Honors 195J: Crime and Punishment in the Ancient World

*NOTE: This is an old document. Many of the links may be broken.*

Instructor:	John Bauschatz
Time/Location:	M, 11:00–11:50 a.m.; Education 432
Contact Info:	Office: Learning Services Building 215 Phone: (520) 621-7422 (office) email: jbausch1@email.arizona.edu

OVERVIEW

This seminar explores the history of criminal justice systems in the ancient Mediterranean through close examination of select primary sources. Its primary focus is Greece and Rome, but it will also cover Pharaonic Egypt and the Ancient Near East. We shall move chronologically, geographically, and topically, treating a broad range of literary and archaeological evidence. Of central importance to the course will be the issue of boundaries: between right and wrong, imprisonment and freedom, individual and state. Police, courts, prisons, outlaws, crime rates, security forces, and the like, but also (more generally) social and political climates, biases, cultural traditions, and economies: the course encompasses it all.

GOALS

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

Describe the ancient Mediterranean conception(s) of right, wrong, law, justice, crime and punishment.
Explain how attitudes towards these same conceptions changed over time and across cultures.
List a number of ancient authors whose works touch on the issues of crime and punishment and discuss their works.
Compare and contrast law codes from a variety of ancient Mediterranean civilizations.
Highlight how religious beliefs and personal values impacted law and order in the ancient world.

PREREQUISITES

None.

READINGS

The readings for this course will include selections from a number of texts which concern crime and punishment in the ancient world in one way or another: among these inscriptions from ancient Mesopotamia (Hammurabi's Code) and Egypt (The Harem Conspiracy and Tomb Robberies); classics of Greco-Roman literature (Plato's Apology, selections from the poetry of Martial and Juvenal); Roman law codes (the Twelve Tables and the Codex Theodisianus); and modern scholarship (Davies, Coleman). The full list of readings appears below (see the Course Schedule).

The readings for HNRS 195J are available for download from the course D2L site. Any additional reading assignments for the course will be provided to you in class or emailed to you. Many (most?) of the readings will be in .pdf format. To view/download them, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (free download available here).

GRADING

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

Attendance (25%): How often you come to class (duh). Your grade for attendance = the number of hours you actually spend in the classroom / the total number of hours you're scheduled to spend in the classroom. There are no exceptions to this policy, but I will allow you to make up 1 missed class. The only way to do this is a 1/1 time trade: i.e., you'll spend an hour in my office doing work related (somehow) to the course.
Participation (25%): The quality and quantity of your participation in class discussions. I expect you to actively engage in class discussions! To a degree, your participation will be forced, as I will call on you. But I also expect you to volunteer. If you do not, your grade will suffer.

Short Papers (30% [10% each]): Three 2–3-page response papers based on course readings will be assigned over the course of the semester. These are meant to be exercises in analytical thinking and should not require any additional research or reading (though you are certainly welcome to do additional work, if you like!). The topics for each paper will be posted on the D2L site (see the "Paper Topics" folder) within two weeks of each due date. The first short paper is due in class at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 17; the second in class at 11 a.m. on Monday, October 22; the third in class at 11 a.m. on Monday, November 26. Late papers will lose one letter grade for each day late. For information on how I will grade your papers, see below (under "GRADING").

Quizzes (20%): At the beginning of each class (save for the first day), students will take a brief (5 minute) quiz on the reading assigned for that day. If you do the readings, you will have no trouble acing the quizzes. There are 13 of these over the course of the semester, and your lowest four quiz grades will be dropped. If you miss a quiz, you must make it up during office hours or at another mutually agreed-upon time before the next class.

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 other bad things will happen. (See the U of A's code of academic integrity.)

Office hours will be held M–Th, noon–1 p.m. in my office (#215) in the Classics Department (on the second floor of the blandly-named Learning Services Building). You are also welcome and encouraged to make an appointment to meet with me. Call, email or holler.

D2L: As mentioned above, students in HNRS 195J will be expected to be familiar with D2L ("Desire2Learn"), the University's online course content management system. If you are unfamiliar with D2L, see the D2L homepage. As noted above, course readings will be posted on the course D2L page. Your grades will be posted there, as well.

Paper Grading: The following rubric will be used to compile your grades on papers in HNRS 195J (with thanks to Jennifer Kendall!):

Point Category Description	Max Points
1.) Paper Mechanics 15 points: The essay adheres to all of the mechanical requirements (formatting, length, margins, proper citations and following any specific instructions for content in the paper assignment). 10 points: The essay has one or two mechanical errors. 5 points: The essay has numerous mechanical errors. 0 points: The essay has numerous mechanical errors and/or is less than the required length.	15
B.) Grammar/Spelling/Composition 15 points: No/almost no spelling, grammar, punctuation or other compositional errors are present. The essay clearly appears to have been proofread and edited. 10 points: There are a few grammar, spelling, punctuation or other compositional errors but the essay appears to have been proofread and edited. 5 points: There are many grammar, spelling, punctuation or other compositional errors present. 0 points: Numerous errors make the essay difficut to read and/or excessively long quotations or paraphrases are used.	15
C.) Content 70 points: The depth of analysis greatly exceeds expectations, details are many and organization is excellent. 55 points: The depth of analysis is good, as are details and organization, and minimum expectations are exceeded. 40 points: The essay is basic with an adequate analysis. 25 points: The essay is poor all around, but there is at least an attempt to follow directions. 10 points: The essay is poor all around, and there is little to no evidence that the author followed instructions. But at least he/she handed something in!	70
Total Possible Points:	100

Students with disabilities should contact the UA Disability Resource Center (520 621-3268) for any special needs or accommodations.

If you would like help with your writing, the University’s Writing Skills Improvement Program (http://wsip.web.arizona.edu/) may be a valuable resource. The Program offers professional individual tutoring in writing for students referred by faculty. If you are interested in such tutoring, please inform me and it can be arranged. The program also hosts weekly writing workshops. These are free, open to the public and require no advance registration. This semester, the workshops will be held on Mondays from 4–5 p.m. in TBA. The first session is on September 10.

COURSE SCHEDULE

What follows is an outline of the Fall semester. Reading assignments are due on the dates specified. For a typical class you'll read a chunk of an ancient source on crime and punishment in translation, and we'll discuss it. I may supply you in advance with a list of reading questions to keep in mind while you're doing the reading. These questions will help direct our class discussions and (potentially) improve your quiz grades.

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 provide you with the readings at least one week in advance.

Week	Monday
1	8/20 Introductions
2	8/27 Mesopotamia: Birthplace of Civilization (and Law Codes!) READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Hammurabi's Laws (read the Introduction and Epilogue, plus your pick of 100 of the 282 laws listed)
3	9/3 No Class: Labor Day
4	9/10 Egypt: Land of Crime? READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: The Turin Judicial Papyrus (D2L); Tomb Robbery Papyri (D2L)
5	9/17 This Is Sparta READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Xenophon, Constitution of the Spartans (notes optional) (D2L) *First short paper due at beginning of class*
6	9/24 Murder in Athens READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Lysias, On the Murder of Eratosthenes (D2L)
7	10/1 Plato, Socrates and the Great Defense READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Plato, Apology (D2L)
8	10/8 Crime and Punishment in Greco-Roman Egypt READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: R.W. Davies, "The Investigation of Some Crimes in Roman Egypt". AncSoc 4 (1973): 199–212. (D2L)
9	10/15 Early Rome and the Twelve Tables READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Twelve Tables
10	10/22 Condemned to the Colosseum: Gladiatorial Punishment READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: K.M. Coleman, "Fatal Charades: Roman Executions Staged as Mythological Enactments". JRS 80 (1990): 44–73. (D2L) *Second short paper due at beginning of class*
11	10/29 The Perils of Life at Rome READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Martial, selections (D2L; read only the poems enclosed in red boxes!); Juvenal, Satire 3 (D2L)
12	11/5 Celebrity Justice: Frauds and Frame-Ups READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Lucian, Alexander the False Prophet (D2L)
13	11/12 No Class: Veterans Day
14	11/19 The Jurists READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Codex Theodosianus, book 9, Titles 1–20 (D2L)
15	11/26 Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't: Spiritual Punishment READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: Dante, Inferno Cantos i–v *Third short paper due at beginning of class*
16	12/3 Crime, Persecution and Torture in the Middle Ages READ FOR CLASS/QUIZ: H. Janin, Medieval Justice: Cases and Laws in France, England and Germany, 500–1500 (McFarland & Co., ). Chapter 9: "Medieval Crime", pp125–47. (D2L)
17	12/10 No Class: Final Exams

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