History of the Roman Republic
Classics 212 / History 210
January 14, 2004
Required texts:
WHY: A. Ward, F. Heichelheim and C. Yeo, History of the Roman People, 4th edition (NY: Prentice Hall, 2003). The “a” and “b” symbols refer to left and right columns of the page.
LR = Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold, eds., Roman Civilization: The Republic and the Augustan Age (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1990). Numbers after LR indicate the document numbers, not the page numbers.
Plutarch = Ian Scott-Kilvert, translator, Plutarch: Makers of Rome (London: Penguin, 1965). References are to the “lives” written by Plutarch and contained in this volume.
Quizzes on the reading assignments account for a quarter of the semester grade.
Two midterm exams (Feb. 16 and March 29) and a comprehensive final exam. Exams account for 60% of the semester grade. Make-up exams will be docked two thirds of a quality point.
Writing assignment: For undergraduates, two three-page essays, the first due on Feb. 27, and the second on April 12. Graduate students write a research paper, due on April 19. These writing assignments count for 15% of the semester grade.
Jan. 14: Introduction
Jan. 16: The prehistory of Italy, to ca. 750 BC (WHY 1-8a)
Jan. 19: Phoenicians and Greeks in Italy (WHY 12-17; LR 2)
Jan. 21: Etruscan civilization (WHY 18-28)
Jan. 23: The founding of Rome (WHY 29-36b; LR 4 and 5)
Jan. 26: The Regnum: 625-509 BC (WHY 36b-41; LR 7 and 191 [to p. 545])
Jan. 28: Early Roman society and religion (WHY 42-58; LR 9, 11, 46-50, 54 and 180)
Jan. 30: The Early Republic, to 449 BC (WHY 59-69b; LR 26-30 and 37)
Feb. 2: The “Struggle of the Orders,” to 287 BC (WHY 69b-77; LR 32 and 41)
Feb. 4: The expansion of Rome in central Italy, to 338 BC (WHY 78-84a; LR 14; Plutarch, Coriolanus)
Feb. 6: The Samnite wars and the war with Pyrrhus (WHY 84a-90; LR 18)
Feb. 9: The First Punic War (WHY 91-99)
Feb. 11: The entr’acte, and beginning of the Second Punic War, 241-218 BC (WHY 100-110a)
Feb. 13: Hannibal in Italy and the defeat of Carthage (WHY 110a-114; LR 62-63; Plutarch, Fabius Maximus)
Feb. 16: EXAMINATION
Feb. 18: The Greek East: Greek culture and Judaean religion (WHY 115-117a)
Feb. 20: Rome’s wars with PhilipV and Antiochos III (WHY 117a-121a; LR 68, to top of p. 187)
Feb. 23: Rome’s conquest of Greece (WHY 121a-124; LR 75, 77 and 125)
Feb. 25: The Maccabean revolt against the Seleukids, and the emergence of the Kingdom of Judaea (2nd Maccabees chapters 1 through 10, from website:
http://latter‑rain.com/apocrypha/SecondMaccabees.htm
Feb. 27: The Roman conquest of Spain and burning of Carthage (WHY 125-130; LR 79 and 80)
Mar. 1: Economic, social and political change in the Middle Republic (WHY 131-142; LR 95)
Mar. 3: Hellenizing of Rome, beginnings of Latin culture, and changes in Roman religion (WHY 143-152; LR 165, 176, 177, 178 [p. 512],185 and 188; Plutarch, Cato the Elder)
Mar. 5: The Gracchi (WHY 153-163; Plutarch, either Tiberius Gracchus or Gaius Gracchus)
(Spring break)
Mar. 15: Marius: the Jugurthan War and the wars with the Cimbri and Teutons (WHY164-169)
Mar. 17: From Saturninus’ tribunate to the end of the “Social War” (WHY 170-174)
Mar. 19: Rome’s First Mithridatic War and the triumph of Sulla (WHY 175-179b; LR 81 and 130)
Mar. 22: From Sulla’s dictatorship to the consulship of Pompeius and Crassus (WHY 179b-185b; Plutarch, Sertorius)
Mar. 24: Pompeius and the end of the Pontic and Seleukid kingdoms (WHY 185b-192a)
Mar. 26: Pompeius in Judaea; Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes (WHY 192a)
Mar. 29: EXAMINATION
Mar. 31: Pompeius, Crassus and Caesar (WHY 192b-201a; LR 170 [from bottom of p. 491 through 493] and 172 )
April 2: Caesar in Gaul (WHY 201a-205; LR 87 and 108)
April 5: Civil war and Caesar’s dictatorship (WHY 206-214b; LR 111)
April 7: Caesar’s assassination, the Triumvirs, and the Battle of Philippi (214b-221b; LR 113)
April 9: Antonius in the East: the Parthian menace (WHY 221b-226b; Plutarch, Mark Antony)
April 12: The triumph of Octavian; social changes in the Late Republic (WHY 226b-240b)
April 14: Cicero and the Golden Age of Latin culture (WHY 240b-250; LR 186, 187)
April 16: Octavian’s Principate (WHY 251-270; LR 194 and 197)
April 19: Augustan wars, military and imperial policies (WHY 271-280b)
April 21: Augustus’ achievement, and the Imperial Cult (WHY 280b-299; LR 192 and 196)
April 23: Herodes the Great; Hellenes, Judaeans, and Judaea under Augustus (LR 206 [pp. 619-20])
Apr. 26: The Roman Empire
