CLAS 236 Age of Augustus

Janet Jones x1624 or x7519
Coleman 71
jjones@bucknell.edu
Office Hours: MWF 4-5 and by appoinment
 
 

The Course: This course examines the achievements and legacy of the remarkable period when the Roman Republic became the Roman Empire -- in political as well as geographical terms. We will examine Roman politics, society, religion, and material culture during the last generation of the Republic and the first generation of the Empire. Augustus and his circle in Rome will serve as the primary point of reference, but we will look as much as possible at a range of evidence (literary and material) for life at all levels of society in the Roman world.

Texts required:

Augustus. Res Gestae Divi Augusti. Brunt and Moore, eds. Oxford.

Cicero: Selected Works. Grant (trans.) Penguin.

Horace: Odes and Epodes. Shepherd (trans.) Penguin.

Ovid: The Erotic Poems. Green (trans.) Penguin

Plutarch: Makers of Rome: Nine Lives. Scott-Kolvert (trans.) Penguin.

Plutarch: Fall of the Roman Republic. Warner (trans.) Penguin.

Vergil: Aeneid. Fitzgerald (trans.) Vintage Books.

Marks and Tingay. The Romans. Usborne Illustrated World History

Rowell. Rome in the Augustan Age. Oklahoma.

Zanker. The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Michigan

 Readings and Class Discussions: The core of this class will be discussion of the readings, therefore you are expected to attend all classes -- they are a group enterprise. The readings are to be completed before the class they are associated with. They are not all of the same length, so look ahead and anticipate longer assignments. Think about the readings and be ready to talk about, ask about, and/or debate the facts and ideas they contain during the class for which they are due. Remember that you are a member of this group -- a participant -- and not part of an audience. Take advantage of my office hours to come in and talk about anything which is unclear or simply interesting to you.

Shorter Papers: You are asked to write two 5 page papers. These are not research papers, and all the information necessary for them will be given to you or is available in our regular reading assignments. These papers have two main goals: 1) to encourage you to think carefully about the readings; and 2) to encourage you to reconstruct some aspect of the Roman world and to try to put yourself, as much as you can, into the time period involved. While the situations require some imagination, you will be graded on how well you incorporate into your paper the various sorts of evidence we’ve been studying. Papers must be turned in on the date indicated. (almost) No exceptions.

1. Due March 27: A personal enemy of Vergil writes to Augustus attacking the Aeneid. The writer claims the poem does not adequately support Augustus' program, is not realistic, is not always moral, and is boring. Write the letter, supporting and developing these and any other arguments you think the critic might use. Be specific in your citations form the work. 2. Due April 17: One of Pompey's old soldiers, a former centurion now in his 70s, meets two friends in a bar. The year is 2 B.C. The three men talk about how things have changed and about what Augustus has done, good things and bad. What do they say? Term Project: This is to be a longer (ca. 10 page), carefully researched paper dealing with any area relevant to the course you find tantalizing. The writing of this paper will be a term-long process, with the process at least as important as the final product. We are aiming for beautifully and enthusiastically written gems of originality. The final product will include citations (footnotes, endnotes, or intertextual notes) for all information gleaned from your sources and will conclude with a proper bibliography. We will discuss form for this in class.*
 

Schedule:

1) a choice of topic is to be handed in to me for approval by Feb. 7,

2) preliminary bibliography & project outline on Feb. 21,

3) schedule a conference with me between 2/22 and 3/10 (sign up sheet will go around,  remind me!)

3) a first draft must be submitted anytime between Apr. 3 -10

4) a final draft is due by the last day of class, May 1.

  Grading:
Attendance & Participation 15%

Short Papers 10% each

Midterm 20%

Final Exam 20%

Term Project 25%


 

Other Matters:
*1) Please make yourself acquainted with the pages in the Student Handbook dealing with Academic Responsibility and if, in writing your papers, you find that you are unclear about what constitutes plagiarism please come talk to me.

2) Strong scents are a powerful migraine trigger for me and I ask that you consider our classroom and my office and lab scent-free zones.

 
Schedule

W 1/ 19 Introduction

F 1/21 Why Study Augustus?

Rowell, Ch. 1
Reinhold handout
Marks and Tingay, pp. 3-11


M 1/ 24 Republican Government & Class Struggle

(start the Plautus, it’s longish, but fun)


W 1/ 26 Republican Society; the Latin language

Plautus, Miles Gloriosus


F 1/ 28 The Effects of Expansion

Plutarch, Lives of the Gracchi.
Marks & Tingay p. 18, 46


M 1/31 Not Ready for Prime Time

Cicero, Against Verres
Marks & Tingay, pp. 26-27, 74-75


W 2/2 Crisis of the Republic: Sulla and Marius

Marks & Tingay, 12-1
Plutarch Life of Marius, ss. 3-12, 27-end
Plutarch Life of Sulla, ss. 1-6, 29-end F 2/ 4 Once again: Pompey and Caesar Plutarch: Life of Caesar, ss. 1-48
Life of Pompey, ss. 1-2, 53, 72-end
Marks and Tingay, pp. 28-29


M 2/7 Julius Caesar: The Efficient Solution

Plutarch: Life of Caesar, ss. 49-end


W 2/ 9 "Friends, Romans..."

Plutarch Life of Brutus,4-24 (pp. 225-44)
Plutarch Life of Antony, 1-15 (pp. 271-84)


F 2/ 11 Cicero's Patriotic and Personal Response to the Crisis

Cicero correspond. pp. 86-100
Cicero Second Philippic, pp. 101-117b. M 2/ 14 The Rise of Octavian
Rowell, Ch. 2
Marks and Tingay, 22-23


W 2/ 16 Caught in the Middle

Plutarch: Life of Antony, sections16-37


F 2/ 18 Octavian v. Antony: A Public Relations War

Zanker, Ch. 2 "Rival Images"


M 2/ 21 The Myth of Cleopatra

W 2/23 Actium and its Consequences

Plutarch: Life of Antony, ss. 50-87 and appendix, pp. 351-361


F 2/25 Augustus: The Tactful Solution to the Crisis

Rowell, 50-86


M 2/28 Devising a Government that Works

Rowell, 86-99


W 3/1 Image is Everything

Zanker, Ch.3


F 3/3 Livy: The Heroes and Ideals of Early Rome

Livy, handout


M 3/6 Midterm

W 3/8 Vergil: The Renewal of Roman Ideals

Vergil, Aeneid, Bks. I-II


F 3/10 Aeneid, Grabbing onto/Letting go of the Past

Vergil, Aeneid, Bks. III-IV


3/13-17 Spring Break
 

M 3/20 Aeneid, A Trip to the Underworld

Vergil, Aeneid, Bks. V-VI


W 3/22 Aenei, the "Roman" Book

Vergil, Aeneid, Bks. VII, IX and XII


F 3/24 Horace

Epodes 1, 7, 9, 16

Odes Bk. 1.2, 6, 12, 14, 37

Odes Bk. 2.7.15

Odes Bk. 3.1-6, 14, 24


M 3/27 Horace cont.

Odes Bk. 4.3-6, 14-15
Centennial Hymn
Epistle 2.1 (letter to Augustus)
W 3/29 The Augustan Settlement: The City & the Army Rowell, 100-121 (top of the page)
Marks & Tingay, 32-33, 70   F 3/31 Roman Towns and Domestic Architecture Rowell, 121-152 (end of 1st paragraph)
Marks & Tingay, 30-31, 34-40   M 4/3 The Roman Economy
Garnsey & Saller, Ch. 3 (xerox)
Marks & Tingay, 18-21, 46-47, 52-55


W 4/5 Technology and Environment

Hughes, "The effect of classical cities on the Mediterranean landscape, " Ekistics 42(1976) 332-342


F 4/7 Roman Public Religion and Augsutan Social Policy

Rowell, 179-top of 211
Zanker, 156-166 (Mores Maiorum)
Horace 3.6 and 3.24


M 4/10 The Divinity of the Roman Emperor

Taylor (xerox)


W 4/12 Physical Manifestations of a New Order

Zanker, Ch. 4, 101-118, 135-147, 254-263


F 4/14 Augustan Showplaces

Zanker, 147-156, Rowell, 152-172
Marks and Tingay, 56-59


M 4/17 The Ara Pacis Augustae

Zanker, 118-123, 167-192
Rowell, 211-223 (1st paragraph)


W 4/19 The Forum of Augustus

Rowell, 223-228
Zanker, 192-207, 210-215


F 4/21 Un- & Anti-Augustan Elements in Ovid

Ovid, The Erotic Poems: The Art of Love,Book I
Ovid, TheErotic PoemsCures for Love lines 1-134
M 4/24 Ovid Cont.

W 4/26 Exporting the Imperial Cult

Zanker, Ch. 8


F 4/28 Dynasty

Zanker, 215-238


M 5/1 In his Own Words

Res Gestae Divi Augusti
Rowell, epilogue