Classic Rome: 1st centuries BC and AD;Written work, and to a certain extent also the final exam, meriting the grade of “A” (excellent) must: • address the assigned question or topic directly and intelligently; • demonstrate a careful and considered readi

Okay so my teacher is BRILLIANT. He has been on BBC and wants us to write a paper on anything regarding Classic Rome in 1st centuries BC and AD. I will attach my notes of the assignment (very vague and open-ended) and the course syllabus as well.

I was thinking about writing about Mark Antony’s relationship and political association with Cleopatra and how it was mainly for his own political gain. My teacher also considers Caesar a crook of a statesman so it could NOT be about how great Caesar is unless it compares various author’s opinions and then ends on confirming how corrupt he was. In the syllabus are all of the readings we talked about in class along with all of the topics he explored. ALL of these topics can be used for a paper.

“Final grade assessments will be based on the combination of two exams, one mid-term and one final, and one essay (6-8 pages) concerning a topic of free choice and based on primary sources and secondary literature. A small percentage of the students’ grade will be derived from attendance and participation.

As far as the essay is concerned, it is strongly recommended to start thinking of a suitable topic, including (some of) the appropriate material, right at the beginning of the course.

Information MUST under all circumstances be cited. Plagiarism of any sort will result in a grade of “F” for the assignment, or, depending on the level, perhaps even for the entire course.

ESSAY GRADING AND EXAM GRADING SCALE

Written work, and to a certain extent also the final exam, meriting the grade of “A” (excellent) must:

• address the assigned question or topic directly and intelligently;
• demonstrate a careful and considered reading of the texts at hand;
• present a lucid thesis and a persuasive argument in its defense;
• use correct grammar, punctuation, and sentence construction;
• make ample and appropriate use of quotations from the texts;
• weave together thesis and argument, quotations and interpretations;
• reveal thoughtfulness, originality, and insight.”

In meeting with him he specified further for what he is looking for:
Final Paper
• 6-8 pages
• Minimum 3 sources but ideal is 5
• Weave opinions throughout the paper
• Three different author’s opinions
– Anything throughout the time period of our course

The Syllabus in Regard to What we Covered During Each Class:

COURSE PROGRAM

Week 1: Ab Vrbe condita… From the beginning!

Week 2: Hannibal and the elephants… Devastating effects of the Second Punic War?

• Mackay 2014, chapter 1.
• John W. Rich, ‘The origins of the Second Punic War’, in Tim J. Cornell, Boris Rankov, and Philip Sabin (eds.), The Second Punic War: a Reappraissal (London, 1996), pp. 1-37.
• Tim J. Cornell, ‘Hannibal’s Legacy: the effects of the Hannibalic War on Italy’, in Tim J. Cornell, Boris Rankov, and Philip Sabin (eds.), The Second Punic War: a Reappraissal (London, 1996), pp. 97-117.
• Stephen L. Dyson, Community and Society in Roman Italy (Baltimore/London, 1992), pp. 23-55.

Week 3: Brothers in arms… The Gracchi and Gaius Marius

• Mackay 2014, chs. 2; 4.
• David Stockton, The Gracchi (Oxford, 1979), pp. 1-5; 58-86. 
• Peter A. Brunt, ‘The army and the land in the Roman revolution’, in Peter A. Brunt, The Fall of the Roman Republic and Related Essays (Oxford, 1988), pp. 240-280.

Week 4: The Social War and the ‘Great Dictator’…

• Mackay 2014, chs. 7; 11.
• Peter A. Brunt, ‘Italian aims at the time of the Social War’, in Peter A. Brunt, The Fall of the Roman Republic and Related Essays (Oxford, 1988), pp. 93-143.
• Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford, 1939), pp. 10-27.
• Erich S. Gruen, The Last Generation of the Roman Republic (Berkeley and London, 1974), pp. 6-46.

Week 5: Pirates of the Mediterranean… The rise and fall of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus

• Mackay 2014, chs. 12-13.
• R. Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford, 1939), pp. 28-46.
• E.S. Gruen, The Last Generation of the Roman Republic (Berkeley and London, 1974), pp. 83-120.
• Federico Santangelo, ‘Roman politics in the 70s B.C.: a story of reallignments?’, Journal of Roman Studies 104 (2014), pp. 1-27.

Week 6: Democracy ‘alla Romana’

• Quintus Cicero, Commentariolum Petitionis/Handbook on Campaigning for Office, transl. David Cherry, in: David Cherry (ed.), The Roman World. A Sourcebook (Oxford, 2001), pp. 107-18.
• Mackay 2009, pp. 229-51.
• Christian Habicht, Cicero the Politician (Baltimore and London, 1990), pp. 16-52.
• Fergus G.B. Millar, ‘Popular politics at Rome in the Late Republic’, in Irad Malkin and Zeev W. Rubinsohn (eds.), Leaders and Masses in the Roman World: Studies in Honor of Zvi Yavetz (Leiden, 1995), pp. 91-113. Reprinted in Fergus G.B. Millar, Rome, the Greek World, and the East, vol. 1, The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution. Edited by Hannah M. Cotton and Guy M. Rogers (Chapel Hill and London, 2002), pp. 162-182.
• Andrew J.E. Bell, ‘Cicero and the spectacle of power’, Journal of Roman Studies 87 (1997), pp. 1-22.
• Karl-Joachim Hölkeskamp, ‘The Roman Republic: government of the people, by the people, for the people?’, Scripta Classica Israelica 19 (2000), pp. 203-233.

Week 7: ‘Beware the Ides of March’… That’s what he said!

• Mackay 2014, chs. 19-20.
• Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford, 1939), pp. 47-77.
• Stefan G. Chrissanthos, ‘Caesar and the mutiny of 47 B.C.’, Journal of Roman Studies 91 (2001), pp. 63-75.
• Llewelyn Morgan, ‘“Levi quidem de re…” Julius Caesar as tyrant and pedant’, Journal of Roman Studies 87 (1997), pp. 23-40.
• Andrew Lintott, ‘The assassination’, in Miriam Griffin (ed.), A Companion to Julius Caesar (Chichester, 2009), pp. 72-82.
• Elizabeth Rawson, ‘Caesar’s heritage: Hellenistic kings and their Roman equals’, Journal of Roman Studies 65 (1975), pp. 148-159.

Week 8: Three men… and a little empire!

• Mackay 2014, chs. 21-22.
• Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford, 1939), pp. 227-258. 
• Paul Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Transl. by A. Shapiro (Ann Arbor, 1988), pp. 33-77.
• John E. Lendon, Empire of Honour. The Art of Government in the Roman World (Oxford, 1997; reprinted in 2001), pp. 160-172.

Week 9: Platform heels… Augustus!

• Mackay 2014, ch. 23.
• Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford, 1939), pp. 313-330; 349-368.
• Erich S. Gruen, ‘Augustus and the making of the Principate’, in Karl Galinsky (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge, 2005), pp. 33-51.
• Diana E.E. Kleiner, ‘Semblance and storytelling in Augustan Rome’, in Karl Galinsky (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge, 2005), pp. 197-231.
• Karl Galinsky, ‘Vergil’s Aeneid and Ovid’s Metamorphoses as world literature’, in Karl Galinsky (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge, 2005), pp. 340-358.

Week 10: “I found a city in brick…” Augustus, part deux!

• Mackay 2014, ch. 24.
• Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford, 1939), pp. 369-386.
• Diane Favro, ‘Making Rome a world city’, in Karl Galinsky (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge, 2005), pp. 234-263.
• Paul Zanker, The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Transl. by A. Shapiro (Ann Arbor, 1988), pp. 101-165.

Week 11: RES GESTAE DIVI AUGUSTI… Augustus, one more time! Sorry!

• Res gestae divi Augusti. Text, Translation, and Commentary by Alison E. Cooley (Cambridge, 2009), pp. 58-101.
• Fergus G.B. Millar, ‘State and subject: the impact of monarchy’, in Fergus G.B. Millar and Erich Segal (eds.), Caesar Augustus. Seven Aspects (Oxford, 1984), pp. 37-60.
• Greg Woolf, ‘Provincial perspectives’, in Karl Galinsky (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge, 2005), pp. 106-129.
• Susan Treggiari, ‘Women in the time of Augustus’, in Karl Galinsky (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge, 2005), pp. 130-147.
• Andrew Wallace Hadrill, ‘Family and inheritance in the Augustan marriage laws’, Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society, n.s. 27 (1981), pp. 58-80.

Week 12: It’s all in the family… After Augustus!

• Mackay 2014, ‘Epilogue’.
• Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution (Oxford, 1939), pp. 419-439.
• Barbara Levick, Claudius (London, 1990), pp. 81-114.
• Anthony A. Barrett, Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire (London, 1999), pp. 143-180.

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