ANCIENT
Dr. John Lewis December 22, 2005
Reference Sources
Cambridge Ancient Histories. (Cite volume, edition, page and author.) AU Ref D57
Hornblower, S., and Spawforth, A. (1996), The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford). AU Ref
Hornblower, S., and Spawforth, A. (1998), The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization (Oxford). AU Ref
Hornblower, S., and Spawforth, A. (2000), Who’s Who in the Classical World (Oxford). AU Ref
Talbert, R. J. A. (ed.), (2000), Barrington Atlas of Greek and Roman Civilization (Princeton). AU Ref
Major Roman Historical Works (in rough chronological order)
Livy: Titus Livius (59BC – AD17). There are four Penguins (the books are fragmentary):
Early History of Rome (1200-386 BC)
Rome and Italy Books (386-292 BC)
The War with Hannibal (222-201 BC)
Rome and the Mediterranean (200-167 BC)
Polybius Rise of the Roman Empire (220-146 BC)
Sallust Jugurthine War (116-105 BC)
The Conspiracy of Catiline (63 BC)
Appian The Civil Wars (133-70 BC)
Cornelius Tacitus (c. AD 55-116):
Annals (AD 14-66)
Histories (AD 69-70)
Josephus (AD 36- 93 or later) The Jewish War (AD 66-70)
Dio Cassius (AD 164-229 or later) Histories (fragments to AD 46)
Eusebius (AD 260-339) The History of the Church; and Life of Constantine
Lactantius On the Deaths of the Persecutors (to the AD 320’s)
Ammianus Marcellinus (AD 354-378) The Later Roman Empire
Festus (AD 370's) Breviarium
Procopius (c. AD 500-565) History of the Wars of Justinian; The Secret History
Secondary References
Alvis, J. Divine Purpose and Heroic Response in Homer and Virgil: The Political Plan of Zeus (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995). PA3022.E6 A48 1995
Boak, A. A History of Rome to A.D. 565 (NY: MacMillan, 1965).
Boardman, J. (ed.), The Oxford History of Classical Art (NY: Oxford University Press, 1993). N5610 .O84 1993
Bussagli, M. (ed.), Rome: Art and Architecture (Clogne: Koenomann, 1999). NA1121.R6 R65 1999
Cary, M. The Geographic Background of Greek and Roman History (Oxford: Clarendon, 1949). DE29 .C35
Cary, M. and Scullard, H. H. A History of Rome Down to the Time of Constantine (NY: St. Martin’s, 1975). DG210 .C3 1954
Cherry, D. The Roman World: A Sourcebook (Malden , MA: Blackwell, 2001) DG77 .R6716 2001
Coleman, J. A History of Political Thought Vol. 1 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000). JA81 .C62 2000
Connolly, P. The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome (NY: Oxford University Press, 1998). DE59 .C59 1998
Coulter, C. R. Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000). BL782 .C67 2000
Davies, J. Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of Antiquity (NY: Routledge, 1999). BL504 .D295 1999
Digester, E. The Making of a Christian Empire (Ithaca: Cornell, 2000). BR65.L26 D54 2000
Duncan-Jones, R. Structure and Scale in the Roman Economy (NY: Cambridge University Press, 1990). HC39 .D886 1990
Gilliver, C. The Roman Art of War (Stroud: Tempus, 1999). U35 .G55 1999
Gurval, R. A. Actium and Augustus: the Politics and Emotions of Civil War (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1995). PA6019 .G87 1995
Hazlitt, H. and F., The Wisdom of the Stoics: Selections from Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius (Lanham: University Press of America, 1984). B528 .W54 1984
Holmes, T. R., The Roman Republic NY: Russell and Russell, 1923). Ohiolink
Jones, A. H. M. (ed.) A History of Rome through the Fifth Century 2 vols. (NY: Walker, 1968). DG209 .J652
Le Glay, M. A History of Rome (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1996). DG209 .L3613 1996
Levick, B. Tiberius the Politician (NY: Routledge, 1999). DG282 .L58 1999
Martindale, C. The Cambridge Companion to Virgil (NY: Cambridge University Press, 1997). PA6825 .C35 1997
McGowan, M. The Vision of Rome in Late Renaissance France (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000). DC33.3 .M39 2000
Millar, F. The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998). DG254.2 .M55 1998
Millar, F. The Roman Republic in Political Thought (Hanover: University Press f New England, 2002). JC88 .M55 2002
Mitchell, T. N. Cicero,The Senior Statesman (New HavenL Yale University Press, 1991). DG260.C53 M58 1991
Mommsen, T. The History of Rome 5 vols. (NY: Scribner, 1870). DG209 .M742
Nippel, W. Public Order in Ancient Rome (NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995). HV8212 .N56 1995
Pelikan, . J. The Excellent Empire: The Fall of Rome and the Triumph of the Church (San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1987). DG312 .P38 1987
Pocock, J. G. A. Barbarism and Religion 2 vols. (NY: Cambridge University Press, 1999). DG311.G6 P63 1999
Plass, P. The Game of Death in Ancient Rome: Arena Sports and Political Suicide (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995). GV31 .P53 1995
Raaflaub, K. and Rosenstein, N. War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999). D104 .W37 1999
Robinson, C. E. A History of Rome from 753 BC to AD 410 (NY: Crowell, 1935). DG209 .R55
Scheid, J. An Introduction to Roman Religion tr. J. Lloyd. (Bloomington: Indiana University, 2003). BL803 .S3413 2003.
Scarre, C. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors (London: Thames and Hudson, 1995). DG274 .S28 1995
Schiavone, A. The End of the Past: Ancent Rome and the Modern West (Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 2000). DG311 .S35 2000
Scullard, H. H. From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome (London: Methuen, 1970). DG254 .S35 1970
Scullard, H. H. A History of the Roman World from 753 to 146 BC (London: Methuen, 1961).
Smallwood, M. The Jews under Roman Rule (Boston: Brill, 2001). DS122 .S62 2001
Southern, P. The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine (London, New York: Routledge, 2001). DG298 .S67 2001
Taylor, L. R. Roman Voting Assemblies (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1990). JC85.E4 T3 1990
Watson, A. Aurelian and the Third Century (NY: Routledge, 1999). DG308 .W37 1999
Wells, P. The Barbarians Speak: How the Conquered Peoples shaped Roman Europe (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999). DG59.E8 W45 1999
Williams, S. Diocletian and the Roman Recovery (NY: Routledge, 1997). DG313 .W54 1997
Willis, R. (gen. ed.) World Mythology (NY: H. Holt, 1993). BL311 .W66 1993
RESEARCH TOPICS AND SOURCES: Ancient Rome
John Lewis
The assignment: write a research paper, approximately 3000-4000 words (12 to 15 double-spaced pages), on a topic selected from one of the following categories. Use one or more primary texts (or photos) as your central historical source(s); use secondary readings to support your interpretation of the primary source(s). The paper must have a clear theme, a clearly stated direction of approach, and must be clear in its use of the primary sources.
Primary sources are from the Loeb Classical Series (English facing Latin, Read Covers) unless otherwise specified. Most, but not all, Loebs are found in the AU Library.
One secret to writing a classics paper is to have a text to bite into. “Roman Myth” is too wide, but to focus on Venus in the story of Cupid and Psyche in Apuleius Golden Ass could lead to a good paper.
Roman Claims to Fame
Julius Caesar, Gallic Wars
Caesar Augustus, Res Gestae
Roman Views of their Past
Vergil, Aeneid
Livy, Early History of Rome
Roman Emperors
Pliny Panegyricus (on Trajan)
Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars
The Roman Political Constitution
Polybius Rise of the Roman Empire
Tacitus Annals
Life in the Imperial Court
Ammianus Marcellinus History
Procopius The Secret History
Boethius The Consolation of Philosophy
Philosophy
Lucretius De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things)
Cicero De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (On the Ends of God and Evil)
Epictetus Encheiridion (Handbook)
Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Cicero De Officiis (On Duties)
Seneca De Vita Beata (On the Blessed Life)
Boethius Consolation of philosophy tr. J. C. Relihan. Indianapolis, IN : Hackett, 2001. B659.C2 E52.
Roman Law
Justinian Digests
Roman Religion
Livy Early History of Rome
M. Beard, J. North, and S. Price, Religions of Rome 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1998). SEM OX 52 B38r
Rome and Christianity
Ammianus Marcellinus
Eusebius
Pliny, Letters
Tacitus Annals
Augustine City of God
Oratorical Studies
Cicero On Oratory
Tacitus On Oratory
Mythology
Ovid Metamorphoses
Apuleius The Golden Ass
Vergil, Aeneid
Greek Origins of Roman Comedy
The Plays of Plautus
Duckworth, G. E. The Complete Roman Drama; all the extant comedies of Plautus
and Terence, and the tragedies of Seneca (NY: Random House, 1942). PA6165.D8
Roman Poets
Horace. Odes and Epodes ed. and tr. N. Rudd. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004. PA25.L65 H67 2004.
Greek Origins of Roman Tragedy
Seneca, Tragedies. Ed. and tr. J. G. Fitch. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002-2004. 2 v. PA6666.A1 F58 2002.
Roman Historiography
Marasco, G. Greek and Roman Historiography in Late Antiquity (Leiden: Brill, 2003).
View of Foreigners: Judea
Josephus, The Jewish War
View of Foreigners: Germany
Tacitus, Germania
View of Foreigners: Britain
Tacitus, Agricola
Life on the Farm
Vergil, Georgics
Tacitus, Agricola
Roman Biography
Plutarch
Suetonius
Building and Architecture
Vitruvius, De Architectura (On Architecture)
Pliny, Natural History
Nineteenth Century Reception
Primary Text:
E. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
T. Mommsen, The History of Rome
Research Paper Questions
These questions might spur you onto a good research paper topic.
1. Historiography: Polybius speaks of certain causes of the rise of Rome over the Mediterranean. What are these causes? How can particular and general causes be distinguished? How do matters of character play into Polybius’ account? What role is offered to Fortune?
2. Military History: Discuss the power relations in the First Punic War. How did the interests of smaller states widen to include Rome and Carthage? How, for instance, were the political factions in Messana instrumental in bringing Rome into the conflict?
3. How exactly did Rome’s interests clash with those of Carthage? To what extent, if any, did matters of material self-interest give way to matters of honor? In other words, to what extent did fighting the war take on a life of its own?
4. Discuss Rome’s cultural relationships with the Greek city-states in southern Italy. To what extent does Polybius fail to consider these matters sufficiently, and why? What influences did the Greeks have on Rome in the third and second centuries BC? Consider, for example, the influence of Greek comedies on the Roman comedic writer Plautus.
5. Polybius claims that the Roman constitution was a key factor in Rome's rise to dominance. How does he support his claim? Is he successful?
6. Polybius connects his discussion of political constitutions to the organization of the Roman army. What connections can you see between the Roman political constitution and the organization of the armed forces? How did the organization of the army enhance Rome's power?
7. Polybius is concerned with character, both for individual men and for Rome as a political entity. What was the character of the Roman constitution, and how did it enhance the virtues (or vices) of the individual citizens?
8. Discuss the political factors that led to the war against Jugurtha and the Numidians. To what extent, if any, was this war an extension of the war with Carthage?
9. What Roman attitudes towards provincials can be discerned in Sallust’s account of the war with Jugurtha? Was Rome concerned only with ruling, or were there other considerations more basic than this?
10. Who was Gaius Marius? What is Sallust’s view of him? What innovations did he bring to Rome? How does Gaius Marius represent the “Novus Homo” in Rome”
11. What was the conspiracy of Cataline? Was it as important as our sources make it out be? What motives would Sallust and Cicero have had to write or speak of this as they did?
12. What, if any, constitutional issues can be discerned in the conspiracy of Cataline? Consider here not only the constitutional implications of the actions of the conspirators, but also those of Cicero and his enemies.
13. What is the conflict between the optimates and the populares? What relationship does it have to the struggle of the orders that grew out of Rome’s early history?
14. What innovations can be discerned during the reign of Augustus? How do these innovations compare to what Augustus thinks is important?
15. What was the personal character of Tiberius? Was he placed into a job that was too big for him?
16. Discuss the role of family interests in the Julio-Claudian emperors. How did Augustus’ adoption of Tiberius set a precedent for the succession, and how did later family members use that precedent?
17. Choose a figure (not an emperor) from Tacitus’ Annals and discuss his or her role in the attainment and maintenance of imperial power. Suggested figures are Germanicus, Agrippina (either younger or elder), or Sejanus.
18. Consider the rising religion of Christianity in the first century AD. How could the Romans of the first century have understood Christian teachings? (In examining this question focus on the Romans and what they would have thought, not on a presentation of Christian doctrines beyond what is necessary to understand the Romans.)
19. Can Nero be understood in a good light? Is he merely a pretentious idiot, or did he have a vision for Rome that transcended personal vanity? How did his interests clash with those of Rome?
20. What are Gibbon’s views of the rise of the Christians? How do his reasons compare with what Eusebius claimed? How would a man of the Enlightenment (Gibbon) view the Christians, in contrast to an early Christian such as Eusebius?
21. How did Diocletian and Constantine address the problems of the Roman Empire in the late 3rd / early 4th centuries? How did their reactions to the Christians reflect these different approaches? How did Christianity come to serve as a basis for the unification of the Roman Empire?
22. How does historiography change in Eusebius? How do his methods of writing history differ from those of Polybius, Sallust or Tacitus?
23. What is the single most important factor in the rise, and/or fall, of Rome?
CITING CLASSICAL SOURCES Ancient Rome
John Lewis May 4, 2003
1. Every classical source has a standard citation indicator indicating specific lines and / or sections. These are what you need to use in research papers. It is not acceptable to cite a page number in a translation (e.g., Polybius page 124 to indicate page 124 in the Penguin edition of Polybius).
2. Most have standard abbreviations for author and title. These are found in the Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary. If you are not sure of the abbreviation, don’t sweat it; simply spell the entire author / title out, then use standard line / section numbers. (Even better, look it up, or ask.)
3. Sample Latin Writers:
Ammianus Marcellinus Amm
Boetheus Consolation of Philosophy Boeth. Consol.
Caesar Augustus August.
Caesar, Caius Julius Bellum Civle Caes. B.C.
Bellum Gallicum Caes. B.G.
Cato De Re Rustica Cato R.R.
Cicero De Senectute Cic. Sen.
Against Catiline 1 Cic. Cat. 1
Ovid Amores Ov. Am.
Metamorphoses Ov. Met.
Plautus Plaut. (with play and line)
Pliny (elder) Natural History Plin. H.N.
Pliny (younger) Letters Plin. Ep.
Sallust: Jugurthine War Sall. Jug.
Catiline Conspiracy Sall. Cat.
Seneca De Clementia Sen Clem.
Hippolytus Sen. Hippol.
Tacitus Agricola Tac. Agr.
Annales Tac. Ann.
Germania Tac. Germ.
Historia Tac. Hist.
Terence Ter. (with play and line)
Vergil Aeneid Verg. Aen.
4. Sample Greek Writers (concerned with Roman History):
Dio Cassius D.C.
Eusebius Eus.
New Testament N.T. (with Book, chapter and verse)
Polybius Polyb.
5. Example of text with footnote:
Aeschylus' Persians 337 has the messenger say the barbarians would have gained victory plh/qouj . . . e(/khti “on account of numbers.” [1]
[1] Similar formulations, see Iliad 15.319; 19.86; 20.42. For against one’s will, see a)e/khti, e.g., Od 3.213. In lyric / tragic e(/khti is used of gods, e.g., B 1.6; A Eu 759; Ch 214; of men, as Sim 11.15 has kle/oj a)n[dro\j] e(/khti, but also of things, in the sense of "on account of, for the sake of, by reason of," e.g., Pi N 8.47; A Ch 701; SPh 669; Tr 274, 353; E Med 1235; Cyc 365; A Pers 337.
John Lewis
classicalideals@yahoo.com