East Tennessee State University

Department of History

History 4227: Ancient Rome


Mr. Burgess

"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?"

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

Course Description: This course will survey the history of ancient Rome from its origins to the Fourth Century A.D. Areas of emphasis will include: (1) the Regal Period, (2) the Struggle of the Orders, (3) the growth of the Republic, (4) Roman institutions, (5) the Roman conquest of Italy, (6) the fall of the Republic and the growth of autocracy, (7) adjustments in the Empire, (8) the early Christian Church, and (9) the culture of Rome and its subject peoples.

Lectures: 3 per week

Written Assignments:

This course has been designated Writing Intensive. All students will be required to write a paper for this course. It will be of moderate length (15 pages). All topics must be approved by me. Submission of a paper on a topic which has not been approved will materially affect your grade.

Papers will be written in three stages. On February 4 you will be required to submit an abstract of not less than one page and no more than two, plus a working bibliography used in your research. This will be returned for rewriting. You will resubmit this within one week of the date the graded first draft of the abstract was returned to you (resubmit on February 14). You will submit first draft of the abstract with the rewritten second draft. No rewritten draft will be accepted without the first draft accompanying it.

A complete first draft of the research paper will be due on April 1. This will be returned to you for rewriting. The final draft is due at the beginning of Dead Week (the last week of classes, not exam week!!). Your rough draft will be submitted with your final draft; no final draft will be accepted unless accompanied by the graded first draft.

Late projects will loose one letter grade per day beyond the due date. Don't give me some sad story. You know the due dates and you have all semester to work on it. You are adults and free moral agents (except for you Calvinists, I suppose). You may certainly make your choices as you see fit, but you will also have to live with the consequences. Do not seek an "Incomplete" in order to try to beat the paper deadline.

All papers must contain appropriate footnotes and bibliography. All papers must be typed and double spaced. No handwritten papers will be accepted.

History majors must adhere to Turabian as their citation guide. Others may use either Turabian or the style manual of their discipline. If you do not know how to cite webpages, ask me or go to the Citation Guide on the Department's main webpage.

Please pay attention to this!! I will not accept a paper for which the sources are primarily or wholly webpages. If you do this you will receive an "F" on the paper. You must use real books and journal articles. So get off your slacker butts and go to the library. Some academic websites are acceptable. If you have doubts, please ask me. Are we clear on this?

Plagiarism is a capital crime and will result in your being hung by your toenails from a great height and pummelled into insensibility with a damp carp. It will also result in an "F" for the course and possible expulsion from the university on an academic misconduct charge. Avoid it as you would the Plague.

I am sick unto dying of people plagarizing their papers. I have caught virtually everyone, and simply given them an "F"; this year I will adhere to University policy more fully and file academic misconduct charges, and seek your expulsion from the University. Are we clear on this?

Examination: For your final exam, you will be asked to write an essay which will allow you to discuss the general characteristics and ideas of Roman civilization and Roman history. This will not necessarily be a test over "factual" knowledge, but should allow you to show that you have developed an understanding of this culture.

Attendance: Attendance is not required. However, be advised that given the difficult and unfamiliar nature of the material, failure to attend on a regular basis may materially affect your grade. If you miss a significant portion of the material, then you have not been exposed to the material such that I can, in good conscience, give you a high grade. Twenty percent of your grade will be based upon consistent attendance. If you find this troubling and believe that it is an unreasonable expectation and an unconscienable infringement on your right to be a slacker, and are aware that you have a past history of inconsistent attendance in your classes, you will want to consider another class for this time slot. We will miss you terribly, indeed, we will be heartbroken, but we will also be happier in the long run.

ONCE MORE FOR CLARITY: Anyone failing to attend regularly will find a reduction of their final grade of not less than two full letter grades. I cannot, indeed will not, give you a high grade is you miss a major portion of the class.

Grading: Abstract: 10%, First draft: 20%, Final draft: 40%, Final essay: 10%, consistent attendance %20.

However, your final grade need not necessarily reflect a strict mathematical average of your scores. Improvement over the course of the semester will be acknowledged and taken into consideration, if it is warranted.

Class Participation: I encourage you to ask questions and to participate in this class. Failure to do so will not hurt your grade, but neither will it help it.

Office Hours: My office is 107 Rogers-Stout Hall. I will be there most of the day on both MWF and TR. Please, feel free to drop by without an appointment.

If there is any student in the class who has need for test-taking or note-taking accommodation, please feel free to come and discuss this with me.

Textbooks:

Reading Assignments:

I. Geographical Background

II. Rome before the Romans
III. Rome of the Kings
IV. The Struggle of the Orders
V. The Conquest of Italy
VI. The Punic Wars
VII. Roman Society in the Third and Second Centuries
VIII. Rome and the Hellenistic East
IX. The Gracchi
X. The Political Reaction
XI. The Political Philosophy of Stoicism
XII. The First Triumvirate and the Civil War
XIII. Julius Caesar
XIV. The Second Triumvirate and the Augustan Settlement
XV. The Julio-Claudian Emperors
XVI. The Flavian Emperors

XVII. The Antonine Emperors
XVIII. The Jews in the Roman World
XIX. The Early Church
XX. The Crisis of the Third Century
XXI. Pagan Cults and Greek Philosophy

XXII. Diocletian and Constantine

Last updated: The Ides of December, 2004