Transcript Welcome to CLAS 2427 Famous Figures in Ancient Rome

Welcome to CLAS 2427
Famous Figures in
Ancient Rome
The Emperors of Rome
Course Objectives

Introduction to the emperors of Rome.

Introduction to the literary genre of Roman
biography.

Equip the student with the skills for critical
historical analysis.
The Syllabus

Available online at: www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/richardw/

Required texts: 1. Wells, C. (1984). The Roman Empire. Harvard
University Press. 2. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars. Trans. R.
Graves. J. Rives (ed). Penguin. 3. The Augustan Historians, Lives
of the Later Caesars. (Online). 4. Sherk, R.K. (1988). The Roman
Empire: Augustus to Hadrian. Cambridge University Press.

Mark Distribution: 1. Midterm Exam (Take Home): 30%. 2. Final
Exam: 30%. 3. Essay: 30%. 4. Participation: 10%.
Take Home Midterm

The midterm examination will be a take home exam due at the
beginning of class on February 28th, 2012. The exam will consist of
an essay response to the following question:
What do you see as the key reasons for the successes and failures
of each of the individual Julio-Claudian emperors from Augustus to
Nero?

Your response must be typed in proper essay format containing a
thesis and several supporting arguments all of which must rest on
primary source evidence.
Research Essay (Due April 3rd)

In The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (1852), Karl Marx argued,
“Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under
self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted
from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the
living. And just as they seem to be occupied with revolutionizing themselves and things, creating
something that did not exist before, precisely in such epochs of revolutionary crisis they anxiously
conjure up the spirits of the past to their service, borrowing from them names, battle slogans, and
costumes in order to present this new scene in world history in time-honored disguise and
borrowed language.” (Trans: http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18thbrumaire/ch01.htm)

In a 10 to 15 page essay assess the validity of Marx’s proposition utilizing the lives of three
emperors discussed in the course. Your essay must be written in clear and concise English and
must contain a proper scholarly apparatus (i.e. Footnotes and Bibliography – Chicago Style is
Preferred). Use no fewer than four primary sources and six secondary sources in your essay
(NOTE: Secondary sources can only be drawn from peer reviewed journals and scholarly
monographs whether electronic or hardcopy. General web sites or textbooks do not constitute
valid secondary sources).
What is History?
History

History comes from the Greek (historia = “inquiry”).

The study of human action (social, political, economic, cultural etc.)
in the past.

The study of human actions in the past not to be confused with the
actions themselves.

We do not have direct access to the past, only access mediated
through sources/evidence.

Two kinds of sources: 1. Primary. 2. Secondary.
Primary Sources

Evidence originating in the time and place
being studied.

Written documents, material culture.

All historical research must rest on primary
source evidence.
Secondary Sources

Works of modern scholarship (The interpretation of the primary source evidence by
modern scholars).

Acceptable Secondary Sources: 1. Online collections of peer-reviewed scholarly
journals (i.e. JSTOR). 2. Scholarly monographs from the library or published
electronically (i.e. e-books etc.).

Unacceptable Secondary Sources: 1. Any and all websites except those specifically
approved by the instructor. 2. General textbooks or lecture notes.

NOTE: Arguments should never rest exclusively or mainly on secondary sources.
Use secondary sources to: 1. Corroborate and confirm. 2. Support ancillary
statements. 3. Position your arguments within the existing scholarship.
Essay Outline
Introductory
Paragraph:________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________Thesis Statement.
Argument 1:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______.

Evidence A (Argument 1):_____________________________________________.

Evidence B (Argument 1):_____________________________________________.
Argument 2:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
________.

Evidence A (Argument 2):_____________________________________________.

Evidence B (Argument 2):_____________________________________________.
Argument 3:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______.

Evidence A (Argument 3):_____________________________________________.

Evidence B (Argument 3):_____________________________________________.
Concluding Paragraph.
Types of Primary Sources for the
Emperors of Ancient Rome





Historiography.
Biography.
Epigraphy.
Material Culture.
Numismatics.
Periodization of Roman History

Chronological scheme, devised by modern
historians and based on Roman political
structures.

753 BCE – 510 BCE – The Regal Period.
510 BCE – 31 BCE – The Republic.
30 (27) BCE – 235 CE – The Principate.
235 CE – 476 CE – The Dominate.



Basic Characteristics of the Principate

Roman Empire governed by a Princeps (Emperor) together with the
Senate, Elected Magistrates (and appointed), and Assemblies.

Power of the emperors increases gradually throughout the Principate.

Growth of an increasingly sophisticated imperial bureaucracy.

Period of relative stability and calm in the empire.

Roman power reaches its greatest extent in the reign of Trajan (98-117
CE).

Period of relative economic stability.
The Roman Empire Under Augustus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Augusto_30aC_-_6dC_55%25CS_jpg.JPG
The Roman Empire Under Claudius (ca. 54 CE)
http://gallery.sjsu.edu/oldworld/ancientrome/empire_map/54ad.jpg
The Roman Empire Under Trajan
http://ca.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fca.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3DThe%2BRoman%2BEmpire%2Bunder%2BTrajan%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Drogersfpimp%26x%3Dwrt&w=600&h=391&imgurl=www.galenfrysinger.com%2Fimages%2Frome1.gif&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.galenfrysinger.com%2Froman_cities.htm&size=21.4kB&name=rome1.gif&p=The+Roman+Empire+under+Trajan&type=gif&no=9&tt=19&oid=ce96139aa4ea74a4&ei=UTF-8
The Position of Princeps

Effectiveness of the emperors determined by: 1.
Ability to control loyalty of the armies. 2. Ability to
control loyalty of the senate. 3. Ability to maintain
popularity among the common people.

Personality of emperors as critical as their
abilities.

Governed through auctoritas.
Is a Study of Rome’s Emperors a
Useful Tool for the Study of
Ancient Rome in General?
Is the Biographical Approach a
Useful Way to Reconstruct the
Lives of Rome’s Emperors?
How to Succeed in CLAS 2427

Do all the assigned readings and come to class.

Complete assigned readings before coming to class.

Prepare questions before coming to class.

Ask questions and participate in discussions.

Start assignments early.

Be critical toward everything you hear and read.