Survey course on the political and social history of ancient Rome from the 5th century BC to the 4th century AD. The main emphasis will be on social and political changes in society during the crucial period from 200 BC to AD 200 when the Romans conquered and ruled an empire stretching from present-day Spain to Iraq.

We are fortunate in having a classroom in which it is possible to display WWW sites during lectures. This will allow for the integration of lectures, videos and WWW sites in our classroom sessions. As the course progresses WWW sites used in the classroom will be added to the appropriate week's reading on the syllabus provided below.

Course Requirements:

A midterm exam (essay)
Short paper using internet or library resources
A comprehensive final exam (essay)

Lectures, Videos and Internet Resources: Lectures, videos and internet resources are intended to provide a context for the assigned reading.

Other internet resources used in class will be entered on the internet syllabus soon after.

Exam and Due Dates:

Midterm: February 25
Short research paper: April 1
Final: May 4
Make-up exams can be arranged.

Grading:

Midterm exam, 35 %
Short paper, 30 %
Final exam, 35%

Texts/Assigned Readings:

Henry Boren, Roman Society
Chester Starr, The Roman Empire, 27 BC-AD 476
Additional readings in ancient sources are noted in the assignments below.
As appropriate on the listing below WWW links are provided to original sources in translation which enhance the assigned and recommended readings.

Lectures and Assignments

Week of January 12: Early Rome: Foundation and Institutions

Readings: Boren Ch. 1; Livy Bk.1 (recommended)
Lecture sites: Language Map of Italy ; Western Mediterranean/Resources

Week of January 19: The Roman State in Italy

Readings: Boren Ch. 2 and 3
Lecture sites: Map of Italy c. 380 BC; War Elephant

Week of January 25: Rome and the Carthaginian Empire

Readings: Boren Ch. 4; Polybius 2. 18-24 (handout)
Lecture sites: Servian Wall; Appian Way; Institute for Phoenician and Punic Civ.; Classical Atlas
Battle of Trasimene; Carthage in 3rd Century, BCE

Week of February 1: Conquests in the Mediterranean Basin

Readings: Boren Ch.5; Polybius, Bk.6
Lecture sites: Roman Legion; Roman Army Bibliography

Week of February 8: The Consequences of Empire

Readings: Boren Ch. 6; Plutarch,Ti. Gracchus (rec.)
Lecture sites: Romans and Death

Week of February 15: Transition from Republic to Empire

Readings: Boren Chs.7 and 8; Cicero, Against Catiline or Caesar, The Gallic Wars (rec.)

Week of February 22: Augustus

Readings: Boren Ch.9; Augustus, Res Gestae (Deeds of the Divine Augustus)

February 25: Mid-Term Exam

Week of March 1: The First Emperors

Readings: Starr Chs. 1-3; Recommended: Suetonius, Claudius or Tacitus, Annals Bks.11-13
Lecture Sites: Map and Model of Rome, University of Caens; Mausoleum of Augustus

Week of March 8: The Emperor and the Army

Readings: Boren Ch.10; Suetonius, Vespasian or Tacitus, Histories, selections

(March 8: Mid-Term Rosters Due)

Week of March 15: Spring Break

Week of March 22: The Administration of the Roman Empire

Readings: Starr Ch. 4; selected documents [availablity TBA]

Week of March 29: The Roman Peace: Accommodation

Readings: Starr Ch. 5; Tacitus, Agricola or Josephus, The Jewish War, selections

April 1: Paper Due

Week of April 5: The Roman Peace: Defense

Readings: Starr Ch.6; Tacitus, Agricola or Josephus, The Jewish War, selections
Lecture Sites: Limes The Roman frontier in Germany (page from a useful project by high-school students from the Graf-Zeppelin Gymnasium; site hosted by the Zentrale für Unterrichtsmedien im Internet e.V.)

Week of April 12: Roman Society and Government in the late 2nd Century CE

Readings: Boren Ch.11 and 12

Week of April 19: Crisis and Change in the 3rd -4th Centuries CE

Readings: Boren Ch.13; Starr Ch. 7; Athanasius, Life of St. Antony (rec)

Week of April 26: The Decline of the Roman Empire

Readings: Boren Ch.14; Starr Ch. 8

May 4: Final Exam, GY 126, 12:30-2:30