Required Text
Livy. The Early History of Rome. Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. New York: Penguin, 1960, 1971.
Caesar, Julius. The Civil War. Translated by Jane F. Gardner. New York: Penguin, 1967.
Cicero. On Government. Translated by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin, 1993.
Dio, Cassius. The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert. New York: Penguin, 1987.
Virgil. The Aeneid. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage Classics, 1981, 1990.
Ovid. The Love Poems. Translated by A. D. Melville. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
–––. The Metamorphoses. Translated by Horace Gregory. New York: Mentor, 1960.
Editions of Horace and Virgil available through the Perseus Digital Library.
BBC Television. I, Claudius. British Broadcasting Company, 1976. (Video, dvd)
Readings by Class Session
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction: Augustus, Authorship, and Authority | |
| 2 | Myths of Origin | Livy. The Early History of Rome. Book I. |
| 3 | Birth of a Nation: Gender and History | Livy. The Early History of Rome. Book II. |
| 4 | Repetition and Difference: The Patterns of History | Livy. The Early History of Rome. Book III-IV. |
| 5 | Roman Institutions | Livy. The Early History of Rome. Book V. |
| 6 | Warfare Public and Private | Caesar. The Civil War. |
| 7 | The Functioning of Political Propaganda | Caesar. The Civil War. (cont.) |
| 8 | The Waning Days of the Republic | Cicero. Phillipics. |
| 9 | The Tradition of Public and Political Oratory | Cicero. Brutus. |
| 10 | Actium and its Aftermath |
Dio, Cassius. The Roman History. Book 55. BBC. I, Claudius. Episodes 1-2. |
| 11 | From Republic to Empire |
Dio, Cassius. The Roman History. Book 56. BBC. I, Claudius. Episodes 3-4. |
| 12 | Independent Research Project Presentations | |
| 13 | Strategies of Accommodation |
Horace. Satires. Book I. (Text available on-line through the Perseus Project.) |
| 14 | Resignation and Withdrawal |
Horace. Odes. (Book I. i, ii, vi, ix, xi, xii, xxii, xxiii, xxiv, xxxvii, xxxviii; Book II. i, ii, iii, x, xii, xiv, xviii, xx; Book III. i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, vii, xxix, xxx; Book IV. viii, xii, xv.) Ars Poetica. (Text available on-line through the Perseus Project.) |
| 15 | Repetition and Reversal | Dio, Cassius. The Roman History. Book 57. |
| 16 | The Politics of Pastoral |
Virgil. Eclogues. (Text available on-line through the Perseus Project.) |
| 17 | The Golden Age of Rome | Virgil. Eclogues. (cont.) |
| 18 | The Wayward Hero | Virgil. Aeneid. Books I-IV. |
| 19 | Epics of Empire | Virgil. Aeneid. Books V-VIII. |
| 20 | Reconstituting the Nation | Virgil. Aeneid. Books IX-XII. |
| 21 | Organizing Desires: Fathers of the Fatherland |
Dio, Cassius. The Roman History. Book 59 Ovid. Amores. |
| 22 | Love Casuistry: Rhetoric, Deceit, and Desire |
Ovid. Ars Amatoria. –––. Remedia Amoris. |
| 23 | Translations of Empire | Ovid. Metamorphoses. Books I-IV. |
| 24 | Rhetoric and Regret | Ovid. Metamorphoses. Books V-VIII. |
| 25 | Art and Emotion | Ovid. Metamorphoses. Books IX-XII. |
| 26 | The Empire Reconsidered | Ovid. Metamorphoses. Books XIII-XV. |
