History 330, Hellenistic Greece and Republican Rome

Course Description: Since the Hellenistic period of the Mediterranean and Near East collectively worshipped at the cult of powerful individuals, it seems appropriate to approach it 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
• write a detailed and persuasive essay for the midterm and final
• 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.

Grading:

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

Schedule:

1. (January 15) Introduction to the Course.
2. (January 17) Review of Mediterranean Geography [read Walbank]
3. (January 19) Review of Essential Names [read Walbank]
4. (January 22) Review of the Period's Dateline[read Scullard]
5. (January 24) Lecture on Mediterranean before Alexander [read Scullard]
6. (January 26) Test on Background Information
7. (January 29) Greek Historiography: the tradition of historical self-consciousness from Herodotus to Polybius [read the prefaces to Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon's Cyropaedia, and Polybius in the coursepack]
8. (January 31) Lecture: Philip of Macedon and his Precedents
9. (February 2) Demosthenes, Isocrates and the Greek Debate on Macedonian imperialism [read Demosthenes' Second Phillipic and Isocrates' to Philip in the coursepack]
10. (February 5) Alexander the Great: consolidation of power [read Plutarch's life of Alexander] (see multiple links on Alexander here)]
11. (February 7) Alexander the Great: military campaigns [lecture -- see web page on Alexander]
12. (February 9) Alexander the Great: tactics [read Engels in the coursepack]
13. (February 12) 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 14) Alexander the Great: "corruption" and death [read Arrian in the coursepack]
15. (February 16) Alexander's Followers: Demetrius [read Plutarch's Demetrius]
16. (February 19) Lecture: Ethnicity in the Hellenistic Period
17. (February 21) Antiochus and Conflict with the Jews [read 2 Macabees in the coursepack]
18. (February 23) Lecture: Hellenistic Scientific Achievements
19. (February 26) Midterm
20. (February 28) Origins of Rome [read Livy from beginning to the death of Tullus -- pp. 33-69 in the Penguin, and Dionysius Halicarnassus in the course pack]
21. (March 2) Lucretia and the Birth of the Republic [read Livy to the end of book one -- pp. 69-101 in the Penguin]
22. (March 5) Camillus and the Second Founding of Rome [read Plutarch's life of Camillus]
23. (March 7) Lecture: Roman Origins and Myth
24. (March 9) Rome and its early Allies: the Latin Revolt [read Livy 8.1-14 in the coursepack]
25. (March 19) Lecture: Origins of Carthage and Rise to Power
26. (March 21) Pyrrhic War [read Livy's epitome 12-14 in the coursepack and Plutarch's Pyrrhus]
27. (March 23) The first Punic War [read Polybius 1.11-64 in the coursepack]
28. (March 26) The Second Punic War [read battle accounts in the coursepack]
29. (March 28) Marcellus and the Assault of Syracuse [read Plutarch's Marcellus]
30. (March 30) Flamininus and Roman Greece [read Plutarch's Flamininus]
31. (April 2) The Gracchi, Land Reform, and Violence [read Plutarch's Tiberius Gracchus]
32. (April 4) {PROJECT DUE} Lecture: Summary of the Roman Constitution and its Development
33. (April 6) Scipio Aemilianus: the poisoning [read Astin, Cicero and Appian in the coursepack]
34. (April 9) Lecture: Marius and Military Reform
35. (April 11) Sulla Rebuilds the Republic [read Plutarch's Sulla]
36. (April 13) Lecture: Pompey and Maius Imperium
37. (April 16) Caesar, Dicatator for Life [read Caesar and Suetonius in coursepack]
38. (April 18) Marc Antony and the Civil War [read Plutarch's Marc Antony]
39. (April 20) Cleopatra and the End of Macedonian Rule in Egypt [read Horace in the coursepack]
40. (April 23) Lecture: Gaius Octavius and a New Peace
41. (April 25) The Breakdown of the Roman Republic and dawn of the empire

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, xeroxed course pack available in the campus bookstore.
• [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 2-27-2001