History 524 - Ancient Greece and Rome

Oakland University, Fall Semester 2007

Tuesday Evenings, 6:30 - 9:50 pm, SFH-169

Instructor: Dr. Jace T. Crouch, Office Hours

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Covering the period from Minoan and Mycenean civilizations through the emergence of Byzantium and the earliest Germanic realms in the West, History 324 offers an overview of the various cultural, intellectual, legal, military, political and religious legacies of ancient Greece and Rome. Reading assignments, examinations and discussions are designed to explore the following themes: Greek civilization in its Eastern Mediterranean and Levantine context; Homeric and Hoplite warfare; Greek political theories and practices; citizenship in the classical world;  the cultural ideals and social realities of Hellenic and Hellenistic civilizations; Roman civilization in Mediterranean and Eurasian contexts; the libido dominandi   and the expansion of Rome; the Augustan revolution; the   pax romana and Gibbon's "excellent empire"; Roman law and jurisprudence; the emergence and triumph of the Church; the world of Late Antiquity; and the Heirs of the Roman Empire. Considerable attention will be devoted to historiographical issues such as source criticism and the role of the historian in revealing, reconstructing, deconstructing, and revising history.

GRADES: based on a midterm and a final exam, each worth up to 150 points, and two research papers, each worth up to 100 points. Total points available: 500.
 

Grades Will Be Assigned According to the Following Schedule
Points 450+ 425+ 400+ 375+ 350+ 325+ 300+ 179-
Percent 90% 85% 80% 75% 70% 65% 60% 59%
Grade 3.5 - 4.0 3.3 - 3.4 3.2 - 3.0 2.5 - 2.9 2.0 - 2.4 1.5 - 1.9 1.0 0.0

CLASS ATTENDANCE: Mandatory, as it would be in a graduate seminar. Each absense will result in an overall grade point reduction.

PLAGIARISM: Appropriating the work of others and passing it off as your own work is plagiarism, an act that is both immoral and illegal. Examples of plagiarism would include memorizing passages of the textbook and reproducing those passages on an exam or quiz, quoting or paraphrasing another person’s words or ideas without acknowledging the source, and turning in as your own any work that you have purchased, downloaded, or otherwise “borrowed.” Plagiarism can result in your receiving a failing grade for an assignment, a grade of 0.0 for the entire course, academic suspension, or even expulsion from this institution. Aside from the legal implications of plagiarism, a student who plagiarizes the work of others also steals from himself, effectively denying himself freedom of thought and expression, and willfully limiting himself to the mindless repetition of thoughts that are not his own. As Edward White has written: “Plagiarism is outrageous, because it undermines the whole purpose of education itself: Instead of becoming more of an individual thinker, the plagiarist denies the self and the possibility of learning. Someone who will not, or cannot, distinguish his or her ideas from those of others offends the most basic principles of learning.” Students who are unaware of what constitutes plagiarism are encouraged to consult with me before any assignments are due. I will help. For further information concering the seriousness with which Oakland University treats cheating and plagiarism, here is a link to Oakland University's Academic Conduct Regulations.

EXAMS: Exams will consist of two or more formal essay questions and several shorter essays, including specific and explicit questions about the assigned articles from scholarly journals. Bring several “blue books” to class the day of the exam, depending on how many you think you will need to write your essays. Exam questions will draw on material from the readings and the lectures, classroom discussions, as well as any handouts. Thus, both attendance and attentiveness are important. Your essays should not be mere recitations of spoon-fed information, but should demonstrate to me that you have developed an understanding of the course material and have synthesized informed opinions about the history of western civilization. Graduate students should also demonstrate in their essays familiarity with historiographical issues, familiarity with significent scholarly resources such as major reference collections and published editions of historical evidence, as well as familiarity with recent scholarship that is above and beyond the assigned books and journals. These intellectual accomplishments will be presented on the exams in written English that is clear and cogent and which conforms to accepted university level writing standards. This aspect of the course is intended to facilitate critical thinking, and its expression in argument, about the human condition. All exams must be written in blue or black ink.

Schedule of Written Assignments: Students must complete all assignments in order and in a timely fashion to receive a passing grade. Late assignments will be penalized twenty percent per class meeting, including papers turned in after the beginning of class on the due dates.

Assignment
 Point Value
 Date
First Historiography Paper
 100 points Thursday, September 27, at beginning of class
Midterm Examination
 150 points Thursday, October 11, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Second Historiography Paper
 100 points Thursday, November 15, at beginning of class
Final Examination
 150 points Thursday, December 13, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

HISTORIOGRAPHY PAPERS: Graduate students will write two 8-10 page research papers: one paper on one or more ancient historians (or significant ancient texts), and one paper on one or more modern historians of the ancient world. These papers will be historiographical, that is students, will examine the authors and sources in terms of Scope, Causation, Analysis, Progress, and Teleology. Graduate students will have to rely on libraries external to Oakland University, so plan ahead. Although students will not have to present seminar papers to the entire class, I will call upon students from time to time in class and expect them to be informed on their topics and positively contribute to classroom discussions. Additionally, graduate students must demonstrate in their papers familiarity with recent scholarly research concerning their topics. The first historiography paper, based on an ancient historian, is due September 27 before class begins.  A list of topics for the first paper will be distributed the first week of class. The second historiography paper, based on a modern historian, is due November 15 before class begins. A list of topics for the second paper will be distributed prior to the midterm. All papers must be turned in in printed form (emailed papers are not acceptable), and they must be organized and annotated in accordance with Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th edition. Late papers will be penalized twenty percent per week, including papers turned in after the beginning of class on the due dates.

MAKE-UP EXAMINATIONS are not available for graduate students except in extraordinary circumstances.

TEXTBOOKS:
    - Morris and Powell, The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society
    - Ward, Heichelm, and Yeo, A History of the Roman People
    - Mitchell, A History of the Later Roman Empire, AD 284-641
    - Herodotus, The History
    - Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
    - Tacitus, The Agricola and The Germania
    - J.S. Richardson, The Romans in Spain
    - J.B. Bury, The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians

JOURNAL ARTICLES:
    List of assigned journal articles at: http://www.oakland.edu/~crouch/524/journals.htm

Lecture Topics and Reading Assignments

1. Thursday, September 06, Morris, chs 1-5; read article by Burstein
    - A Small, Far-Off Land
    - Country and People
    - The Greeks At Home
    - The Greeks Before History, 12,000-1200 B.C.
    - The Dark Age, 1200-700 B.C.

2. Thursday, September 13, Morris, chs 6-10; begin Herodotus; read article by Morgan
    - Homer
    - Religion and Myth
    - Archaic Greece, 700-400 B.C., Society & Politics
    - The Archaric Cultural Revolution, 700-480 B.C.
    - A Tale of Two Archaic Cities: Sparta and Athens, 700-480 B.C.

3. Thursday, September 20, Morris, chs 11-13; finish Herodotus ; read articles by Boedecker and Davies
    - Persia and the Greeks, 550-490 B.C.
    - The Great War, 480-479 B.C.
    - Democracy and Empire: Athens and Syracuse, 479-431 B.C.

4. Thursday, September 27, Morris, chs 14-18; begin Thucydides ; read articles by Ostwald and Runciman
First historiography paper due before the beginning of class; late papers penalized.
     - Art and thought in the Fifth Century B.C.
    - Fifth Century Drama
    - The Peloponnesian War and Its Aftermath
    - The Greeks between Persia and Carthage, 399-360 B.C.
    - Greek Culture in the Fourth Century B.C.

5. Thursday, October 04, Morris, chs 19-23; finish Thucydides ; read article by Walbank
    - The Warrior-Kings of Macedonia, 359-323 B.C.
    - The Hellenistic Century, 323-220 B.C.
    - Hellenistic Culture, 323-30 B.C.
    - The Coming of Rome, 220-30 B.C.

6. Thursday, October 11, Midterm Examination

7. Thursday, October 18, Ward, chs 1-6; Richardson ch 1; read article by Henderson
    - The Foundations of Early Rome and Italy
    - Phoenecians, Greeks, and Etrustans in Pre-Roman Italy
    - Early Rome to 500 B.C.
    - Early Roman Society, Religion, and Values
    - The Rise of the Roman Republic, 509 to 287 B.C.
    - The Roman Conquest of Italy and Its Impact, 509 to 264 B.C.

8. Thursday, October 25, Ward, chs 7-11; Richardson ch 2; read article by Dyson
    - The First Punic War and the Beginning of Overseas Imperialism, 264 to 241 B.C.
    - Between the Wars, 241 to 218 B.C.
    - The Second Punic War, 218 to 201 B.C.
    - War and Imperialism in the Hellenistic East, 200 to 133 B.C.
    - Roman Imperialism in the West, 200 to 133 B.C.

9. Thursday, November 01, Ward, chs 12-16; Richardson, ch 3; read article by Lo Cascio
    - The Transformation of Roman Life, 264 to 133 B.C.
    - The Great Cultural Synthesis, 264 to 133 B.C.
    - The Gracchi and the Struggle over Land Reform, 133 to 121 B.C.
    - The Breakdown of the System, 121 to 88 B.C.
    - Marius and Sulla: Civil War and Reaction, 88 to 78 B.C.

10. Thursday, November 08, Ward, chs 17-21; Richardson, ch 3; read articles by Bowersock and Magie
    - Personal Ambitions and Public Crises, 78 to 60 B.C.
    - The Rise of Caesar, 60 to 52 B.C.
    - Caesar Wins and Is Lost, Mid-50s to 44 B.C.
    - The Last Days of the Republic, 44 to 30 B.C.
    - Social, Economic, and Cultural Life in the Late Republic, ca. 133 to ca. 30 B.C.

11. Thursday, November 15, Ward, chs 22-27; begin Tacitus, The Agricola; Richardson ch 4; read article by Benko
Second historiography paper due before the beginning of class; late papers penalised.
    - The Establishment of the Principate, 29 B.C. to A.D. 14
    - Systematic Reform under Augustus
    - Imperial Stabilization under Augustus
    - The Impact of Augustus on Roman Imperial Life and Culture
    - The First Two Julio-Claudian Emperors: Tiberius and Gaius (Caligula), A.D. 14 to 41
    - Claudius, Nero, and the End of the Julio-Claudians, A.D. 41 to 68

<>12. Thursday, November 22, Ward, chs 28-33; ; Tacitus,  The Germania; Richardson, chs 5-6; read article by Croke
There is No Class this week, because of Thanksgiving Break, but stick to the reading schedule anyway
    - The Crisis of the Principate and Recovery under the Flavians, A.D. 69 to 96
    - The Five "Good" Emperors of the Second Century, A.D. 96 to 180
    - Imperial Culture and Society in the First Two Centuries A.D.
    - Changes and Conflicts in the Early Third Century, A.D. 180 to 235
    - The Third-Century Anarchy, A.D. 235 to 285
    - Changes in Roman Life and Culture during the Third Century

13. Thursday, November 29, Ward, chs 34-38; Mitchell, chs 1-6; Richardson, ch 7; begin Bury; read article by Blázques
    - Diocletian: Creating the Fourth-Century Empire, A.D. 285 to 305
    - Constantine the Great and Christianity, A.D. 306 to 337
    - From Constantine's Dynasty to Theodosius the Great, A.D. 337 to 395
    - The Evolving World of Late Antiquity in the Fourth Century A.D.
    - Christianity and Classical Culture in the Fourth Century

14. Thursday, December 06, Ward, chs 39-44; Mitchell, chs 7-12; Richardson, ch 8; complete Bury; read article by Cameron
    - The Fifth-Century West: The Localization of Imperial Power under Germanic Kings
    - Fifth-Century Empresses and the Survival of the Empire in the East, A.D. 395 to 518
    - Justin and the Establishment of Justinian's Autocracy, A.D. 518 to 532
    - The Impossible Dream of Universal Empire, A.D. 532 to 602
    - The Transformation of the Late Antique World, A.D. 395 to 600
    - The Church and the Legacy of Rome

15. Thursday, December 13, 7:00 - 10:00pm FINAL EXAM