History 331, The Rise of the Roman Empire

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 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 The First Man in Rome.
  • World Wide Web page on a topic in the course.

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 Walbank]
5. (January 24) Lecture on Mediterranean before Alexander [read Walbank]
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 Macedon [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]
11. (February 7) Alexander the Great: military campaigns [lecture]
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 and Plutarch's 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 in the coursepack]
16. (February 19) Lecture: Alexandria
17. (February 21) Antiochus and Conflict with the Jews [read 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]
21. (March 1) Lucretia and the Birth of the Republic [read Livy to the end of book one -- pp. 69-101 in the Penguin]
22. (March 4) Camillus and the Second Founding of Rome [read Plutarch's life of Camillus]
23. (March 6) Lecture: Roman Origins and Myth
24. (March 8) Lecture: Origins of Carthage and Rise to Power
25. (March 18) Rome and its early Allies: the Latin Revolt [read Livy in the coursepack]
26. (March 20) Pyrrhic War [read Livy and Plutarch's Pyrrhus in the coursepack]
27. (March 22) The first Punic War [read Polybius in the coursepack]
28. (March 25) The Second Punic War [read battle accounts in the coursepack]
29. (March 27) Marcellus and the Assault of Syracuse [read Plutarch's Marcellus]
30. (March 29) Flamininus and Roman Greece [read Plutarch's Flamininus]
31. (April 1) The Gracchi, Land Reform, and Violence [read Plutarch's Tiberius Gracchus]
32. (April 3) {PROJECT DUE} Lecture: Summary of the Roman Constitution and its Development
33. (April 5) Scipio Aemilianus: the poisoning [read selections in the coursepack]
34. (April 8) Lecture: Marius and Military Reform
35. (April 10) Sulla Rebuilds the Republic [read Plutarch's Sulla]
36. (April 12) Lecture: Pompey and Maius Imperium
37. (April 15) Caesar, Dicatator for Life [read Caesar and Suetonius in coursepack]
38. (April 17) Marc Antony and the Civil War [read Plutarch's Marc Antony]
39. (April 19) Cleopatra and the End of Macedonian Rule in Egypt [read Horace in the coursepack]
40. (April 22) Lecture: Gaius Octavius and a New Peace
41. (April 24) The Breakdown of the Roman Republic and dawn of the empire

Texts:

• F.W. Walbank, The Hellenistic World.
• Livy, The Early History of Rome.
• Plutarch, Parallel Lives.
• Stevenson, xeroxed course pack available in the campus bookstore.

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

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