingers off the keyboard; do not hold back; do not edit or censor yourself; do not correct grammar or spelling.
  5. charta v: Text vs Text. [Read Monday's and Wednesday's readings against each other. How does the one illuminate, contradict, agree with, flesh out, etc. the other? Base your observations on 2 specific passages (or phenomena). Feel free to circle or otherwise highlight the sentence or clause that contains the crux of your idea/observation. This exercise asks what seems interesting, in one or more texts, in the light of what one or more other texts say.]
  6. charta vi: Text vs Text
  7. charta vii: Text vs Text
  8. charta viii: Text vs Context [Read this week's selections against the semester's readings and discussions. This exercise asks what seems interesting, in one or more texts, in the light of your increasingly evidence-based knowledge and understanding of Roman civilization.]
  9. charta ix: Text vs Context
  10. charta x: Text vs Context

Assessing the chartae. Each charta will be assessed on a five-point scale:

  1. 11 points: On-time delivery of 375 words. Writing shows little engagement with the texts and/or is so unclearly written as to render assessment of such impossible. [ = words]
  2. 12 points: Writing is clear, but it shows engagement only inasmuch as it recapitulates prior seminar discussion; it is clear but does not take ownership of any ideas. [ = words + alien thought]
  3. 13 points: Writing is clear and contains 1 good, clear, interesting idea of your own devising. [ = words + an idea]
  4. 14 points: Writing is clear and contains at least 2 good, clear, ineteresting ideas of your own devising [ = words + ideas]
  5. 15 points: Writing is clear, compelling, well-crafted, and efficient, and conrtains at least 2 good, clear, interesting ideas of your own devising [ = words and ideas are as one]

This will generate not the grade, but a figure from which to calculate one; growth and improvement count.

Data-Dump: Wed. 02 Mar; 75 points; 1 hr.; closed book. This test is designed simply to let you show that you have sufficiently mastered the historical narrative of the Roman Empire, so that you will be able to have fun with the primary sources that we shall study in wks 10-16. The test will cover WHY 20-29, from the start of the principate to the accession of Diocletian. Format will be short answer / multiple choice. No tricks.

Final Exam: Mon. 02 May, 0900-1200; 75 points; closed book. Description TBA.

Policies: for links to policies, writing tips, etc. see my teaching page.