Schedule:
| Days: | Class agenda and assignments | Read (for tomorrow) |
| Week 1: March 27-31 (Herodotus, the Persians and the
Bible; the Greeks among themsleves)
Monday March 27 |
Intro: the history of history and historiography--Achaemenid Empire a matrix, Greeks and Jews as historians, taking (and losing) an interest in historical research. |
Herodotus book I-II; Momigliano, chapter 1; you might look at P. Briant's 2001 statement of "New Trends in Achaemenid History". |
| Tues. 28 | History as "looking into" or /investigation; East-West relations; Athens and Sparta. (Old class notes) | Bible: Books of Daniel, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah |
| Wed. 29 | History as vision, revelation, interpretation of "the Books"; historical strategies for imperial subjects: assimilation, death, resistance, wisdom, restoration. Class notes. | Herodotus books VII-VIII |
| Thurs.30 | Greek methods and identity in war with Persia; Achaemenid Empire as the Other. Class notes. Evening lecture: Mark Lilla on "Europe and the Future of the Nation-State" 7:30, Gates--think about Empire, City-State and (trailer for next week) the invention of national history. | Thucydides book I-II And Momigliano chapter 2 on Herodotean and Thucydidean history. |
| Fri. 31 | Discussion of the change from Herodotean to Thucydidean historiography and preparation for WRITING A PAPER. Class notes. | Thucydides on the Mytilene capital punishment issue, the revolutions in Corcyra and elsewhere, and the Sicilian debacle: books III, VI-VII |
| Week 2: April 3-7 Thucydides (vs. Herodotus and
model for scientific history); Scientific and National historiography.
Mon. 3 |
Finish discussing Thucydides--hand in paper out of first week's reading. Get ready for Roman, "national" historiography |
Polybius selections from Finley and Mellor (Mellor for the Punic Wars); you might also read Polybius's presentation of his romance with the younger Scipio at Perseus. |
| Tue. 4 | Polybius's comparison of Roman character with Greek | Sallust on Catiline |
| Wed. 5 | Roman decadence? | Livy: early history of Rome books I-V |
| Thurs. 6 | Creation of a usable past: Livy, myth, early Rome (Romulus/Remus,
the Kings: Tarquin/Brutus, the Republic; Coriolanus; Appius Claudius, the XII
Tables and Verginia. Evening lecture/reading by David Foster-Wallace, 7:00 Gates (something about narrative) |
Momigliano on the origin of national history--Fabius Pictor, Polybius, etc.; Polybius fragments from later books--and write a paper. |
| Fri. 7 | No class: hand in Paper by the end of the day | Momigliano, lecture 5 on Tacitus and Tacitism. Tacitus, Annals selections |
| Week 3: April 10-14: Tacitism and Biography
Mon. 10 |
Tacitus and Tacitism I Afternoon lecture: Tom D'Andrea at 3:30, Shove side chapel: religious freedom in Catholic tradition; also State of the Rockies conference all week. |
more Tacitus: Agricola |
| Tue. 11 | Tacitus and Tacitism II | Plutarch |
| Wed. 12 | Plutarch's Lives I | Plutarch |
| Thurs. 13 | Plutarch's Lives II | New Testament genres: Gospel (Luke); for comparison the non-canonical "Gospel of Judas" recently announced via National Geographic. |
| Fri. 14 | Back to the Bible | New Testament genres: Acts |
| Week 4: April 17-19
Back to the Bible Mon. 17 |
Bible--Acts and some Roman parallels | Gospel of Luke; Acts of the Apostles; Augustus's Res Gestae from Mellor |
| Tue. 18 | Conclusions, paper drafting | review: finish paper |
| Wed. 19 | final exam; hand in paper | Have a good block break |