CL 116 class schedule and assignments [6]: April12, April 16, April 19
the
collapse of the Roman republic in the first century BC and its replacement by a
monarchy is the subject of another course, CL132/HI222 The Roman
Revolution, and that material will not be repeated in detail here. Instead, in this and the next two classes we
will focus on three “moments,” the careers of the Gracchi brothers, which began
the “revolution”; Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon river in 49 BC, which
began the civil war that ended the republic; and the public image of the first
emperor, Augustus.
a. read this overview of
Roman history from the Gracchi to the death of Sulla.
This map will help
you locate many of the events mentioned here.
b. read Appian, civil wars, book
1, chapter 1-6
Appianos (Appian), a Greek native of Alexandria in
Egypt living in the second century AD, wrote a history of the civil wars that
led to the collapse of the Roman republic and the rise of the principate. this excerpt from the beginning of his work
gives a brief overview of those wars.
i. according to Appian, what was the significance of the Gracchi for Roman history?
ii. who fought whom in all these civil wars?
iii. why did Rome have so many civil wars?
c. read Appian, civil wars, book 1, chapters 7-17
a iugerum was about 5/8 of an acre. there were 10 tribunes, any one of which
could “veto” (stop from happening) the actions of any magistrate, including the
other tribunes. all tribunes were
“sacrosanct” (anyone who harmed them was considered to be under a religious
curse). there was no precedent for
deposing a magistrate of any sort by popular vote.
i. what problem was Tiberius Gracchus trying to solve? how did he propose to solve it?
ii. what group(s) of people opposed Tiberius Gracchus? why?
iii. what group(s) of people supported him? why?
iv. what did Tiberius Gracchus accomplish?
v. what exactly happened on the Capitoline (as described in chapters 15-16)? (the maps at this link, this link and this link, and the model of the Capitoline hill at this link will help you reconstruct the events.) how many people were involved?
vi. who was responsible for the events described in chapters 15-16?
vii. why would events like these never happen in contemporary America? (think of all the reasons you can)
d. read Appian, civil wars, book
1, chapters 21-27
i. how is Gaius Gracchus different from his brother Tiberius?
ii. what was Gaius Gracchus trying to accomplish? was it the same thing as his brother or something different?
iii. why did the senate oppose Gaius Gracchus?
iv. what exactly happened as described in chapters 25-26? who was responsible?
v. more generally, were the Gracchi “good guys” or “bad guys”? why?
vi. more generally, how was Rome changed by the Gracchi? was it changed at all?
e. read Cicero’s speech in defense of Piso, chapters 96-100 and chapters 102-3, and his essay on duties, book 2, chapters 73-74, 78-80 and 83-85
Cicero’s
wrote these two pieces around the middle of the first century BC
i. what is Cicero’s view of the proper role of government?
ii. in your view, who was right in principle, Tiberius Gracchus or Cicero? why?
iii. where would Cicero fit into contemporary American politics?
April 16: Caesar
at the Rubicon
a. read this overview of
Roman history from the death of Sulla to the death of Caesar
This map will help
you locate many of the events mentioned here.
b. read Cassius Dio, book
40, chapters 57-66 and book
41, chapters 1-3
Cassius
Dio wrote his history of Rome in the early third century AD.
i. who are the main players in this
story? what are their reasons for acting
as they do?
c. read Suetonius’ biography of Julius Caesar, chapters
28-32
C. Suetonius Tranquillus wrote his biographies of the
first twelves Caesars in the early second century AD.
i. what does Suetonius’ account add to Cassius Dio’s?
ii. does Suetonius help explain people’s motivation? how? or does he just confuse the issue? how?
d. read Julius Caesar’s own account of these events in his on the civil war, book 1, chapters 1-10
unlike
Suetonius and Cassius Dio, who wrote long after the event, Caesar wrote shortly
after the events he describes. his work on
the civil war is part of the propaganda battle surrounding these events,
his attempt to convince others who had lived through the events that he was in
the right, or at least that they should accept his version of events now that
he has won.
i. how does Caesar’s version of events differ from those of Cassius Dio and Suetonius? which do you believe? why?
ii. how does Caesar explain how the civil war began? is his account credible?
iii. to what Roman values does Caesar appeal in defense of his actions? why could he expect his audience to agree with him that he had to do what he did?
iv. what do Caesar’s actions tell us about Roman values?
v. what does Caesar’s defense of his actions tell us about Roman values?
a. read this overview of the rise and rule of Octavian/Augustus
b. read the res gestae divi Augusti
read the complete res gestae at the link at the bottom of the
introduction.
i. what image of Augustus and his rule does the res gestae project?
ii. according to the res gestae, what were Augustus’ most important accomplishments?
iii. to judge from the res gestae (and only from the res gestae), what was Augustus like?
iv. who was the res gestae’s intended audience?
v. considering that the image conveyed by the res gestae was meant to be a positive one, what does the res gestae tell us about Roman priorities and values in Augustus’ day?
vi. compare the image of Augustus’ rule in the res gestae with that in Tacitus’ annals, book 1, chapter 2. how are they the same? how are they different? how would you account for the differences?
Cornelius Tacitus wrote in the early part of the second century AD. his annals are a history of Rome from the death of Augustus to that of Nero.
c. read the two inscriptions at this link.
these
inscriptions are typical of numerous inscriptions from the period of Augustus’
rule.
i. how would you interpret these inscriptions? what do they mean?
ii. what do these and similar inscriptions tell you about the nature of Augustus’ rule?
iii. what do these and similar inscriptions tell you about the public image of Augustus’ rule?
iv. who were the intended audience of these inscriptions?
vi. considering that this image was meant to be a positive one, what do these and similar inscriptions tell you about Roman priorities and values in Augustus’ day?
d. look at these materials
on the ara pacis Augustae
i. what image of Augustus and his rule does the ara pacis Augustae project?
ii. considering that this image was meant to be a positive one, what does the ara pacis Augustae tell you about Roman priorities and values in Augustus’ day?
iii. what does the ara pacis Augustae have to do with violence?
e. read the inscription at this link
the inscription
records an oath of allegiance taken by the residents of Paphlagonia
when their kingdom was annexed to the province of Galatia in 6 BC.
i. what does this oath tell you about the nature of Augustus’ rule?
ii. what does this oath tell you about the public image of Augustus’ rule?
iii. how would you feel if you were a Roman administering this oath?
iv. how would you feel if you were a
Paphlagonian taking this oath?
f. read Dio Cassius’ description of the ludi
at Augustus’ dedications of the temple of the deified Julius (51.22)
and the temple of Apollo on the Palatine (53.1)
”Caesar” in these texts is
Caesar Augustus, i.e. the emperor Augustus. the temple of the deified Julius Caesar was
dedicated in 29 BC, the temple of Apollo on the Palatine in 28 BC.
i. in terms of Augustus’ propaganda what was the significance of these two temples in particular?
ii. who were the audience(s) for these spectacles? how would the spectacles have been perceived by that audience/those audiences?
iii. why is it significant that senators and their sons played roles in these spectacles?
iv. how do these spectacles compliment or contradict the image of the emperor projected by the other items you’ve looked at for today’s class?
g. you may also want to look at the coins at this link. time permitting, we will discuss some of them in class.
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