Undergraduate Course: Civil War and the Roman Imagination (CLTR10028)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Civil war loomed large over Roman History and the Roman cultural imagination. This course will explore a diverse range of prose and verse texts documenting and exploring Late Republican and Early Imperial civil wars to consider the evolution of key civil war tropes and motifs, cross-generational attempts to comprehend civil strife, and the utility of modern approaches to ancient civil war. |
| Course description |
The Labienus of the Elder Seneca's Controversiae claimed that forgetting was the best defence against civil war (Sen. Contr. 10.3.5). However, as even a cursory glance at the Roman literary tradition suggests, this was not the case. This course offers an introduction to the civil wars of the Late Republic and Early Imperial period, from the bloody conflict between Marius and Sulla in the 80's BC to the infamous 'Year of the Four Emperors' in 69 AD. We will analyse a wide variety of ancient written sources in relation to the events they describe and their contemporary contexts and contemplate the utility of modern approaches to ancient civil strife. We will explore extracts from a range of prose and verse texts relating to the Late Republican and Early Imperial civil wars, consider the diachronic and cross-generic evolution of key civil war tropes and motifs, and scrutinize cross-generational attempts to comprehend war, its origins, and its aftermath.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This course is available to all students who have progressed to Honours. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics, History or Archaeology (at least 1 of which should be in Classical Literature in Translation or Ancient History) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 28 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework (100%):
2,000 word Source commentary (25%)
2,000 word Source commentary (25%)
3,500 word Essay (50%) |
| Feedback |
Students are expected to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission, and are encouraged to do so more often. Meetings can take place with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. Students will also receive feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a sound knowledge of Roman civil wars and their representation in the historical and literary traditions.
- Assimilate a variety of ancient textual sources, compare them, and formulate critical opinions on them.
- Read, analyse, contextualise, and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship.
- Demonstrate competence in research-driven and argument-driven essay and commentary writing.
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Reading List
Armitage, D. 2017. Civil War: A History in Ideas. New Haven: CT.
Börm, H., Mattheis, M., & Wienand, J. (eds.) 2016. Civil War in Ancient Greece and Rome: Contexts of Disintegration and Reintegration. Stuttgart.
Breed, B., Damon, C. & Rossi, A. (eds.) 2010. Citizens of Discord: Rome and its Civil Wars. Oxford.
Donovan Ginsberg, L. & Krasne, D. A. (eds.) 2018. After 69 CE - Writing Civil War in Flavian Rome. Berlin.
Henderson, J. 1998. Fighting for Rome: Poets and Caesars, History and Civil War. Cambridge.
Lange, C. H. 2017. 'Stasisand Bellum Civile: A Difference in Scale?' Critical Analysis of Law 4: 129-40.
Lange, C. H. & Vervaet, F. J. (eds.) 2019. The Historiography of Late Republican Civil War. Leiden/Boston.
Scappaticcio, M. C. (ed.) 2020. Seneca the Elder and His Rediscovered »Historiae ab initio bellorum civilium« - New Perspectives on Early-Imperial Roman Historiography. Berlin/Boston.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical skills in reading and debate
Skills in questioning established norms
Familiarity and ability to engage with a range of evidence
Ability to identify and examine trends within a diverse range of evidence
Independent thinking and planning (self-directed coursework assignments)
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Elaine Sanderson
Tel: (0131 6)50 4620
Email: Elaine.Sanderson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Katherine Perry
Tel:
Email: kperry2@ed.ac.uk |
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