Undergraduate Course: Tacitus (LATI10047)
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 | Tacitus' Annals is a highlight of Roman imperial literature and historiography. It gives an unforgettable picture of high politics and foreign relations in the new imperial system in the first century AD. We shall read the text both as a work of high art and as an interpretation of history. |
| Course description |
Tacitus is the most admired of the Roman historians for both literary artistry and intellectual power, and his final work, the Annals (written perhaps in 115-120 and describing in the surviving portions the reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero) is among the most remarkable things in Latin prose. A crucial aim of the course is to help students to understand Tacitus' extraordinary style, to understand why it is extraordinary, and how style relates to thought. Next, the course aims to help navigate two valid but contrasting ways in which Tacitus is read: 1. through the insight of the last 35 years that classical historiography is highly artful and creative form, more akin to poetry and rhetoric and less concerned with literal truth than the modern equivalent; 2. as a painstaking historian and a valuable source. As well as Tacitus, constant reference will be made to other literary or epigraphic texts which were known to himor which cover the same events or which share the same lost sources (e.g. Suetonius, Cassius Dio, Res Gestae, Velleius Paterculus, the Senatus consultum de Gnaeo Pisone patre). Students can choose a more historical or a more literary focus in their written work, according to taste.
In the coming academic year we will concentrate on the first three books of the Annals, covering the early reign of Tiberius (AD 14-22).
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics related subject matter (at least 2 of which should be in Latin) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses but Elementary and Intermediate Latin courses will not count. Students beyond Intermediate level but with less Latin than the prerequisite should consider taking Latin 2a/2b.
** 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
|
| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 22 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework: 3,000-4,000 word essay (40%)
Exam: 2 hour exam paper (60%) |
| Feedback |
Students are also strongly encouraged to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission. 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. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
|
| Academic year 2021/22, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework: 3,000-4,000 word essay (40%)
Exam: 2 hour exam paper (60%) |
| Feedback |
Students are also strongly encouraged to discuss their coursework with the Course Organiser at least once prior to submission. 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 understanding of Tacitus' meaning and Latin style through accurate translations and critical commentary.
- show understanding of Tacitus' writing within the contexts of Latin literature and particularly historiography, both on points of detail and in broader synthesis
- show critical understanding of Tacitus in the context of early imperial history and as a historical source, making comparison to other narrative accounts and to epigraphic evidence.
- To demonstrate competence in research-driven and argument-driven essay writing.
|
Reading List
H. Heubner, P. Cornelius Tacitus (Tom. 1) Annales (Stuttgart and Leipzig, 2 1994) (set text)
A.J. Woodman, Tacitus: The Annals, translated with introduction and notes (Indianapolis, 2004).
F.R.D. Goodyear, The Annals of Tacitus Volume 1: Annals 1.1-54 (Cambridge, 1972).
-----, The Annals of Tacitus Volume 2: Annals 1.55-81 and Annals 2 (Cambridge, 1980).
A.J. Woodman and R.H. Martin, The Annals of Tacitus Book 3 (Cambridge, 1996).
B. Levick, Tiberius the Politician (London, 2 1999).
J.B. Lott et al., Death and Dynasty in Early Imperial Rome (Cambridge, 2012).
C.T. Mallan, Cassius Dio: Roman History Books 57 and 58 (The Reign of Tiberius) (Oxford, 2020).
R. Syme, Tacitus (Oxford, 1958).
A.J. Woodman, Tacitus Reviewed (Oxford, 1998).
A.J. Woodman and C.S. Kraus, Latin Historians (Oxford, 1998). |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
On completion of the course, students will have advanced their abilities in the critical and contextualised reading of texts; in understanding the role of literary texts and historiography in the study of political history; in written and verbal communication; and in conducting independent research |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gavin Kelly
Tel: (0131 6)50 3581
Email: Gavin.Kelly@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Sara Dennison
Tel: (0131 6)50 2501
Email: Sara.Dennison@ed.ac.uk |
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