Professor: E. Orlin
CRN: 11678
Distribution:
C
Time: W F 10:30 am - 11:50 am OLIN 304
cross-listed: Classics
This course is the continuation of History 130, although students are welcome to enroll without
having taken the prior course. Fourth-century Greece was a time of great turmoil; the end of the
Peloponnesian War had left both Athens and Sparta greatly weakened. Shifting alliances ensured
that no one state was able to become dominant, until Philip II, father of Alexander, used guile,
diplomacy and military force to seize control of Greece. Alexander then set off on campaigns
which would see him conquer territory as far east as India, and fire the imagination for thousands
of years. His achievements will be a major focus of study, but his premature death created yet
another vacuum and ushered in a new era of Greek society. This period saw major developments
in the fields of art, philosophy, religion, and science whose effects can still be felt today. In order
to examine such issues as freedom vs. unity, cultural imperialism, and the relationship between
cultural achievements and historical developments, we will make use of a full range of sources:
literary, archaeological, artistic as well as historical.
Professor: E. Orlin
CRN: 11682
Distribution:
C
Time: Tu Th 3:40 pm - 5:00 pm OLIN 304
cross-listed: Classics
of related interest: Gender Studies
The term familia in Rome comprised more than just immediate family relatives: parents and
children, grandparents, aunts and uncles, free and slaves all contributed to the makeup of the
household, each with a well-defined role. The familia in fact can serve as a microcosm of Roman
society, and changes in the legal and social position of its various members often are indicative of
broader changes in the world outside. Accordingly, this course will be concerned not merely with
the structure of the family itself, but with the ways in which this unit reflected Roman values.
Particular attention will focus upon the role of women in a heavily male-dominated society, and
the problems in reconstructing the lives of women from sources written by men. Other topics to
be discussed include the relations between fathers and children, the increasing emancipation of
women, attitudes towards children, marriage customs, the institution of clientage, and the place of
freedmen and slaves. Letters, inscriptions, legal documents, and artwork will be used in
conjunction with historical materials to provide as complete a picture as possible. No knowledge
of Latin or ancient Rome is required.