Course	CLAS / HIST 103 The Rise and Fall of Ancient Rome
Professor	Benjamin Stevens
CRN	95006
Schedule	Mon Wed 1:30 -2:50 pm OLIN 201
Distribution	OLD: A/C	NEW: HISTORY

A survey of ancient Rome, from its eighth-century BC “rise” out of prehistoric Italic precursors to its “fall” in the fifth century AD at the hands of barbarians, bureaucrats, and others. Our goals are: (1) to become familiar with the traditional narrative of Roman history including political and military events; (2) to consider social, cultural, and intellectual aspects of life in ancient Rome (e.g. gender and sexuality, food and drink, and literature); and thus (3) to explore what it means to “do Roman history”. We read a modern narrative of Roman history, several ancient narratives and monographs, and modern scholarly works. Participation in this class qualifies students for consideration for Professor Minsky’s Roma In Situ. (January and Spring 2006).

Course	HIST / CLAS 157 The Athenian Century
Professor	Carolyn Dewald
CRN	95465
Schedule	Tu Th 2:30 – 3:50 pm OLIN 205
Distribution	OLD: A/C	NEW: HISTORY

In the fifth century BCE, Athens dramatically developed from a small, relatively unimportant city-state into a dominant power in the Aegean basin. Athenian political, artistic, literary, and intellectual traditions continue to reverberate through the world today: democracy, tragedy and comedy, rhetoric, philosophy, and history itself, as well as the classical style of sculpture and architecture stem from this remarkable culture. The course will confront some of the ambiguities and tensions (slavery, exclusion of women and non-citizens from political power), as well as the glories, of Athenian art, literature, and history during this period.

Course	CLAS / HIST 333 Tacitus and Gibbon: History as Literature
Professor	William Mullen
CRN	95029
Schedule	Wed 1:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 308
Distribution	OLD: D	NEW: FLLC

On hearing that his granddaughter was reading Tacitus, Thomas Jefferson wrote to her: “Tacitus I consider as the first writer in the world without a single exception. His book is a compound of history and morality of which we have no other example.” The translation of Tacitus into English by Trenchard and Gordon, with prefatory essays enlisting him for the Whig cause, contributed significantly to the ideology of the American Revolution. And the same year Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence Gibbon published the first volume of his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, often praised both for being the greatest historical work of modern times and for containing the finest English prose of the 18th century. We will read extensive selections from both authors (in the case of Tacitus comparing translations on some key passages), and we will consider what we read at all times from both a historical and a stylistic point of view. Both men found somber irony in their contemplation of the great preponderance of human vices and follies over virtues, and both men are as renowned for the prose styles they evolved as for the passion they brought to their great theme of the loss of liberty to tyranny. Our task will be to gain a comprehensive view of their subjects and to take the measure of the greatness of the literary art with which they set them forth.

As an Upper College Seminar this course requires moderated status in Classics, History or Literature, or else permission of the instructor. Participation in this class qualifies students for consideration for Professor Minsky’s Roma In Situ. (January and Spring 2006).