History 222, Hellenistic Greece and Republican Rome

Course Description: Since throughout the Hellenistic period of the Mediterranean and Near East people collectively worshipped the cult of powerful individuals, it seems appropriate to approach this time and place by studying individuals. From Alexander the Great to Gaius Octavius (alias Augustus) we are presented with an astonishing string of megalomaniacal imperialists. It is only in this context that Rome's meteoric rise to prominence becomes comprehensible, and in this context that we can understand the decline of republican values that left autocratic rule of the whole empire in the hands of Alexander's highly self-conscious imitator, Julius Caesar. Therefore this course will concentrate on three topics: the tactics and careers of the most powerful and influential individuals; the biographical historiography arising around them; and the historical forces that led to and sustained such an autocratic period.

Requirements: The following will be required of all students taking the course:

• attend classes with a look of intense intellectual curiosity
• complete all the assigned reading carefully taking notes and thinking about the inherent issues
• read Walbank/Scullard and take a test on the basic background
• write out a developed problem with the reading for the day (for discussion days)
• contribute thoughtfully to class discussion
• demonstrate the fruits of reading, thought and discussion in the midterm and final exams
• complete one of the following projects (original work is required here):
  • 10 page research paper.
  • 10 page narrative from an ancient perspective.
  • 5 page critical review of a scholarly book (requires instructor's approval).
  • 5 page critical review of The First Man in Rome (or substantial historical novel approved by the instructor).

Grading:

• Test: 10%
• Class Participation: 20%
• Midterm: 20%
• Project: 30%
• Final: 20%

Schedule:

1. (January 10) Introduction to the Course (Intro Photos).
2. (January 12) Review of Mediterranean Geography (comparative maps) [read Walbank chapters 2 and 3]
3. (January 14) Review of Civilization Before Greece [read Walbank chapters 6, 8 and 11]
4. (January 17) Review Greek History [read Scullard chapters II and IV]
5. (January 19) Review of Hellenistic/Roman History [read Scullard chapters VI, XI, and XIII]
6. (January 21) Test on Background Information
7. (January 24) Greek Historiography: the tradition of historical self-consciousness from Herodotus to Polybius [read the prefaces to Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon's Cyropaedia, and Polybius on electronic reserve]
8. (January 26) Lecture: Philip of Macedon and his Precedents
9. (January 28) Demosthenes, Isocrates and the Greek Debate on Macedonian imperialism [read Demosthenes' Second Phillipic and Isocrates' to Philip on electronic reserve]
10. (January 31) Alexander the Great: consolidation of power [read Plutarch's life of Alexander]
11. (February 2) Alexander the Great: military campaigns [lecture]
12. (February 4) Alexander the Great: tactics [read Engels on electronic reserve]
13. (February 7) Alexander the Great: world "Hellenization" [prepare to discuss the Hellenistic dream of unification (see esp. Walbank pp. 60-78; 209-226 and Plutarch's life of Alexander]
14. (February 9) Alexander the Great: "corruption" and death [read Arrian on electronic reserve]
15. (February 11) Alexander's Followers: Demetrius [read Plutarch's Demetrius]
16. (February 14) Lecture: Ethnicity in the Hellenistic Period
17. (February 16) Antiochus and Conflict with the Jews: read 2 Macabees
18. (February 18) Midterm
19. (February 21) Origins of Rome [read Livy from beginning to the death of Tullus -- pp. 29-69 in the Penguin, and Dionysius Halicarnassus on electronic reserve]
20. (February 23) Lucretia and the Birth of the Republic [read Livy to the end of book one -- pp. 69-104 in the Penguin]
21. (February 25) Camillus and the Second Founding of Rome [read Plutarch's life of Camillus]
22. (February 28) Lecture: Roman Origins and Myth
23. (March 2) Rome and its early Allies: the Latin Revolt [read Livy 8.1-14 on electronic reserve]
24. (March 4) Pyrrhic War [read Livy's epitome 12-14 on electronic reserve and Plutarch's Pyrrhus]
25. (March 14) The first Punic War [read Polybius 1.11-64 on electronic reserve]
26. (March 16) Library Research Day [no class meeting]
27. (March 18) The Second Punic War [read Polybius's and Livy's accounts of the Battle of Cannae on electronic reserve]
28. (March 21) Marcellus and the Assault of Syracuse [read Plutarch's Marcellus]
29. (March 23) Lecture: Hellenistic Scientific Achievements ( photos)
30. (March 25) Flamininus and Roman Greece [read Plutarch's Flamininus]
31. (March 28) The Gracchi, Land Reform, and Violence [read Plutarch's Tiberius Gracchus]
32. (March 30) {PROJECT DUE} Lecture: Summary of the Roman Constitution and its Development
33. (April 1) Scipio Aemilianus: the poisoning [read Astin, Cicero and Appian on electronic reserve]
34. (April 4) Lecture: Marius and Military Reform
35. (April 6) Sulla Rebuilds the Republic [read Plutarch's Sulla]
36. (April 8) Lecture: Pompey and Maius Imperium
37. (April 11) Caesar, Dicatator for Life [read Caesar and Suetonius' Life of Caesar ]
38. (April 13) Marc Antony and the Civil War [read Plutarch's Marc Antony]
39. (April 15) Cleopatra and the End of Macedonian Rule in Egypt [read Horace Odes 1.37]
40. (April 18) Lecture: Gaius Octavius and a New Peace (photos)
41. (April 20) The Breakdown of the Roman Republic and dawn of the empire (lecture/discussion)
42. (April 22) Review for Final Exam (optional)
43. (April 28) Final Exam (2 PM)

Texts:

• H.H. Scullard, A History of the Roman World 753-146.
• F.W. Walbank, The Hellenistic World.
• Livy, The Early History of Rome.
• Plutarch, Parallel Lives.
• Stevenson, course pack available on electronic reserve for this course.
• [recommended: C. Scarre, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome]

Attendance: Since class participation is a significant graded percentage of this course, each class a student misses will detract from this grade. Several absences will not do permanent damage, but more than 8 (out of 42 meetings -- i.e. almost 20%) will be serious.

Honor Policy: Like any academic work at UR all work done for this course falls under the honor code. If you have any doubt what constitutes "unauthorized assistance," please come and talk to the instructor before trying it.

N.B. The instructor does not allow make up tests under any circumstances, nor does he accept late work.

last modified 1-6-2011