Ovid (due Thursday, October 30)

Most of the Greek and Roman myths you read in high school were re-tellings of stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Choose your favorite myth and read Ovid's version of that myth. Read also one of the Ovid myths that you *hadn't* read before. Cite one example for each myth that shows particularly well Ovid's "insight into the human condition."

If you want to get the overall picture of the Metamorphoses, see this excellent introduction and commentary by Larry Brown.

Virgil--Aeneid (due Tuesday, Oct. 28)

For Tuesday, please read this summary of Virgil's Aeneid. Then read as much as you can of Book I and Book II. Skimming through Book I is sufficient. Please read Book II with a bit more care.

Cite a line or two from Book I or Book II that particularly well show Virgil's "insight into the human condition," i.e., that shows his understanding of subjects like fate, the relationships between men and women, relationships between men and gods, the impact of war, etc.

Augustus and the Julio-Claudians

Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars is one of the most important sources for the early days of the Principate. Suetonius includes all sorts of fascinating biographical details about the men he describes--along with plenty of sometimes unverifiable gossip and rumor.

For Thursday's class, please read Suetonius' account of Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius (Caligula), Claudius, or Nero. Pick a line that illustrates particularly well either the emperor's achievements or the way in which that emperor's life was a personal tragedy, or a tragedy for the people of Rome.

The 2nd Triumvirate (due 11/1)

Please read this abridged edition of Plutarch's Life of Antony. Pick out a line that seems to you a particularly good example of action, drama, romance, or "game show" in the story of the 2nd Triumvirate.

Caesar the God (due 11/1)

Two years after his death, the Roman Senate declared Caesar a god. This gave Roman biographers the unusual task of recounting the life of a man who was, by official proclamation, a divine being. By the time the biographer Suetonius writes his Life of the Deified Julius, the Roman people has worshiped Caesar as a god for more than 150 years. Please read through Divus Julius, and pick out a line that shows especially well why the Roman people might have accepted Caesar as divine or a line that shows that regarding Caesar as a god was more than a little strange. Explain your choice.

Caesar as general and politician (due 11/1)

Please skim through Plutarch's Life of Caesar. Pick out a section that particularly well shows Caesar's ability and his versatility or a section that shows particularly well why Caesar is such a controversial figure. Explain your choice.

Some of you might find particularly interesting the accounts of Caesar's battles, something I don't talk about in class much. Note Sections 15-20, for instance, a summary of Caesar's campaign in Gaul.

Crasus, Pompey, and Their Contemporaries (Due date: 11/1)

Please read Plutarch's account of one of the many "ambitious young men" who lived during what is sometimes called the Age of Cicero. Pick out a key line that shows how this man's work might have tended to support or destroy republican government in Rome. Explain why you chose this particular line. You can use one of these abridged biographies of Crassus, Cicero, Pompey, Sertorius, Cato the Younger, or Lucullus. If you want the complete text, go to the links in the right hand column here.