Schedule of Readings and Assignments
For each meeting, please come into class having read and thought about the readings assigned for that class. To prepare for each meeting, you need to read:
- All of the listed sections from the textbook (Ward et al.), and
- At least one of the primary source readings from the Reader, De Roma.
Note on textbook readings: Ward writes short chapters around specific topics. I’ve kept the readings about the same from week to week.
1 Introduction and Themes
Thursday, February 3
2 Tribes and Kings
Thursday, February 10
- I. Roman History: Its Geographic and Human Foundations (Ward 1–10)
- II. Phoenicians, Greeks, and Etruscans in Pre-Roman Italy (Ward 11–27)
- III. Early Rome to 500 B.C. (Ward 28–39)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
3 Patrician and Plebeian
Thursday, February 17
- IV. Early Roman Society, Religion, and Values (Ward 40–55)
- V. From Tyrant Kings to Oligarchic Republic (Ward 56–74)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
-
DIONYSIUS / Coriolanus Opposes the Plebs
DIONYSIUS / The Tribunes and their Manipulation
FRAGMENTS / The Twelve Tables
LIVY, DIONYSIUS / The Roman Way of Declaring War
CICERO, DIONYSIUS / The Mythology of the Farmer General
LIVY / The Defeat of the Latins
POLYBIUS / The Constitution of the Roman Republic
4 Conquering the West
Thursday, February 24
- VI. The Roman Conquest of Italy and Its Impact (Ward 75–89)
- VII. The First Punic War, Northern Italy, and Illyrian Pirates (Ward 90–101)
- VIII. War with Hannibal: The Second Punic War (Ward 102–111)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
5 Acquisition of Empire
Thursday, March 3
- IX. Roman Imperialism East and West (Ward 112–128)
- X. The Transformation of Roman Life (Ward 129–142)
- XI. The Great Cultural Synthesis (Ward 143–153)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
6 Optimates and Populares
Thursday, March 10
- XII. The Gracchi and the Struggle over Reforms (Ward 154–164)
- XIII. Destructive Rivalries, Marius, and the Social War (Ward 165–175)
- XIV. Civil War and Sulla’s Reactionary Settlement (Ward 176–183)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
- Sign up for your second presentation
7 Crossing the Rubicon
Thursday, March 17
- XV. Personal Ambitions: The Failure of Sulla’s Optimate Oligarchy (Ward 184–199)
- XVI. Caesar Wins and Is Lost (Ward 200–216)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
- Proposal due the night before
8 End of the Republic
Thursday, March 24
- XVII. The Last Years of the Republic (Ward 217–230)
- XVIII. Social, Economic, and Cultural Life in the Late Republic (Ward 231–249)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
9 Augustus, Princeps, Imperator
Thursday, March 31
- XIX. The Principate of the Early Roman Empire Takes Shape (Ward 250–262)
- XX. Imperial Stabilization under Augustus (Ward 263–278)
- XXI. The Impact of Augustus on Roman Imperial Life and Culture (Ward 279–293)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
10 Succession and Empire
Thursday, April 7
- XXII. The First Two Julio–Claudian Emperors: Tiberius and Gaius (Ward 294–305)
- XXIII. Claudius, Nero, and the End of the Julio–Claudians (Ward 306–316)
- XXIV. The Crisis of the Principate and Recovery under the Flavians (Ward 317–326)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
-
CLAUDIUS / A Speech on Incorporating the Gauls
SENECA / The Pumpkinification of Claudius
TACITUS / The Principle of Adoption
TACITUS / The Legions Proclaim Vespasian Emperor
JOSEPHUS / The Roman Army in the First Century CE
LEGAL TEXT / Law Concerning the Power of Vespasian
SUETONIUS / How Domitian Attempted to Amuse the Populace
- Images Essay due the night before
11 The Roman Peace
Thursday, April 14
- XXV. The Five “Good” Emperors of the Second Century (Ward 327–342)
- XXVI. Culture, Society, and Economy in the First Two Centuries A.D. (Ward 343–366)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
-
PLINY THE ELDER / The Grandeur of Rome
PLINY THE YOUNGER / Panegyric Addressed to the Emperor Trajan
PLINY THE YOUNGER / The Correspondence of a Provincial Governor and the Emperor
STRABO, OXYRHYNCHOS PAPYRI / Egypt under the Roman Empire
VARIOUS / Roman Educational Practices
MARCUS AURELIUS / On the Virtue of Antoninus Pius
EUTROPIUS / The Reign of Marcus Aurelius
No Meeting (Spring Recess)
Thursday, April 21
12 Third Century Crisis
Thursday, April 28
- XXVII. Conflicts and Crises under Commodus and the Severi (Ward 367–381)
- XXVIII. The Third-Century Anarchy (Ward 382–391)
- XXIX. Changes in Roman Life and Culture during the Third Century (Ward 392–407)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
13 The New Empire
Thursday, May 5
- XXX. Diocletian: Creating the Fourth-Century Empire (Ward 408–419)
- XXXI. Constantine the Great and Christianity (Ward 420–431)
- XXXII. From Constantine’s Dynasty to Theodosius the Great (Ward 432–438)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
14 The End of Antiquity
Thursday, May 12
- XXXIII. The Evolving World of Late Antiquity in the Fourth Century A.D. (Ward 439–453)
- XXXIV. Christianity and Classical Culture in the Fourth Century (Ward 454–471)
- Read one of these primary source documents from the Reader:
- Position Paper due the night before
Final Exam (6:00–8:00 p.m.)
Thursday, May 19