Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 3 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Syllabus Archive

The following syllabi come from a variety of different terms. They illustrate the evolution of this course over time, and are intended to provide alternate views into the instruction of this course.

Spring 2010, Will Broadhead and Steven Ostrow (PDF)

Spring 2009, Steven Ostrow (PDF)

Spring 2008, Will Broadhead and Steven Ostrow (PDF)

Spring 2007, Steven Ostrow (PDF)

Spring 2006, Will Broadhead and Steven Ostrow (PDF)

Spring 2005, Will Broadhead and Steven Ostrow (PDF)

Description

This course elaborates the history of Rome from its humble beginnings to the fifth century A.D. The first half of the course covers Kingship to Republican form; the conquest of Italy; Roman expansion: Pyrrhus, Punic Wars and provinces; classes, courts, and the Roman revolution; Augustus and the formation of empire. The second half of the course covers Virgil to the Vandals; major social, economic, political and religious trends at Rome and in the provinces. Emphasis is placed on the use of primary sources in translation.

Class Participation

Your grade for class participation will be based on the following:

Attendance

You are required to attend both the Tuesday and Thursday lectures and your weekly recitation.

Reading

You are required to complete all reading assignments in time for the meeting with which they are associated, as indicated on the schedule. You are also required to bring with you to lecture/recitation a copy of any reading that has been assigned.

Active Participation

You are expected to arrive at your weekly recitations having completed all the reading and prepared to pose questions and actively to contribute to the discussion of the material covered that week.

Writing Assignments

There are four required writing assignments for this subject: three papers of 7 pages, one of which must be revised and resubmitted, in accordance with the guidelines for CI subjects. Each paper will make up 20% of your final grade. Please note: in the case of the paper you choose to revise, your grade for the 20% in question will be the average of the grade on your original version and the grade on your revised version.

In order to catch any early problems as well as to allow time for thoughtful revision, you will be required to revise and resubmit one of the first two papers due. Students who receive a grade lower than B on Paper #1 will be required to revise that paper; all others may choose which of their first two papers they would prefer to revise. As part of the revision process, all students will be required to attend a 30-minute tutorial with the writing tutor for this course, at which you will have the opportunity to discuss strategies for improving the quality of your writing.

Due dates for the four writing assignments are as follows

1. Paper #1 - Session 9
2. Paper #2 - Session 20
3. Revision of Paper #1 or #2 - Session 31
4. Paper #3 - Session 35

Final Exam

A final exam of 1½ hours will be given during the regular examination period. Full details of the expectations for the exam will be circulated in due course.

Course Requirements and Grading

Plagiarism

Full referencing is the only way to avoid plagiarism. Any unacknowledged borrowing of ideas, arguments, or direct quotes - whether intentional or not - is plagiarism and must be avoided. If you are not sure what plagiarism is, go to the MIT Online Writing Communication Center and follow the 'Citing and Using Sources' link or see the Humanities Library's publication, Plagiarism and How to Avoid It.

Using the Internet

There is much of use to the ancient historian on the internet. There is also a lot of nonsense. Feel free to use the internet; but be aware that you are responsible for being critical of the material you encounter there and will be penalized for making use of sites that spout nonsense. As with any source, you must provide full references to material you consult on the internet, including the title and author of the page in question, the date on which it was written or last updated, the URL, and the date on which you accessed the site.

Formal Presentation

All papers must comply with the following presentational guidelines:

• Papers must be 7 pages in length.
• Papers must be typed in 12-point Arial font, with 1½ line spacing.
• Standard margins (1.25" left and right, 1" top and bottom) must be used.
• Papers must be held together with a paperclip (Not stapled: all papers will be photocopied after initial grading for reference of the writing tutor).

Penalty for Late Submission

Papers are due at the beginning of the lecture on the scheduled due date. Any paper submitted after the beginning of the relevant lecture will be considered late by one day. Any paper submitted on the day after the due date will be considered late by two days, and so on. Unexcused late submissions will incur a penalty of one partial grade step (e.g. from A- to B+) for each day late. Only serious and documented circumstances will be accepted as excuses (e.g. serious matters of health or other personal emergencies). Late papers should be submitted to Prof. Broadhead's mailbox.