Assignments

Short Papers

Three short writing assignments early in the term will require students to engage in close reading and critical analysis of key ancient literary sources. Students must complete three of the four options for the short papers.

Short Paper Option 1

Short Paper Option 2

Short Paper Option 3

Short Paper Option 4

All papers must comply with the following presentational guidelines:

Papers must be 750 words in length (≈3 pages).
Papers must be typed in 12-point font, with at least 1½ line spacing.
Your paper should have a brief title; but there is no need for a title page.
On the short response papers, a bibliography is also unnecessary.

The papers will be worth 30% of the final grade.

Research Paper

The final paper should be a research paper of 3,000 words (≈10 to 12 pages) on a theme of your choice. Your research paper will be expected to demonstrate the skills developed in your earlier writing assignments (i.e. close analysis of ancient literary and non-literary evidence) as well as knowledge and understanding of as wide as possible a range of the modern works relevant to your chosen theme.

A topic proposal and outline will be due during Session 17.

The research paper will be worth 40% of the final grade.

Angelica Kauffman, Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi (1785).
(This image is in the public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

Plutarch’s Lives of the Gracchi

Plutarch, as any author, had a series of choices to make when he set out to write biographies of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus: What material should he include / exclude (the lives are far from comprehensive)? How should he organize the material he chose to include? What aspects of the Gracchi’s lives and character should he emphasize? What might appeal most to Plutarch’s audience? What did Plutarch hope to achieve in writing these or any of his biographies?

Plutarch’s answers to these questions obviously determined the finished product of the biographies. Your job in this paper is to spotlight Plutarch’s authorial presence by identifying one key theme in the Lives of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus (education, rhetorical skill, maternal influence, aristocratic competition, social divisions at Rome, self-control or lack thereof, etc.) and demonstrating how it operates in the text.

Papers Receiving High Grades Will Excel in Each of the Following

Argument and Structure

Your paper should seek to convince its reader of an argument, a thesis. The thesis should be clearly stated in the introduction to the paper. The body of the paper should seek to support your thesis by marshalling an abundance of evidence from the text in a clearly structured and coherent argument. Finally, a conclusion should remind your reader of the thesis you have been supporting and suggest how that thesis is relevant to a wider historical context. Remember throughout that your paper should be a work of critical analysis.

Knowledge and Understanding

Your paper should demonstrate a close knowledge of the text on which your argument rests: knowledge both of the details of relevant passages as well as of the work as a whole. Your ability to subject the source to critical analysis and to come to your own understanding of its significance should also emerge clearly from your paper.

Quality of Writing

Your argument should be expressed in clear, concise, and readable English. There should be no errors of grammar, syntax, or spelling. Precision and elegance of expression will be rewarded.

Referencing

Your paper should be based on close reading of the text and so should contain full and precise referencing of the text throughout. References to Plutarch’s Lives of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus conventionally take the abbreviated form ‘Plut., Ti. Gracch. 7’ for Plutarch, Life of Tiberius Gracchus, Section 7.

The paper is due during Session 4.

A black and white drawing of a seated man wearing an elaborate tunic, gazing down at a man brought to him with his hands and feet in chains.

“Jugurtha’s Capture.”
From La conjuracion de Catilina y la Guerra de Jugurta por Cayo Salustio Crispo by Don
Gabriel de Borbón, 1772. (This image is in the public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

Short Paper Option 2 should be a response paper on Sallust’s Jugurthine War. To what should you be responding?

In the Jugurthine War, Sallust tells the story of the Romans’ war with Jugurtha in the years 111–105 BC. Although that war was important and interesting per se, it is clear that Sallust’s real target is the political life of the Roman Republic in the same period. In other words, he uses the external conflict with Jugurtha as a means of revealing the internal struggles of the Roman state in the closing decades of the 2^nd century BC. How does he do so? What (or who!) does Sallust identify as the main sources of tension and conflict at Rome in these years?

As you did in your earlier response paper(s), you will want to look out for passages of the text wherein Sallust reveals some of the choices he is making as the author of this particular version of the war against Jugurtha. Again, given the brevity of the paper, you will want to identify ONE theme / issue that seems of particular importance. Whatever you choose as a focus for your close reading of the text, it will, as always, be a good idea to indicate some of the broader conclusions one might be able to draw about the state of the Roman republic in the closing decades of the 2^nd century BC.

The paper is due during Session 6.

Marius

(This image is in the public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

A slightly-damaged bust of a strong-featured gentleman with thick hair.

Sulla

(This image is in the public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

Short Paper 3 should be a response paper on Appian, The Civil Wars, 1.55–107. To what should you be responding?

This section of Appian’s work covers the civil war between Sulla and Marius (and Marius’ supporters after the latter’s death in 86) from its outbreak in 88, through its aftermath in the form of the dictatorship of Sulla in 81–80, up to Sulla’s death in 78. As you did in your earlier response paper(s), you will want to look out for passages of the text wherein Appian reveals some of the choices he is making as the author of this particular version of events. You might wish to focus, for example, on what Appian proposes as an explanation for the outbreak of civil war, or on Appian’s portrayal of Marius (which you can now compare, explicitly or implicitly, with the portrayal you have already encountered in Sallust and Plutarch), or on Appian’s portrayal of Sulla. Whatever you choose as a focus for your close reading of the text, it will, as always, be a good idea to indicate some of the broader conclusions one might be able to draw about the state of the Roman republic in the 80s BC.

The paper is due during Session 9.

Cesare Maccari, Cicero Denounces Catiline (1888) Palazzo Madama, Rome.
(This image is in the public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons.)

Short Paper 4 should be a response paper on Cicero’s In Catilinam (‘Against Catiline’) I–II.

The episode of Catiline’s conspiracy in 63 BC is of great interest in its own right. It is also often used by modern scholars as a window into broader issues that characterized the decade of the 60s BC at Rome. In describing the plot and making his case against the conspirators, Cicero’s speeches capture many of the underlying factors that contributed to the outbreak of violence between Catiline and his supporters on the one hand and the Roman state, led by Cicero as consul of 63, on the other. In your response, you should identify one such factor and offer a critical appreciation of how that factor operates in Cicero’s first and second speeches against Catiline.

The paper is due during Session 13.

Your Topic Proposal Should Include the Following Five Elements

A descriptive statement of your TOPIC
1. “I will study…”
2. One paragraph.
Explanation of your CONCEPTUAL QUESTION
1. “Because I want to find out what / why / how…”
2. At least one paragraph.
Explication of the CONCEPTUAL SIGNIFICANCE of your topic
1. “In order to help readers understand whether…”
2. I.e. an answer to the question “So what?” or “Why should I care?”
3. At least one paragraph.
Provisional OUTLINE
1. Indicating topics you plan to cover.
2. Indicating as fully as possible the ancient sources relevant to each topic.
3. At least two pages.
Annotated BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. At least five modern works (a total of ten is a good target).
2. Your assessment of what each work will contribute to your study.
3. One or two sentences for each item.

Assessment Criteria

Is the project viable?
Is the project interesting? (Is the question critically minded and sufficiently probing?)
Does the proposal reflect a rigorous effort to find relevant scholarly bibliography?
Is the proposal well written and generally polished?

The format for the topic proposal and outline is adapted from the Prospectus Writing Tips of the Department of History at Brown University.

The topic proposal and outline is due during Session 17.

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Julius Caesar and the Fall of the Roman Republic