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Cline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1 AHIS220 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE CONTENTS Part 1: Unit Description and Aims of the Unit 2 Part 2: Program of Lectures, Tutorials, Text-book, and Assessment 3 Part 3: Contact Details, Day and External Classes, Blackboard i. Teaching Staff Contact Details and Office Hours 5 ii. General Enquiries iii. Classes iv. Day and External Classes v. Blackboard Site 6 Part 4: Graduate Capabilities and Expected Learning Outcomes 7 Part 5: Requirements for Satisfactory Completion of the Unit i. Unit Requirements: Attendance, Readings, Assessment 9 ii. Texts and Readings 10 iii. Assessment summary 11 iv. Student Workload 12 v. Examination Part 6: Grading; Penalties and Extension; Academic Honesty i. The Grading System 14 ii. Grade Descriptors for Department of Ancient History iii. Penalties: late submission, over or under length written work 15 iv. Extension requests 16 v. Special Consideration vi. Academic honesty; Plagiarism Part 7: Notes for Lecture and Tutorial preparation 18 Part 8: Support Services 21 Part 9: Assignments i. Document Study 23 ii. Research Essay 25 iii. Marking Criteria 33 Part 10: Preparing and Submitting Essays, Reviewing Feedback i. Writing assistance 34 ii. Submission and Return of Essays iii. Feedback 35 ii. Style Guide for Department of Ancient History 36 Part 11: Late Antiquity on the Web 38 Part 12: Reference Works and Bibliography i. Reference Works 39 ii. Bibliography 41 iii. Maps and Tables 42 2 PART 1: UNIT DESCRIPTION AND INTRODUCTION i. UNIT DESCRIPTION: AHIS220 THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE The collapse of the Roman empire, after five centuries of domination of the Mediterranean world, represents a major shift in the political, military, and cultural forces of antiquity. Rome‘s Fall is also a key concept in contemporary understanding of the ancient and indeed modern world, arguably the defining idea of the European historical tradition. This unit will study the politics and culture of the Roman and post-Roman period of the fourth to sixth centuries (seguing into early medieval Europe) through close examination of texts ranging from historical narratives to imperial documents to saints‘ lives. We will also consider how modern thinkers have defined this period and used it as a paradigm for later history, from Gibbon‘s ―triumph of barbarism and religion‖ to more recent views of Rome‘s Fall as ―an interesting experiment that got a little out of hand.‖ ii. AIMS OF THE UNIT THE LATE ROMAN WEST, 376-590: 476, when the last western emperor Romulus was deposed, is the generally-accepted date for the end of western half of the Roman empire (i.e. roughly what we would now call Italy, France, Spain, Austria, Britain, and northern Africa). The Roman empire actually kept ticking away in its eastern half for just short of another millennium (we often call it the Byzantine empire); we will cast occasional glances askance at the East as necessary (for example, when eastern emperors or barbarian rulers march their armies westward with hostile intent). But our focus will be the western half, for a period of about a century either side of 476. Fading in about 376 and out in the 590s, we'll examine the particular shape of imperial politics in the late Roman empire; the establishment of the ‗barbarian kingdoms‘ on what had formerly been imperial territory and their eventual succession to Roman rule in the West; the changing role of religion in public and cultural life; and the question of individual and group identity under these changing circumstances. SOURCE STUDIES AND METHODOLOGY We‘ll be looking primarily at written sources, rather than at material remains. Often what we want to know, our sources don‘t tell us, because very few, if any, sources were created with the intention of being time capsules. Most were written with some more specific and immediate — though not necessarily mundane — purpose in mind. For example, throughout the semester you'll be reading some speeches of praise which were read out, once only, live and on stage, at a specific time on a specific day at a specific place, before a Roman emperor and the assembled Senate of Rome. You'll also read biographies of bishops which were best-sellers in the publishing industry of the time. The speeches of praise (panegyrics) sought precise benefits from the emperors: a tax concession, a career promotion, or the waiving of a punishment. The biographies of bishops (hagiographies) had the effect of promoting a holy and often profitable tourist trade to their tombs. That we find both of them set out together in books of history is a little misleading; neither intended to be histories in our sense, and they differed considerably from each other in their own time. The trick is to learn what sort of questions you can, and can‘t, ask of each type of source. 3 PART 2: PROGRAMME OF LECTURES, TUTORIALS, TEXT-BOOK, AND ASSESSMENT Week 1 Lecture: Introduction: Did Rome Fall or Was She Pushed? 24 Feb. (No tutorial this week) I: THE EMPEROR IN THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE Text: Mitchell, A History of the Later Roman Empire, chapters 1, 3, 5 Week 2 Lecture: The Later Roman Empire: How It Worked 3 March Tutorial: HISTORIA : Ammianus Marcellinus Week 3 Lecture: Bishops and Emperors 10 March (Library Tour – for students who have not done AHIS120) Tutorial: LETTERS AND LETTER COLLECTIONS: Ambrose of Milan Week 4 Lecture: The Nature of Our Sources 17 March Tutorial: PANEGYRIC: Claudian II: ROMANS AND BARBARIANS Text: Mitchell, A History of the Later Roman Empire, chapters 2 and 4 Week 5 Lecture: Romans and Barbarians to 376 24 March Tutorial : HAGIOGRAPHY: Constantius, The Life of St Germanus of Auxerre Week 6 Lecture: Theodosius I and the Generalissimos 31 March Tutorial : CHRONICLES: Hydatius, Chronicle Week 7 Lecture: Alaric, Stilicho, and the Sack of Rome 7 April (No tutorial this week) 9 April On-Campus session for External (X) students DAY (D) CLASS: DOCUMENT STUDY DUE, Thursday 7 April 5.00pm MID-SEMESTER RECESS (two weeks) EXTERNAL (X) CLASS: DOCUMENT STUDY DUE, Thursday 14 April 5.00pm 4 Week 8 Lecture: The Barbarian Settlements 28 April (No tutorial this week) Last day for requests for ‗Own Topic‘ Research Essay option Week 9 Lecture: The Last Generation of the Western Roman Empire 5 May Tutorial: Augustine, Confessions III: THE BARBARIAN KINGDOMS Text: Mitchell, A History of the Later Roman Empire, chapter 6 Week 10 Lecture: The Barbarian Kingdoms: How They Worked 12 May Tutorial: THE C5TH GOTHIC KINGDOM OF SOUTHERN GAUL: Paulinus of Pella, Thanksgiving Week 11 Lecture: Theoderic of Italy, Justinian, Cassiodorus, Procopius, Jordanes 19 May Tutorial: THE C6TH GOTHIC KINGDOM OF ITALY: The History of Theoderic Week 12 Lecture: After Empire: Identity and Culture 26 May (No tutorial this week) DAY AND EXTERNAL CLASSES: RESEARCH ESSAY DUE, Thursday 26 May, 5.00pm Week 13 Lecture: Wrap-up: 210 Causes of Rome’s Fall 2 June Tutorial: Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy EXAMINATION IN EXAM PERIOD 5 PART 3: CONTACT DETAILS, DAY AND EXTERNAL CLASSES, BLACKBOARD i. TEACHING STAFF CONTACT DETAILS AND OFFICE HOURS The unit is taught by Associate Professor Andrew Gillett (unit convenor). Contact details: OFFICE: building W6A room 505 TELEPHONE AND VOICEMAIL: 9850 9966 (if ringing on an internal campus phone, e.g. from the Library foyer: ext. 9966) EMAIL: [email protected] OFFICE HOURS: Thursday 3.00-4.00, Friday 11.00-12.00 ii. GENERAL ENQUIRIES For enrolment or other enquires, please visit or call the Department of Ancient History office: OFFICE: building W6A room 527 TELEPHONE AND VOICEMAIL: 9850 8833 EMAIL: [email protected] iii. CLASSES For lecture and tutorial times and classrooms please consult the MQ Timetable website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au. This website will display up-to-date information on your classes and classroom locations. iv. DAY (D) AND EXTERNAL (X) CLASSES Day (D) version: Students enrolled in the Day (D) version of the unit are required to enrol, attend, and participate in one of the tutorials listed on the MQ Timetable website. Due dates for assessment items are listed in Parts 2 and 8. External (X) version: Lectures: All lectures will be recorded and available through iLecture on the Blackboard site for the unit. PowerPoint slides will also be available on the site (there may be a delay of up to an hour after the delivery of the lecture before slides are available). If you would prefer a CD-ROM of the lectures to be posted to you, please contact The Centre for Open Education (02-9850 7470). On-line Tutorials: Students enrolled in the External (X) version are required to participate in the on-line tutorial, for External students only, during for each of the 9 weeks for which tutorials are scheduled (Weeks 2-6, 9-11, 13). The on-line tutorial will 6 operate as a ―bulletin board‖-style discussion on the Blackboard ―Discussions‖ site, from Mondays to Fridays. Participation is mandatory. On-Campus Day: An on-campus session for External students will be held on Saturday 9 April. Details of the day will be mailed out early in semester. Attendance is mandatory. Assessment dates: The due date for External (X) students for the Document Study is Thursday 14 April (a week later than Day students, to allow for the On-Campus session). The due date for the Research Essay is Thursday 26 May, the same as for Day students. v. BLACKBOARD SITE The Blackboard site for this unit can be accessed at: http://www.learn.mq.edu.au. It will be used for posting notices (such as essay-writing notices), iLecture recordings, occasional messages, and for the On-line discussion tutorial for External (X) students.
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