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.

One More Plautus Play

Please watch Go Home Sam, a "reader's theater" presentation done by students at Aberdeen Central some years ago.   Then read The Pot of Gold, Pseudolus, or The Brothers Menaechmus and think about what you might include in a reader's theater style adaptation of the play. On Tuesday next week, the first 40 minutes of class will be devoted to preparing your presentations, and the last 35 minutes to the presentations themselves.  You will be working with other students who read the same play you did.

Share here some ideas on what you might want to see your group include.  What lines/passages would be particularly good for showing what the play says about Roman values, family relationships, romantic relationships, day-to-day life, religion, etc.?

The Prisoners

Please Thursday, September 25, pleas read Plautus' The Prisoners (Captivi). Cite a line from this play that shows something about Roman society or Roman history one might not learn from a more conventional historical source, e.g., something about day-to-day life in Rome, something about Roman values, or something about the Roman sense of humor. Explain why you chose this particular line. Alternatively, note something Plautus has done with one of the five "narrative essentials" (plot, character, theme, setting, and tone) that shows something important about Roman history.