HIST4391 West and the World I: Antiquity

The ancient Mediterranean world (c. 800 BCE-250 CE) is often seen as the fountainhead of “Western” culture, but what was it really like?  This course will have two aims: to understand the core contributions (philosophical, political, literary, etc.) of the ancient Mediterranean world to later periods of “Western” history, and to understand its relationship to the rest of the world (Han China, India, ancient Near East, etc.).  To do so, we will focus on a series of “moments” (and the related sources), which either had a particular influence on later periods or display the interconnectedness of the ancient world.

HIST 4304 The West and the World I: Antiquity

Language of Instruction: English

Description of Course

The ancient Mediterranean world (c. 800 BCE-250 CE) is often seen as the fountainhead of “Western” culture, but what was it really like?  This course will have two aims: to understand the core contributions (philosophical, political, literary, etc.) of the ancient Mediterranean world to later periods of “Western” history, and to understand its relationship to the rest of the world (Han China, India, ancient Near East, etc.).  To do so, we will focus on a series of “moments” (and the related sources), which either had a particular influence on later periods or display the interconnectedness of the ancient world.  It will also include a visit to the University Library to examine reproductions of ancient Western material culture.

Syllabus

Week 1 (Jan 13): What is the “West”?  The Key Questions of the Course

Readings: Anthony Appiah, Western Civilization; Frank Jacobs, Where is Europe?

Week 2 (Jan 20): Archaic Greece: Linear B and the East Face of Helicon

Readings: The Greek Alphabet part 1, part 2 (section 14 only); Homer Iliad (bk 1 only). 

Week 3 (Jan 27): The Greek Polis, Warfare and Democracy

Readings: Pericles’ Funeral Oration; Old Oligarch, Constitution of the Athenians.

Week 4: Chinese New Year!!

No class!

Week 5 (Feb 10): Greece and the World: The Persian Wars and Alexander

Readings: Herodotus Bk. VII.138-239 (Thermopylae); Portrait of Alexander the Great.

Writing Greek words quiz.

Tutorial 1 on Week 3 Reading. 

Week 6 (Feb 17): Greek Philosophy, The Many Paths to Happiness  

Readings: EITHER Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Books 1&2; OR Plato, Meno (all). 

Mapping the Mediterranean Quiz.

Week 7 (Feb 24): The Etruscans

Readings: Etruscan Art; Herodotus & Livy; Polybius, II.17-25.

Week 8 (Mar 3): Rome: Foundation, Growth and the Clash with Carthage

Readings: Livy, Ab urbe condita, Bk 1; Vergil, Aeneid Book 1, lines 1-33.

Tutorial 2 on Week 8 Reading

Week 9 (Mar 10): Rhetoric and Cicero. 

Readings: Rhetorica ad Herennium (All of Bk 1; Bk 4.28-40 only [on memory]) (required); Cicero, Pro Caelio(optional).   Public Speaking Workshop.   

Week 10 (Mar 17): Material Culture Workshop [Meet in Special Collections Library]

Readings: Material Culture of the Pre-Modern West Catalogue (on Blackboard).  

Week 11 (Mar 24): Rome: Republic to Principate. 

Reading: Polybius, Histories, Bk 1, ch. 1-4; Bk 6, ch. 1-18. 

Tutorial 3 on Week 11 Reading

Week 12 (Mar 31): Rome, India and China

Readings: Pliny, Natural History, VI.20-39; Chinese sources on Rome. 

Tutorial 4 on Week 12 Reading

Week 13: Reading week

No class!

Week 14 (April 14): Roman Law, Slavery and Empire. 

Readings: XII Tables, Justinian, Institutes, 1,1-6 (persons); Institutes, 2,1-6 & 10-12 (property); Institutes, 3,23-25; Institutes, 4,3-5 (obligations – contract and delict); Digest 40.1-4 (manumission); “Imperium” in Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World [online through library website].

Week 15 (April 21): Religion: Christianity, Judaism and Roman Religion. 

Readings: Pliny the Younger, Letter on the Christians; Josephus, Jewish War, Book 1 (preface only) & Book 6 (all). 

Reference

All readings will be primary sources.  However, students looking for a textbook may refer to the relevant chapters in Norman Davies, Europe: A History. 2014 (copies in UL).  More detailed treatments are found in J. Boardman, J. Griffin, and O. Murray, Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World (2002) and D. Potter, Ancient Rome: A New History(2014, etc.), which are available for purchase in various locations.  For the class, however, you need only attend the lectures and do the provided readings for full credit.   

Students should also look up the authors they are presenting on in The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World [available online through library catalogue]. 

Assessment & Assignment

20% attendance and participation in lecture

Each student is required to attend the weekly lecture and the tutorials, as well as participate in class exercises, discussions, etc. (5%).  Students must also ask at least two questions over the course of the semester (you must announce your name before you ask the question) (15%) with half the grade given for asking the questions (7.5%), then the other half given for the quality/relevance of the questions (7.5%).  From time to time, I will also cold-call students on students. 

30% Participation in tutorial, including 10-minute individual oral presentation on reading (10% for presentation part)  

Active and engaged participation in tutorial.  In each tutorial, one or several students should give a 10-minute presentation (with PowerPoint) consisting of 5-minute summary of one reading/image of your choice followed by 5-minute argument about why it is relevant to the key questions of the course.  Please keep to 10 minutes total! This should not overlap substantially with the text/topic of your digital essay.  If you refer to Greek terms and names, please write them in the Greek alphabet.  There will then be 5 minutes for the TA and other students to ask questions; each student must ask at least one question during one of the four tutorials.  You must email the PowerPoint presentations to the TA at least 1 hourin advance of class.  You will receive a grade and comments based on ideas (40%), structure (20%), style (20%) and oral/gestural delivery (20%).  The sign-up sheet for individual texts/images will be passed around in week 3. 

20% 2 In-Class Quizzes

There will be two short quizzes: writing Greek words (Week 3) and mapping the Mediterranean (Google MyMap) (Week 5) [see week 1 PP].

30% 1500-Word Final Project 

Either

Write a 1500-word research paper on one of the objects we look at during the workshop.  You will need to go to study the object (arrange this with professor), and probably do a small amount background research on the materials, production, use, historical context, etc.  The instructor can provide additional reading. 

Due on Friday of Week 15 at 5pm via email to Professor.   

Or

Write a traditional 1500-word argument driven essay on a topic of your choice.  Here is some inspiration:

• Was the ancient Mediterranean ruled more by rhetoric than law?
• Did Rome/Athens develop in isolation?
• Was Plato or Aristotle a better guide to a good life?
• Was Stoicism a better philosophy for the Roman Empire than Platonism?
• Any other question of your choice…
• Due on Friday of Week 15 at 5pm via email to Professor.

Or

Answer an essay question of your own choice in the form of a digital Story Map. 

This “illustrated digital essay” should be in the form of a Story Map of 10 pages using https://storymap.knightlab.com/and include relevant maps (generated by Story Map).  The main task of the Story Map is explaining and making an essay-style argument about the events, topic or development (80-100-word paragraphs per slide), and include any images (from Wikicommons, lecture PowerPoints or elsewhere making sure to quote your source), and at least 3 relevant short quotations from sources you have read for class.  Use Watercolor background.  You must discuss your ideas with the TA or instructor before Week 11.  Due on Friday of Week 15 at 5pm via email to instructor (email the Knightlab internet link to the instructor and submit a Word Doc. of the text only via Veriguide).  

20% attendance and participation in lecture

Each student is required to attend the weekly lecture and the tutorials, as well as participate in class exercises, discussions, etc. (5%).  Students must also ask at least two questions over the course of the semester (you must announce your name before you ask the question) (15%) with half the grade given for asking the questions (7.5%), then the other half given for the quality/relevance of the questions (7.5%).  From time to time, I will also cold-call students on students.

20% 10-minute individual oral presentation in tutorial (week 8 or later)

10-minute presentation (with PowerPoint) consisting of 5-minute summary of one reading/image of your choice (all readings must we covered, however, so it is 2 students maximum per reading) followed by 5-minute argument about why it is relevant to the key questions of the course.  Please keep to 10 minutes total! This should not overlap substantially with the text/topic of your digital essay.  If you refer to Greek terms and names, please write them in the Greek alphabet.  There will then be 5 minutes for the TA and other students to ask questions; each student must ask at least one question during one of the four tutorials.  You will receive both TA and peer feedback [via google docs].  You must email the PowerPoint presentations to the TA at least 1 hour in advance of class.  You will receive a grade and comments based on ideas (40%), structure (20%), style (20%) and oral/gestural delivery (20%).  The sign-up sheet for individual texts/images will be passed around in week 3.

30% 2 Homework exercises/In-class Quiz

There will be two short homework exercises/quizzes (depending on social distancing requriements): writing Greek words (Week 3) and mapping the Mediterranean (Google MyMap) (Week 5) [see week 1 PP].

30% 1500-Word Final Project

Either

Answer an essay question of your own choice in the form of a digital Story Map.  Possible essay questions might include:

• • Was the ancient Mediterranean ruled more by rhetoric than law?
• • Did Rome/Athens develop in isolation?
• • Was Plato or Aristotle a better guide to a good life?
• • Was Stoicism a better philosophy for the Roman Empire than Platonism?
• • Any other question of your choice…

This “illustrated digital essay” should be in the form of a Story Map of 10 pages using https://storymap.knightlab.com/ and include relevant maps (generated by Story Map).  The main task of the Story Map is explaining and making an essay-style argument about the events, topic or development (80-100-word paragraphs per slide), and include any images (from Wikicommons, lecture PowerPoints or elsewhere making sure to quote your source), and at least 3 relevant short quotations from sources you have read for class.  Use Watercolor background.  You must discuss your ideas with the TA or instructor before Week 11.  Due on Friday of Week 15 at 5pm via email to instructor (email the Knightlab internet link to the instructor and submit a Word Doc. of the text only via Veriguide).   

OR

Write an imagined letter in English from one ancient figure to another, or from an ancient figure to an ancient one.  It should be written in your best approximation of ancient letter writing (see Pliny and Cicero’s Familiar Letters).  You must discuss your ideas with the professor or TA before Week 11.

Due on Friday of Week 15 at 5pm via letterbox to Professor.    

OR

Write a 1500-word research paper on one of the objects we look at during the workshop.  You will need to go to study the object (arrange this with professor), and probably do a small amount background research on the materials, production, use, historical context, etc.  The instructor can provide additional reading.

Due on Friday of Week 15 at 5pm via email to Professor.    

20% 10-minute individual oral presentation in tutorial (week 8 or later)

10-minute presentation (with PowerPoint) consisting of 5-minute summary of one reading/image of your choice (all readings must we covered, however, so it is 2 students maximum per reading) followed by 5-minute argument about why it is relevant to the key questions of the course.  Please keep to 10 minutes total! This should not overlap substantially with the text/topic of your digital essay.  If you refer to Greek terms and names, please write them in the Greek alphabet.  There will then be 5 minutes for the TA and other students to ask questions; each student must ask at least one question during one of the four tutorials.  You will receive both TA and peer feedback [via google docs].  You must email the PowerPoint presentations to the TA at least 1 hour in advance of class.  You will receive a grade and comments based on ideas (40%), structure (20%), style (20%) and oral/gestural delivery (20%).  The sign-up sheet for individual texts/images will be passed around in week 3.

All readings will be primary sources.  However, students looking for a textbook may refer to the relevant chapters in Norman Davies, Europe: A History. 2014 (copies in UL).  More detailed treatments are found in J. Boardman, J. Griffin, and O. Murray, Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World (2002) and D. Potter, Ancient Rome: A New History (2014, etc.), which are available for purchase in various locations.  For the class, however, you need only attend the lectures and do the provided readings for full credit.   

Students should also look up the authors they are presenting on in The Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World [available online through library catalogue].

請注意大學有關學術著作誠信的政策和規則，及適用於犯規事例的紀律指引和程序。詳情可瀏覽網址：http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/。

學生遞交作業時，必須連同已簽署的聲明一併提交，表示他們知道有關政策、規則、指引及程序。

• 如屬小組習作，則所有組員均須簽署聲明；所有組員（不論有否簽署聲明及不論有否直接或間接撰寫有問題的內容）均須負上集體責任及受到懲處。
• 如作業以電腦製作、內容以文字為主，並經由大學「維誠」系統 (VeriGuide) 提交者，學生將作業的電子檔案上載到系統後，便會獲得收據，收據上已列明有關聲明。

未有夾附簽署妥當的聲明的作業，老師將不予批閱。

學生只須提交作業的最終版本。

學生將作業或作業的一部份用於超過一個用途（例如：同時符合兩科的要求）而沒有作出聲明會被視為未有聲明重覆使用作業。學生重覆使用其著作的措辭或某一、二句句子很常見，並可以接受，惟重覆使用全部內容則構成問題。在任何情況下，須先獲得相關老師同意方可提交作業。