First-Year Courses in Classical Civilization (Division 344)

Winter Term, 2000 (September 8 - December 22, 1999)

The Department of Classical Studies believes that the literature, monuments, and social institutions of the ancient world, together with the reflections of the Greek and Roman thinkers about their own cultures, are of unique value in themselves, well worth our contemplation and understanding; and that as we attempt to learn about and appreciate classical civilization, we necessarily learn as well a variety of contemporary methodologies and disciplines.

The department offers three groups of courses for distribution, those in Classical Civilization (introductory courses that require no knowledge of Greek or Latin), courses in Classical Archaeology, and upper-level language courses in Greek and Latin authors or genres. While only a few courses are repeated in yearly or biennial rotation, most courses are offered less regularly. This system guarantees that the instructor approaches the subject each time with fresh impetus. We believe in a healthy change and variation in our course offerings.

Classical Civilization offerings include the general surveys of Greek and Roman civilizations (CC 101 and 102), which provide (through readings, lectures, and discussions) a broad understanding of the literatures, thought, and social development of ancient Greece and Rome, and thus provide the student with knowledge of and appreciation for our cultural origins, as well as an acquaintance with modern methods for understanding an ancient culture. These courses are taught each year. CC 101 is offered in the Fall and CC 102 is offered in the Winter. Other courses provide understanding of particular aspects of the ancient world, approached from a variety of disciplines and studies – literary, philosophical, historical, sociological, and so on. Some students (particularly those who have already developed special interests in such disciplines) may wish to explore one of these topics without having had a broader introduction.

Courses in this division do not require a knowledge of Greek or Latin. They are intended for students who wish to acquire knowledge of ancient literature, life, and thought, and of the debt modern civilization owes the Greeks and Romans.

Section 001.

Instructor(s): Benjamin Acosta-Hughes (bacosta@umich.edu)

Credits: (4).

Course Homepage: No Homepage Submitted.

This course is designed to provide a general overview of one of the great civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean, a civilization which albeit very different in many respects from our own continues to have great influence on the societal, cultural, and educational norms of modern America. Through a select yet broad reading of the surviving literature of Ancient Rome we shall examine together the development and importance of several political and cultural institutions, e.g., the structures of Roman government, the Roman theater, Roman patronage. Throughout the course we will devote particular attention, in discussing texts from a wide and diverse period, to the Roman individual's perception of the self, of self-identity, both within his/her immediate civic and cultural surroundings and within the larger context of the Ancient Mediterranean. This course will hopefully provide the students an introduction, in addition to the exposure for its own sake, to some of the great poetry and prose writings of Ancient Rome, an appreciation of another culture with its own conventions of public and private life.

The course will principally highlight five areas: the mythohistorical foundations of Rome; the Catilinarian conspiracy and the end of the Roman republic; the Augustan "peace"; Rome of the emperor Nero; and sociocultural images of the Roman empire. We will read historians (Livy, Sallust, Tacitus), poets (Vergil, Catullus, Horace, Ovid) and other writers (Cicero, Petronius, Plutarch, Apuleius). Lectures will follow a number of selected common themes, with some presentations of special topics (slavery, gender, violence, and entertainment). Some attention will be given to daily life through slide lectures.

There will be two short papers (40% of the final grade), a midterm (15%) and a final exam (35%). 10% of the final grade will derive from the student's performance in the discussion section.