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CLASS HIS 340A

ROMAN EMPERORS

Fall Quarter 2012 Mo 2.15-5.05

Readings and background

Acquire a copy of Fergus Millar’s The emperor in the Roman world . All other required readings are available online or will be provided. You are expected to be familiar with the basic outlines of Roman history from the end of the Republic to the sixth century CE. Recommended background readings include Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars ; Tacitus, Annals ; Pliny the Younger, Panegyric ; Herodian, History; Historia Augusta ; Eusebius, Life of Constantine ; Ammianus (esp. on Julian); In Praise of Later Roman Emperors: Panegyrici Latini (trs. Nixon/Rodgers); Procopius, Secret History . This course is restricted to graduate students.

Schedule and readings

September 24 Introduction

October 1 Traditional approaches, I: imperial biography Assigned readings Suetonius, Life of Caligula (for this and the next session) J. P. V. D. Balsdon, The emperor Gaius (Caligula) (1934), 58-95; E. J. Phillips, “The emperor Gaius’ abortive invasion of Britain,” Historia 19 (1970), 369-373; M. B. Flory, “Pearls for Venus,” Historia 37 (1988), 498-504; A. A. Barrett, Caligula: the corruption of power (1990), 125-139; D. Woods, “Caligula’s sea-shells,” Greece and Rome 47 (2000), 80-87; S. J. V. Malloch, “Gaius on the Channel Coast,” Classical Quarterly 51 (2001), 551-556 Recommended further readings For recent perspectives on the topic of the seminar, see A. Winterling (ed.), Zwischen Strukturgeschichte und Biographie: Probleme und Perspektiven einer neuen Römischen Kaisergeschichte 31 v. Chr. - 192 n. Chr. (2011)

October 8 Traditional approaches, II: more imperial biography Assigned readings J. P. V. D. Balsdon, The emperor Gaius (Caligula) (1934), 205-219; A. A. Barrett, Caligula: the corruption of power (1990), 213-241; A. Winterling, “Meaningful madness: the emperor Caligula,” in Winterling, PSIR 103-119; L. de Arrizabalaga y Prado, The emperor Elagabalus: fact or fiction? (2010), 1-56, with 294-343 Recommended further readings Try the movie Caligula (1979) or M. Icks, The crimes of Elagabalus: the life and legacy of Rome’s decadent boy emperor (2011)

October 15 Traditional approaches, III: institutions and practice Assigned readings F. Millar, The emperor in the Roman world (31 BC – AD 337) (1977) XI-XII, 3-12, 203-272; K. Hopkins, “Rules of evidence,” Journal of Roman Studies 68 (1978), 178-186 Recommended further readings J. Bleicken, Zum Regierungsstil des römischen Kaisers : eine Antwort auf Fergus Millar (1982)

November 22 Non-traditional approaches, I: turnover and discontinuity Presentation by instructor; no readings Recommended further readings For basic facts, F. Meijer, Emperors don’t die in bed (2004). On usurpations, E. Flaig, Den Kaiser herausfordern : die Usurpation im römischen Reich (1992), 208-568; J. Szidat, Usurpator tanti nominis : Kaiser und Usurpator in der Spätantike (337-476 n. Chr.) (2010). For comparanda, cf., e.g., D. Ogden, Polygamy, prostitutes and death: the Hellenistic dynasties (1999); R. von Friedeburg (ed.), Murder and monarchy: regicide in European history, 1300- 1800 (2004).

October 29 Non-traditional approaches, II: theorizing autocratic rule (*Federica) Assigned readings B. Bueno de Mesquita, A. Smith, R. M. Siverson and J. D. Morrow, The logic of political survival (2003), 3-106, 273-292, 329-346; H. E Chelabi and J. J. Linz (eds.), Sultanistic regimes (1998), 3-48 Recommended further readings R. Burling, The passage of power: studies in political succession (1974); R. Wintrobe, The political economy of dictatorship (2000); B. Bueno de Mesquita and A. Smith, The dictator’s handbook (2011)

November 5 Becoming emperor, I: selectorates and winning coalitions? (*Jackie) Assigned readings J. Nicols, Vespasian and the partes Flavianae (1978), 86-177 J. D. Grainger, Nerva and the succession crisis of AD 96-99 (2003), 66-108

November 12 Emperors and aristocrats, I: a comparative framework (*Sienna) Assigned readings K. Hopkins, Death and renewal (1983) 149-198; H. Zmora, Monarchy, aristocracy and the state in Europe 1300-1800 (2001) Recommended further readings F. Millar, The emperor in the Roman world (31 BC – AD 337) (1977) 275-361 (for this and the next session). On western aristocracies, cf. also R. Bendix, Kings or people: power and the mandate to rule (1978); J. Powis, Aristocracy (1984); S. Clark, State and status (1995).

November 19 Emperors and aristocrats, II: relations [Thanksgiving Week] (*Scott) Assigned readings R. P. Saller, Personal patronage under the early Empire (1982) 41-78; B. W. Jones, The emperor Domitian (1992), 160-198; M. B. Roller, Constructing autocracy: aristocrats and emperors in Julio-Claudian Rome (2001), 129-212

November 26 Emperors and the court Assigned readings F. Millar, The emperor in the Roman world (31 BC – AD 337) (1977) 59-131; K. Hopkins, “The political power of eunuchs,” in Hopkins, Conquerors and slaves (1978) 172-196; A. Winterling, “A court without “state:” the aula Caesaris ,” in Winterling, PSIR 79-102 Recommended further readings A. Winterling, Aula Caesaris: Studien zur Institutionalisierung des römischen Kaiserhofes in der Zeit von Augustus bis Commodus (31 v. Chr.-192 n. Chr.) (1999); S. Tougher (ed.), Eunuchs in antiquity and beyond (2002); S. Tougher, The eunuch in Byzantine history and society (2008)

December 3 no class

Requirements

Present critical reports on the readings for a class, or on parts of the readings for more than one class. If you take the seminar for one quarter (in the fall), write a paper of 6-8,000 words. Grades will be based on papers, reports and class participation.

Students with documented disabilities Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability must initiate the request with the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) located within the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). SDRC staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current quarter in which the request is being made. Students should contact the SDRC as soon as possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066).