Course syllabus
ANCHIST 103: Roman History
Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Lisa Bailey
206-808 (Room 808, Humanities Building)
Tutors:
Ashley Flavell
Nova Petrechko
Lectures are held every Monday 11-12 and Tuesday 12-1
Tutorials begin in week 2 and are an essential component of the course.
Texts:
Required readings for this course are supplied in the coursereader and in the textbook: M.T. Boatwright, D.J. Gargola, N. Lenski and R.J.A. Talbert. The Romans: from Village to Empire: A History of Rome from the Earliest Times to the End of the Western Empire. Second edition, New York, NY, Oxford University Press, 2012. [hereafter The Romans] Both are available from UBS.
Assessment:
The structure of this course is: Coursework 50%
2 hour Exam 50%
Coursework consists of:
Essay 25% (1500 words) – due 4pm, September 7th
Source critique 15% (1000 words) – due 4pm, October 12th
Tutorial assignments 10% - due in tutorial in weeks 3, 4, and 5
Every element of the coursework and exam is compulsory. If you do not complete it, you will automatically lose that percentage of your overall mark.
Course objectives:
This course is designed as an introduction to the history of Rome and the Roman people. Lectures and readings cover material from the legendary foundations of the city in 753 BCE to the end of the empire in the fifth century CE, but the focus of the course is on the Republican and early Imperial periods. Topics covered include: the origin myths of the city and its inhabitants, the development and challenges of Republican government, the spread of Roman power through Italy and the Mediterranean world, the changes to Roman culture, society and economy which resulted from this power, the breakdown of the Republic and establishment of an imperial system and the environments and experiences of some of the people who lived in Rome and its empire throughout this period. Because the course covers such a broad historical period, the focus is on giving an overall sense of changes and developments, rather than a detailed narrative. More in-depth analysis of specific periods can be undertaken at stages 2 and 3. Because this is a stage one course, you will also be instructed in some of the skills necessary for doing ancient history at University level. Tutorials will discuss course materials, but also focus on how to use both primary and secondary texts in a critical manner, how to formulate and produce an historical argument, how to reference sources correctly and how to prepare for and do well in exams. Both coursework and exam work will evaluate these skills, in addition to your knowledge of the subject matter.
Class Schedule:
Week One
24 July: Introduction to course
25 July: Early Rome – guest lecture by Dr Jeremy Armstrong
No tutorial this week
Week Two
31 July: The origins of the Republic
1 Aug: How did the Roman Republic work?
Tutorial: Introductions/ How do we do ancient history?
Read: Anthony Kamm and Abigail Graham., ‘A Note on Ancient Sources’; The Romans, chapter 1
Watch: Prof. Christopher Smith talking about the Lapis Niger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SBhchFXlGg
Week Three
7 Aug: The spread of Roman power in Italy
8 Aug: Rome and Carthage
Tutorial: What is our evidence?/ Tutorial assignment 1 due
Read: The Romans, chapter 2
Week Four
14 Aug: Hannibal
15 Aug: The spread of Roman power to the east
Tutorial: How do we find good resources?/ Tutorial assignment 2 due
Read: The Romans, chapter 3
Week Five
21 Aug: Rome in the second century BCE
22 Aug: The Gracchi
Tutorial: How do we make an argument?/ Tutorial assignment 3 due
Read: The Writing Center at UNC, ‘Argument’: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/argument/
The Romans, chapter 4-5
Week Six
28 Aug: The rise of the warlords: Marius and Sulla
29 Aug: Julius Caesar
Tutorial: Essay writing workshop
Read: The Romans, chapters 6-7
Mid-semester break
Essay due 4pm September 7th
Week Seven
18 Sept: Slaves and Slavery
19 Sept: Entertainment
Tutorial: Slavery
Read: Select sources on slavery
Week Eight
25 Sept: The rise of Octavian
26 Sept: The Augustan settlement
Tutorial: Antony and Cleopatra
Read: Cicero, Lucan, Plutarch; The Romans, chapter 8
Week Nine
2 Oct: Augustan literature - guest lecture by Christian Robertson
3 Oct: The Julio-Claudians I
Tutorial: Augustus
Read: Res gestae, Velleius Paterculus, Tacitus; The Romans, chapter 9
Week Ten
9 Oct: The Julio-Claudians II
10 Oct: Women and the Family
Tutorial: Nero
Read: Suetonius on Nero; The Romans, chapter 10
Source critique due 4pm October 12th
Week Eleven
16 Oct: The spread of Roman power to the West
17 Oct: From glory to crisis
Tutorial: Exam workshop
Read:The Romans, chapters 11-12
Week Twelve
23 Oct: No lecture due to Labour Day
24 Oct: Christians, barbarians and the end of empire
No tutorials this week. Question and answer sessions will be scheduled instead.
Read: The Romans, chapters 13-14
Coursework details:
Tutorial assignments:
Tutorial assignments are due in your tutorial in the weeks specified in the schedule above. They come early in the course and help you to develop some of the basic skills you will need for later assessments. They will form the basis for the work you will do in tutorials that week, which is why they are tied to attendance. If you are unable to attend your regular tutorial, please attend one of the other tutorials in that week (all times and locations are listed in SSO). Tutorial assignments can only be submitted outside of tutorials if you have compelling personal or medical reasons why you cannot attend. Please contact your tutor as soon as possible if this is the case. They are collectively worth 10% of your course grade.
Tutorial assignment 1:
Identify an ancient source which describes Roman expansion into Italy. Who wrote it? When was it written? Where do you think they got their information from? (max. 200 words)
Tutorial assignment 2:
Make a list of 5 reliable websites on Roman history and 5 unreliable ones.
Tutorial assignment 3:
Write an introduction for one of the essay questions which sets out an argument.
I suggest that you choose the essay question you intend to write on, in order to practice, but you don’t have to. (200-250 words)
Essays:
Essays and source critiques should be typed, 1 ½ spaced, and submitted electronically via Canvas/ Turnitin, by 4pm on the stated due date. Please also generate and upload essay cover sheets from Canvas to comply with university requirements. Further details will be provided closer to the due date.
Essay bibliographies will be provided on Course Reading Lists on the Canvas page. I will also provide an essay guide on Canvas – this provides further instructions and sets out the required referencing style.
Choose one of the following questions:
- Harriet Flower has argued that the first two centuries of Republican rule in Rome (c. 509- 300 BCE) were marked by ongoing political experimentation. Why did the political system undergo so many changes during this period? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the governmental forms which eventually emerged?
- What do Livy and Polybius pinpoint as the causes of the Second Punic War? Why should historians treat their interpretations with caution?
- What were the main drivers behind Roman warfare and the expansion of their power? Discuss with reference EITHER to Roman expansion in the Italian peninsula OR Roman expansion in the East.
- Why were some Romans in the second century BCE so worried about the cultural consequences of eastern expansion, new religious forms and the behaviour of their elite men and women? Did they see these as connected problems?
- ‘He split the state in two, thus paving the way for personal supremacy... he opened the gates to anarchy and mutiny.’ Diodorus Siculus blamed Gaius Gracchus for the political chaos at the end of the second century BCE and first half of the first. Why did later sources blame the Gracchi brothers in this way? Is the accusation fair?
Source critique:
Choose one of the extracts which will be provided in a list on Canvas. The extracts will all be taken from set readings in weeks 7-10 and will be discussed in the tutorials for those weeks
Answer the following questions:
-How is the perspective of the author represented in this source?
-What is the genre of this source and how does that affect what it says?
-Why should a historian be cautious in using this source as evidence?
-What useful information can a historian take from this source?
1000 words. Due 4pm October 12th
Extensions and late policy for source critiques and essays
Extensions will be granted only by prior arrangement and only in cases of serious illness or other incident. Be prepared to supply supporting documentation. Late coursework will be penalised 5% the first day and 2% each day thereafter (including weekends/ public holidays). Essays and source critiques will not be marked if submitted more than two weeks after the due date without an extension.
Resources
Tuakana programme
The tuakana mentor for Classics and Ancient History is Mia-Mae Stevens-Taitimu (mste856@aucklanduni.ac.nz). Maori and Pasifika students are welcome to use the Tuia space in 206-308 and Mia-Mae will have designated hours there which will be advertised at the start of the semester.
Library
The Classics and Ancient History subject librarian, Mark Hangartner (m.hangartner@
auckland.ac.nz) is available for assistance in researching essays and finding useful resources. The library also runs a series of sessions at the beginning of the semester, designed to familiarise students with how the library works. All new students are strongly encouraged to attend one of these sessions.
Student Learning Centre
The Student Learning Centre facilitates the acquisition of effective academic learning and performance skills in students. It is NOT just for struggling students, but for anyone wanting to improve their grades or learn new study skills. It offers a series of workshops throughout the year, as well as one-on-one appointments with tutors. The SLC is located on the third floor of the Information Commons, phone: 373 7599 ext. 88850, email: slc@auckland.ac.nz, website: http://cad.auckland.ac.nz/index.php?p=slc
Websites
There are many unscholarly or untrustworthy websites. Unless the site is sponsored by a university, or some other reputable scholarly organisation, its contents should be treated with great scepticism and SHOULD NOT BE CITED IN ESSAYS. Most published scholarly works are refereed, that is, read by others in the field before publication, to make sure that that are of good quality and the information in them is correct. Most information on the web is not refereed and you have no guarantee that it is correct. Authors of webpages may know less about the subject than you do. If you cite something in your essay which is wrong, you will be the one held accountable for poor judgement. If you refer to a website you should give the full link, but also, where possible, the name of the author of the site and his/ her affiliations (e.g. is the website part of a University site?).
Course summary:
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