Ancient Civilizations
Course Info
Assignments
Content
Resources
Schedule
For each meeting, please come into class having read and thought about the readings assigned for that class.
Readings listed with the book icon () are from the assigned textbook, Mathisen, Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations, 3rd Edition. All other readings are linked below.
Everything listed under each meeting—the textbook readings, Gilgamesh, and Clouds—is fair game for the quizzes we’ll have at the start of some meetings.
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Click on the highlighted days in the calendar to jump to that meeting.
Beginnings
1 Introduction and Themes
Tuesday, January 28
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 3-5, “Laying the Groundwork”
pp. 5-13, ”The Palaeolithic Age (2,000,000–10,000 BCE)”
2 The Origins of Civilization
Thursday, January 30
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 13-24, “The Neolithic World (8000–5500 BCE)”
pp. 24-33, “The Chalcolithic Period (5500–2000 BCE)”
The Bronze Age
3 Mesopotamia
Tuesday, February 4
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 37-45, “The Origins of Mesopotamian Civilization (6000–3000 BCE)”
pp. 45-52, ”The Rise of Sumerian Civilization”
4 Sumer
Thursday, February 6
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 52-60, “Historical Sumer (3000–2300 BCE)”
6 God-Kings of Egypt
Thursday, February 13
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 77-84, “Before The Pharaohs (5000–3000 BCE)”
pp. 84-92, “The Early Dynastic Period (3000–2700 BCE)”
The Iron Age
9 Dawn of the Iron Age
Thursday, February 27
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 125-131, “The Iron Age In The Eastern Mediterranean (1200–800 BCE)”
pp. 131-140, ”The Hebrews (2000–900 BCE)”
10 How Not to Run an Empire: The Assyrians
Tuesday, March 4
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 142-155, “The Assyrian Empire (850–605 BCE)”
pp. 155-159, “The Successors of the Assyrians (605–550 BCE)”
11 The Success of the Persian Empire
Tuesday, March 11
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 159-163, “The Persian Empire (550–331 BCE)”
pp. 163-171, ”Darius and the Operation of the Persian Empire”
Essay #1 is due Monday, March 10.
12 Ancient Asia: China, India, and the Steppes
Thursday, March 13
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 296-301, “The Eurasian Steppes”
pp. 301-310, ”Eastern Asia”
13 Midterm Exam
Tuesday, March 18
➊ Before the meeting:
The exam will take place in our normal meeting room during our regular class period.
The Greek Idea
14 The Greek Dark Age
Thursday, March 20
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 175-180, “The Greek Dark Ages (1100–776 BCE)”
pp. 180-187, ”The Construction of Greek Identity”
The Might of Rome
21 Early Rome
Tuesday, April 22
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 319-326, “Carthage”
pp. 339-341, ”Cultural Encounters of the Early Romans”
pp. 341-349, ”Rome of the Kings (753–509 BCE)”
22 The Roman Republic
Thursday, April 24
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 349-356, “The Early Roman Republic (509–246 BCE)”
23 The Acquisition of Empire
Tuesday, April 29
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 356-371, “Warfare and Expansion (390–133 BCE)”
Essay #2 is due Monday, April 28.
24 The Republican Crisis
Thursday, May 1
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 379-390, “From One Crisis to the Next (150–88 BCE)”
25 Collapse of the Republic
Tuesday, May 6
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 390-399, “An Age of Generals (88–60 BCE)”
26 Crossing the Rubicon
Thursday, May 8
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 399-409, “The Triumvirates (60–31 BCE)”
pp. 409-414, ”The Establishment of the Principate (31–21 BCE)”
27 Augustus, Princeps, Imperator
Tuesday, May 13
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 415-430, “The Age of Augustus (27 BCE–14 CE)”
Essay #3 is due on Monday, May 12.
28 The Roman Principate
Thursday, May 15
➊ Before the meeting, read all of the following:
pp. 430-440, “The Julio-Claudian And Flavian Dynasties (27 BCE–96 CE)”
pp. 440-451, ”The Antonine Dynasty (96–192)”
29 Final Exam
Tuesday, May 20
➊ Before the meeting:
The Final Exam will be held on Tuesday, May 20 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.