Classics 044: The Early Roman Empire

*Note: This is an old document. Many of the links are broken.*
Instructor:

John Bauschatz
Time/Location: M/W/F, 9:30-10:20; Science Center 105
Contact Info:

Office: Trotter 104
Phone: (610) 957-6168 (office); (610) 328-0424 (home)
email: jbausch1@email.arizona.edu

OVERVIEW

Classics 044 provides a detailed overview of the political, economic, social and cultural  history of the Roman world from the fall of the Republic through the Antonine Age (50 B.C.-A.D. 192). We will explore our subject through the lens of the modern historian as well as those of the Greek and Latin authors of the Roman Republic and Empire, chiefly prose writers and poets; but we will also employ documentary texts (inscriptions, tablets, papyri), archaeological remains, artwork and other types of material culture (coins, funerary items, potsherds) to obtain a well-rounded view of the Romans and their subjects.

PREREQUISITES

None.

READINGS

The course text is The Roman World: 44 B.C.-A.D. 180, by Martin Goodman (Routledge, 1997). This will be available in the bookstore, but you may be able to find used copies for less elsewhere: amazon - Barnes & Noble - abe Books.

There are a number of additional readings for this course, all of which will be available electronically: see the course schedule (below) for details. The following texts are general reference works useful for classicists and ancient historians and can be found locally, most in McCabe and/or the Classics Seminar Room (Trotter 115). They may prove helpful starting points for supplementary research (i.e., papers):

  • S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (eds.), The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.) (Oxford, 2003). McCabe Reference: DE5.O9 2003; Seminar Room.
  • The Cambridge Ancient History (3rd ed.) (London, 1970-2000). McCabe Reference: D57.C25 1970.
  • Loeb Classical Library. Translations of most major works by ancient Greek and Roman authors. Greek works are green, Latin works red. Copies of most authors available in the Seminar Room; fuller run in McCabe (search by author or title).
  • T.J. Luce, ed., Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome. 2 Vols. (New York, 1982). McCabe Reference: PA 3002.A5 vols. 1 and 2.
  • M. Grant and R. Kitzinger, eds., Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean. Greece and Rome. 3 vols. (New York, 1988). McCabe Reference: DE59.C55 1988 vols. 1-3.
  • L. Adkins and R.A. Adkins, A Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome (New York, 1994). McCabe: DG77.A35 1994. I will place this on reserve.

GRADING

Grading for the course will be based on the following breakdown:

  • Attendance/Participation (20%): How often you come to class and how enthusiastically you participate in class discussions. To a certain degree this course operates like a seminar: I provide readings and lectures as a framework, you provide the discussion. In addition to daily discussion, each student will also deliver a more formal presentation on their final paper topic during the last week of class. Please attend class sessions. I will not take attendance, but I will keep an eye out for regular absences and reserve the right to arbitrarily deduct points from those who choose to cut.

  • Quizzes (20%): Short quizzes (ca 5 minutes in length) on reading assignments will happen at least once per week. These are not intended to be difficult, but rather to keep you on track with the course readings. In addition to the regular reading quizzes, there will be a more substantial (ca 15 minutes) map quiz on Monday, January 23.

  • Short Papers (15%): Three 2-to-3-page papers based on course readings and lectures will be assigned. These are exercises in analytical thinking and will require minimal additional research and/or reading. The topics for each paper will be posted here within two weeks of each due date. The first short paper is due at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 24; the second at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 24; and the third at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 14. Late papers will lose one letter grade for each day late.

  • Hour Exam (20%): There will be 1 class-length exam in this course. It will occur on Monday, February 6 and will cover all material read and discussed in the first part of the course. Do not miss the exam.

  • Long Paper (25%): In lieu of a final exam, students will select a topic of their own choosing and write a term paper of ca 15 (and no less than 10) pages. This is a research paper and will require additional readings in both ancient and modern literature. All students must clear their topics with me before beginning work. I will not accept papers on topics that have not been approved. The long paper is due by 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 13. No late papers will be accepted.

OTHER INFO

Surprise! Cheating is not allowed. If you cheat, and I find out, you will receive a grade of 0 for the assignment and be reported to the Office of the Deans. (See their policies on academic honesty.)

Office hours will be held whenever I am in my office. One can generally find me there between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., M-F. (A more detailed breakdown of when I will be available is posted outside my office door.) You are also welcome and encouraged to make an appointment to meet with me. Call, email or holler.

COURSE SCHEDULE

What follows is a sketch outline of the Spring semester. Nightly reading assignments are due on the dates specified. With the exception of the map quiz, quizzes will be not be announced in advance.

Most of the reading assignments are pdf files. To view/download them, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download available here).

Check this page often. Readings and assignments are subject to change. I'll try to give a heads-up in class if a major shake-up is imminent. I'll also try to have readings posted at least a week before the due date.

Part 1: History of the Early Roman Empire, 50 B.C.-A.D. 180

In the first section of the course we'll nail down the details: names, dates, places, institutions and events. A thorough understanding of the narrative history of the early Empire will provide a firm foundation for further study.

Week Monday Wednesday Friday
1

1/16 Introduction/Business

RECEIVE: condensed syllabus

start to memorize list of dates in Goodman, ppxx-xxi, for hour exam

SEE: map, Roman provinces

1/18 The Roman Empire: Sources, Evidence, Geography

READ:
Goodman, pp3-9
Crawford, Sources for Ancient History, choice of three essays: Epigraphy (57pp), Archaeology (48pp), or Numismatics (49pp); OR excerpts from New Papyrological Primer: pp1-5, 15-21, 42-44, 50-51, 55-65

SEE: manuscripts: Catullus; Quintus Curtius Rufus - inscriptions: Res Gestae of Augustus (Greek); inscription from Herculaneum - sites: Roman Forum; Cyrene, amphitheater - coins: Gaius (Caligula), sestertius; Otho, denarius - papyri: Greek papyrus from Antinoopolis (Egypt); carbonized papyrus roll (end), Herculaneum

RECEIVE: map of cities and provinces: memorize for map quiz on Monday

1/20 Back History: The Roman Republic

READ:
Karl Christ, The Romans chapters 1-3 (48pp)

SEE: map, early Rome - map, early Roman Republic (ca 500 BC) - later map - city of Rome, ca 500-100 BC - timeline, early/middle Republic - more general timeline - Romulus, Remus, she-wolf
2

1/23 The Late Republic

READ:
Goodman, pp10-27
Cicero, Letters to Atticus V.21-VII.9 (68pp; read ca 30pp of your choice)

SEE: Rome, 51 B.C. - Roman Empire, 60 B.C. - Cicero 1 - 2 - 3

Map Quiz

1/25 Caesar

READ:
Goodman, pp28-31
Caesar, Civil War III 41-104 (47pp)

SEE: Caesar 1 - 2 - 3 - Caesar, coin - Pompey 1 - 2 - Pompey, denarius - second triumvirate: Mark Antony, Octavian, Lepidus - Mark Antony, bust - Brutus, coin

1/27 Augustus

READ:
Goodman, pp31-46
Augustus, Res Gestae (12pp)
Augustan poets, selections: Horace, Odes I ii, III v, xiv, IV ii, iv, v, xiv, xv; Epodes 7, 9; Virgil, Eclogues 1, 4, 9; Aeneid VI 703-901 (45pp)

SEE: Augustus - coin, 31 B.C. (obverse) - coin (reverse) - temple of Augustus and Rome, Ankara (Turkey) -
Monumentum Ancyranum (containing Res gestae, Greek) - Monumentum Antiochenum (containing Res gestae, Latin) - mausoleum of Augustus, drawing - photo - photo, aerial - mausoleum map for context - Aeneas fleeing Troy, coin 1 - 2 - 3

3

1/30 Julio-Claudians

READ:
Goodman, pp47-57
Tacitus, Annals XII (32pp)

SEE: Julio-Claudian stemma -
Tiberius, statue - Villa of Tiberius, Capri - Gaius, sestertius - coin, Gaius and sisters - Claudius, statue - bust - Nero, boyhood statue - bust - coin, Nero and Agrippina - Domus Aurea of Nero, plan - house ruins - interior wall detail

2/1 Civil War, Flavians

READ:
Goodman, pp58-66
Suetonius, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian (36pp)

SEE: Galba, bust - Galba, as - Otho, bust - Otho, denarius - Vitellius, bust - Vitellius, denarius - Vespasian, bust - Vespasian, denarius - Titus, statue - denarius - Arch of Titus - Colosseum (Flavian amphitheater) - baths of Titus - baths, plan - Domitian, bust - statue - denarius - equestrian statue, bronze - coin - Domitian's palace, plan

2/3 Antonines

READ:
Goodman, pp67-77
Historia Augusta, Life of Hadrian (31pp)

SEE: Nerva, bust - Trajan, statue - column, full view - markets of Trajan - map, empire under Trajan - Hadrian, bust - Hadrian's villa, Tivoli (Italy): plan - Hadrian's tomb (Rome) - Antoninus Pius, bust - Temple of Antoninus Pius, Rome - Column of Antoninus Pius, base: apotheosis of Antoninus and Faustina - Marcus Aurelius, equestrian statue (Rome) - Column of Marcus Aurelius, Rome - Commodus, statue (as Hercules) - taunting Russel Crowe

Part 2: The State at Home and Abroad

In the second part of the course we'll examine the physical empire in all its variety. Our survey will take us from the city of Rome to the Italian countryside and into modern-day western and eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East: in essence, the four corners of the ancient world.
Week Monday Wednesday Friday
4

2/6 Hour Exam on Part 1

RECEIVE: short paper #1 topic: due on Friday, February 24 at 5 p.m.

2/8 The Emperor

READ:
Goodman, pp123-134
Zanker, Power of Images in the Age of Augustus, chapter 8 (37pp)

SEE: coins: Egypt captured (Caesar); Caesar assassinated (Brutus); Augustus, son of the divine Caesar; Augustus and the Roman standards recaptured; Nero and world peace established; Vitellius as chief priest; statues: Augustus in battle gear, with Cupid; Augustus as priest; Claudius as Jupiter; Nerva, equestrian statue (Gloucester, England: modern copy); Commodus as Hercules

2/10 Roman Bureaucracy

READ:
Goodman, pp87-99
Shelton, As the Romans Did, "Government in the Early Imperial Period" (pp231-242)

SEE: lictors (with rods) - senators - Titus: coin, consul and censor - Caesar, perpetual dictator coin - coin featuring praetor and praefectus urbi - Roman knight - jury trial
5

2/13 Provincial Government, Political Diversity

READ:
Goodman, pp100-112; 135-141
Pliny, Letters X (32pp)

SEE: Pliny, Renaissance statue - Bithynia - Bithynia, map with cities - Ephesus, plan - amphitheater - library - ad for whorehouse - Pergamum, theater - acropolis - acropolis, plan - Nicaea, ruins - more ruins - Claudiopolis , ruins - Apamea, main street - agora - Roman aqueduct, Byzantium (Istanbul) - Roman relief - Sinope, Roman ruins - Roman bridge

2/15 Italy and Sicily

READ:
Goodman, pp190-196
Juvenal, Satires 1, 3; 6, 7 (53pp total)

SEE: map, Italy and Sicily

2/17 The Western Mediterranean

READ:
Goodman, pp197-202
Strabo, Geography III (79pp; read 2 of the 5 main sections, or ca 30pp total)

SEE: map, Roman Spain - map, the world according to Strabo
6

2/20 France and Britain

READ:
Goodman, pp203-216
Tacitus, Agricola (45pp)

SEE: map, northern Gaul - Gaul, cutural map - map, Roman Britain - map 2 - Hadrian's wall (Britain), map - map, detail - Wall, 1 - Wall, 2

2/22 The Rhineland and the Balkans

READ:
Goodman, pp217-228
Tacitus, Germania (41pp)

SEE: Roman Germany, map 1 - map 2 - map: expansion into Dacia (see arrows) - map, Dacia: detail

2/24 Greece and the Aegean coast

READ:
Goodman, pp229-236
Pausanias, Description of Greece I.1-30 (84pp; read ca 30pp of your choice)

SEE: map, Aegean region - aerial - Athenian agora - Athens, detail map

Short paper #1 due at 5 p.m.
7

2/27 Asia

READ:
Goodman, pp237-241
Lucian, Alexander the False Prophet (32pp)

SEE: ancient Turkey (Asia), map - western Asia, detail - Glykon statue - coin

3/1 The Levant and Mesopotamia

READ:
Goodman, pp242-261
Rostovtzeff, Dura-Europos and its Art, chapters 1 and 2 (56pp)

SEE: Parthia - Mesopotamia - Syria - Judaea and Samaria - Arabia, etc. - Dura Europos: aerial - Christian community house (diagram) - house, baptismal details - synagogue wall - fresco, sacrifice of Conon - fresco, horseman hunting onagers - fresco, Ark of the Covenant in the temple of Dagon

RECEIVE: short paper #2 topic: due on Friday, March 24 at 5 p.m.

3/3 Egypt and North Africa

READ:
Goodman, pp262-286
Cherry, Frontier and Society in Roman North Africa, chapters 3 and 5 (43pp total)

SEE: Roman Egypt, map - map 2 - detail: the Fayum - funerary portrait - Karanis: Harpocrates fresco - toy horse - loan payment papyrus, ca AD 50 - Roman Africa, map - mosaics: horse and elephant - lions and boar - cooking a flamingo - sea fishing - goddess Roma - goddess Africa - Dionysus - Virgil and the Muses

Part 3: Society and Culture

The final section of the course is devoted to social and cultural life at Rome and in the province. The often ample evidence provides insight into all areas of Roman life, from science and technology to religion and the occult, tax rates to burial customs, options for employment to types of entertainment. Though incomplete, our picture of public and private life under the early Empire is surprisingly rich.
Week Monday Wednesday Friday
8 3/6 Spring Break 3/8 Spring Break 3/10 Spring Break
9

3/13 The Army

READ:
Goodman, pp81-86; 113-122
Bowman, Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Vindolanda and its People, chapters 2 (pp13-19), 7 (pp82-99) and Appendix II (pp103-140 - read translations)

SEE: legion chart - Dicus et Iana - recruitment - Vindolanda: map - fort, model - extra-fort settlement, model - excavations - lake and temple - toilet block - view to SW - tablets: military memorandum (?) - request for leave - private letter

3/15 The Economy

READ:
Goodman, pp142-148
Rowlandson, Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt, chapter 5, "Economic Activities" (62pp; read ca 15 pages that interest you from each part [I and II])

SEE: papyri: loan, A.D. 26 - account, A.D. 33/34 (?) - division of property, A.D. 59 - order to supply seed, A.D. 98 - census declaration, 1st cent. A.D. - petition, A.D. 127 - declaration on oath, A.D. 129-130 (?)

3/17 Culture Mesh and Clash

READ:
Goodman, pp149-164
Josephus, Jewish War II.250-456 (41pp)

SEE: Peraea, Galilee - Herod the Great, prutah - temple of Herod, model 1 - 2 - 3 - Aristoboulos of Chalcis, coin - Agrippa II, coin - Antoninus Felix, bronze prutah - Caesarea, excavations - map - Porcius Festus, coin - Masada, map - site
10

3/20 Social Status/Class

READ:
Goodman, pp165-178
Dio Chrysostom 38 (22pp)
Aelius Aristides, Roman Oration (12pp)

SEE: Nicomedia and Nicaea (map of Bithynia) - Athenian empire, ca 450 B.C. - Persian empire - Alexander's empire - Hellenistic kingdoms

3/22 Medicine

READ:
Galen, On the Sects and An Outline of Empiricism (40pp)

SEE: Galen, bust - doctor healing Aeneas, Pompeii - stele, Herculaneum - Trajan's Column, wounded soldiers - relief, Ostia, midwives and childbirth - tombstone, eye exam (3rd/4th cent. A.D.) - medical tools - medallion, Tiber welcoming Asclepius

3/24 Philosophy

READ:
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations I, II and XII (27pp)
Seneca, Moral Epistles, selections (39pp)

SEE: Seneca, bust

Short paper #2 due at 5 p.m.

11

3/27 Religion (1): Paganism

READ:
Goodman, pp287-301
Seneca, Apocolocyntosis (17pp)
Apuleius, Metamorphoses XI (21pp)

SEE: apotheosis of Claudius, cameo (A.D. 54) - of Titus, from Arch of Titus, Rome - of Sabina (Hadrian's wife) - of Antoninus Pius and Faustina, base of column of A.P. - Isis: statue from Hadrian's Villa - temple, Pompei - denarius, Domitian and Temple of Isis & Serapis at Rome - Isis cult (painting, Pompeii)

3/29 Religion (2): Judaism

READ:
Goodman, pp302-314
Josephus, Against Apion II.15-41 (30pp)

SEE: Moses - Lycurgus - Solon - Zaleucus

3/31 Religion (3): Christianity

READ:
Goodman, pp315-330
Tertullian, On the Spectacles (36pp)

SEE: Carthage: map - Antonine Baths: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

RECEIVE: short paper #3 topic (due on Friday, April 14 at 5 p.m.) and READ for the paper the letter of Claudius to the Alexandrians, Lucian's My Dream, or the funeral eulogy of Turia.

12

4/3 Astronomy/Astrology

READ:
Manilius, Astronomica I (38pp)
Ptolemy, Almagest I.1-9 (13pp)

SEE: Cathedral at Chartres, Royal West Portal, South Entrance - detail, Astronomy - detail, Ptolemy - detail, Astronomy and Ptolemy - Almagest MS, detail 1 - detail 2 - papyrus horoscope (in Greek) - mosaic with zodiac, Tiberias synagogue (4th cent. A.D.)

4/5 Magic

READ:
Apuleius, Metamorphoses II-III (38pp)

SEE: love charm (3rd cent. A.D.) - magical text (3rd cent. A.D.) - magical text with iron crosses (6th cent. A.D.) - magical handbook (after 400 A.D.) - magical handbook, recto (3rd cent. A.D.) - verso - magical amulet (after 30 B.C.) -

RECEIVE:
curse tablet handout

4/7 Law

READ:
Gaius, Institutes I.1-141 (39pp)

SEE: 12 Tables - Curia, meeting place of Roman Senate (as reconstructed by Mussolini from original materials), 1 - 2 - plan - benches - floor - coin

RECEIVE:
Twelve Tables and Roman Laws handouts
13

4/10 Crime and Punishment

READ:
Davies, "Investigation of Some Crimes in Roman Egypt" (14pp)
Coleman, "Fatal Charades: Roman Executions Staged as Mythological Enactments" (30pp)

SEE: Colosseum - Colosseum substructure - Murmillo and Thracian Gladiators, Zliten mosaic, Libya - gladiator equipment: helmet 1 - 2 - daggers - shield - greaves - shoulder guard - Smirat Venatio mosaic, North Africa, 3rd cent. A.D. - Jean-Leon Gerome Pollice Verso 1872 - Amphitheater, El Jem, Tunisia - Amphiteater, animal passage under floor - Condemned criminal mosaic, El Jem, 3rd cent. A.D. - same mosaic, close-up: man killed by leopard

4/12 Architecture

READ:
Vitruvius, On Architecture I (12pp) with commentary (pp135-173)

SEE: map, Roman roads - road layers - Via Augusta, section cut from cliff, Donnaz - main street, Dougga - Pompei, street with stepping-stones - Trajanic bridge over Tagus river, Alcantara - aqueducts: Segovia (Spain) 1 - 2 - Pont du Garde, 1 - 2, water channel - underground cistern, Piscina Mirabilis - water wheel, Britain - Roman bath, diagram - great bath, Bath, England, 1 - 2 - latrine, Dougga - siege technology

4/14 Art

READ:
Mazzoleni and Pappalardo, Domus: Wall Painting in the Roman House pp7-52

SEE: Pompeii, plan - paintings: wall painting - "Sappho" - baby Hercules - garden scene - couple - mosaics: skeleton - watchdog - "Alexander" mosaic (Alexander the Great vs. Darius) - turtledoves - wild creatures - reliefs: wall relief, 1 - 2 - jewelry: bracelet of a slave-girl - her other stuff - victims: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - dog - victims from Herculaneum

Short paper #3 due at 5 p.m.

14

4/17 Entertainment

READ:
Martial, On the Spectacles (14pp)
Coleman, "Launching into History: Aquatic Displays in the Early Empire" (27pp)

SEE: relief, turning-post in Circus Maximus - lyre - lyre player - horn player - bust, comic actor - Pompeii: relief, scene from a comedy - mosaic, play cast - comic masks - street musicians - wall painting, tavern scene - Pompeii amphitheater riot

4/19 Romance, Sex and Sexuality

READ:
Catullus 16, 32, 37, 48, 80, 99, 106 (7pp)
Tibullus I.4, III.13-18 (7pp)
Ovid, The Art of Love (82pp; read book 1 [27pp], print out as much of the rest as you like)

SEE: Pompeii: Priapus - hanky-panky 1 - 2 - 3 - brothel painting 1 - 2 - 3 - wall painting, inn - sign over one-room brothel - said brothel - main brothel, plan - exterior, 1 - 2 - brothel interior, 1 - 2

4/21 Food

READ:
Petronius, The Dinner of Trimalchio (41pp)
Apicius, On Cooking III (17pp; read a handful of recipes)

SEE: figs - table, Herculaneum - Roman couch/bed (modern replica) - Pompeii: seafood - selling bread - still life, 1 - 2 - tavern scene - bronze pans - muffin tray (?) - oven - stove - dining room wall painting

15 4/24 student presentations 4/26 student presentations

4/28 student presentations
16 5/1 reading period (no class) 5/3 reading period (no class) 5/5 exam period (exams begin on Thursday, May 4)
17 5/8 exam period 5/10 exam period

5/12 exam period (exams end on Saturday, May 13)

Final paper due at 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 13

U of A | Classics | Bauschatz