THE ROMAN REPUBLIC the Course, Covering a Chronological Range Of
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THE ROMAN REPUBLIC The course, covering a chronological range of approximately three centuries, aims to study Rome from its emergence as a leading city-state in Italy to the eventual decline of its republican system. A particular emphasis will be given to the investigation of the values that informed Roman republican society. The course will be structured as follows: the first half of the lectures will focus on the evolution and transformation of Roman society analysed in its political, economic, social and cultural aspects. The emergence of and changes in political and social values will be highlighted. The second half of the lectures will concentrate on the factors that led to the fall of the Republic, paying particular attention to the evolution of the ideas previously presented as part of an ideological system. In the classes we will analyse specific topics connected to the lecture and will have the opportunity to handle different kinds of ancient sources (literary, archaeological and epigraphical). Lectures: Tuesday, 10.00-11.00 in Gordon House 106 Classes: Tuesday, 2-3 in Gordon Square 24, room 204 Tuesday, 4-5 in Gordon Square 25, room G10 Method of Teaching The course will be taught in lectures and discussion classes, for a total of two terms (approximately 35- 40 contact hours). Students are required to prepare for and participate in class discussion. For each seminar session there is a minimum selection of reading stipulated in the bibliographies that will be distributed each week; for researching and writing coursework essays and preparing for the examination you MUST consult the full bibliographies provided in this document. Students may be asked to prepare brief presentations for seminar discussion once or twice a term. Programme Week 1 Introduction to the course and its sources (no class) Week 2 The Roman ‘Constitution’ and its Historical Development (the concepts of Regnum, Libertas and Res Publica) class: The XII Tables Week 3 Rome and the Conquest of Italy (Ius Civile and Iura Peregrina) class: Iguvine Tablets and the Vegoia Prophecy Week 4 Imperium: the wars against Carthage class: Representations of Romans and others in Roman comedies Week 5 The Social Transformation of the Second Century BC: the Role of Women and Slaves class: Women: models of virtues or vices? Reading Week Week 6 Imperium and Lex: Rome and the East class: The modern debate on Roman imperialism (the concept of imperium and government). Week 7 Hellenism and Hellenisation, and Hellenism in Rome class: Roman portraits Week 8 Economic and Demographic Development, the Role of Slavery, and the Concept of Libertas class: The emergence of the Roman villa? Week 9 Imperium and Lex: Rome, the West and the Romans’ attempts to regulate themselves (no class) Week 10 The Battle for Equality: the Gracchi class: Arguments and oratory Week 11 Populares and Optimates: the Destabilisation of Roman Political Life class: The elaboration and transformation of the concept of equality Week 12 The Social War: questions of citizenship class: The modern debate on the extension of citizenship Week 13 Dominatio: The Empire in the late Second Century. The Sullan Regime class: Provincial Organization and trials Week 14 Par Potestas: Pompey, Caesar, Crassus class: Concepts of potestas, dignitas and the Roman society Week 15 From Spartacus to Clodius: 70s - 50s (Libertas and Ius) class: Roman concepts of ius, libertas, civitas, and lex Reading Week Week 16 The Idea of Democracy in the West class: The premises of the modern debates and the idea of democracy in the Hellenistic East Week 17 The Late Republican religious system class: Lucretius and the Roman ‘Enlightenment’ Week 18 Anarchy and Law (no class) Week 19 Tyranny: Caesar’s Dictatorship and Death class: Caesar on Trial Week 20 The expanded Roman state (no class) Course Tutor Name and address: Dr Valentina Arena, Department of History, UCL, Gower St., London WC1E 6BT Office: room 402, History Department (25 Gordon Square) Office hours: Tuesday, 3-4; Wednesday, 1-2. External phone: 020 679 2293 Internal phone: 32293 E-mail: [email protected] Attendance The Department requires you to attend all lectures and classes. If, for any unavoidable reason, you cannot attend a session, please let me know in advance. Illness is a valid reason, if verified by a certificate from your GP or from the Student Health Centre. If you fail to attend to the satisfaction of the teacher, you will not be allowed to complete the unit. Examination The course will be examined by assessment of the two essays (weighted 25 %) and a three hour end-of-year exam (weighted 75 %) Coursework Essays Questions for your assessed coursework essays are listed below. You must choose a title from this sheet. You should submit two hard copies of each essay. Please put your name on both copies. One copy will be returned to you with corrections, along with a cover sheet of comments; the other will be retained for the use of the second and external examiners. Essays should be handed in at the departmental Reception, with a 3-part cover sheet attached. Please ensure you fill in all the required details, including the word count of your essay. Cover sheets can be found in the corridor outside room G.06 and in the Undergraduate Common Room. Complete the cover sheet with a ball-point pen (press hard) and attach it to your essay with a paper clip. Please do not staple it. All parts of the cover sheet and both copies of the essay will be date-stamped on receipt. The third copy of the cover sheet will be returned to you as proof that the essay was submitted. This should be retained in a safe place. Please note that assessed coursework must be date-stamped in order to receive a mark. Without this, it will receive a mark of zero. In addition, all coursework essays MUST be submitted electronically, via Moodle, by the relevant deadline. Deadlines For students who attend the whole year: The first essay should be handed in by Monday 16th November 2009. This is an unofficial deadline that I have set to help you to space out your essay writing assignments. You will not be penalized if you fail to meet it. However, I may not be able to provide one-to-one tutorial feedback for essays that are submitted after this deadline. The official deadline for your first essay is 5 p.m. on Monday 14th December. You will be penalised if you fail to meet this deadline unless you have been granted an extension by the Chair of the Board of Examiners (see below). The second essay should be handed in by Monday 15th February 2010. Again, this is an unofficial deadline and you will not be penalised if you fail to meet it. However, I may not be able to provide one-to-one tutorial feedback for essays that are submitted after this deadline. The official deadline for your second essay is 5 p.m. on Monday 22nd March. You will be penalized if you fail to meet this deadline unless you have been granted an extension by the Chair of the Board of Examiners (see below). Each of these essays should be c.2,500 words (including footnotes but excluding bibliography). If either of my unofficial deadlines clash with other unofficial deadlines set by your other teachers, please bring this to my attention, and we will try to negotiate different dates. You must achieve a pass in both your coursework and your examination in order to pass the course. For Affiliate students leaving in December only (course codes ending in ‘A’): You should choose two essay questions from the list below. These are equally weighted, and should be submitted to the History Department Reception by the official deadline,which is 5 p.m. on 18th December. Each of these essays should be c.2,500 words (including footnotes but excluding bibliography). I strongly recommend that you submit your first essay by my unofficial deadline of Monday 6th November so that I have an opportunity to give you some tutorial feedback before you write your second essay. However, you will not be penalised if you do not meet this unofficial deadline. For Affiliate students who start the course in January only (course codes ending in ‘B’): Choose one essay question from the list below. This essay, which counts for 40% of the final mark, must be submitted by 5 p.m. on 22nd March. The second essay, which counts for the remaining 60% of the final mark, will be a summative essay. The choice of questions for this essay will be posted on the departmental noticeboard outside room G.06 on 26th April. The essay should be submitted in person to the History Department Reception by 5 p.m. on 17th May and no earlier than 10th May. Each of these essays should be c.2,500 words (including footnotes but excluding bibliography). For second-year History students writing the HIST2902 long essay in connection with this course: You are required to submit an approved proposal for your essay by 5 p.m. on Monday 18th January. Your final 7,500-word essay should be submitted by 5 p.m. on Monday 26th April. Penalties Any essay submitted after the relevant deadline listed above will be penalised by 5 MARKS PER DAY LATE, up to a maximum of FOUR days, after which it will receive a mark of 0. Penalties are not applied by the teacher marking the essay, but by the Chair of the Board of Examiners, and are included in the calculation of the final overall coursework mark.