Unit name | Latin Language Level D2 |
---|---|
Unit code | CLAS32343 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. O'Gorman |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
CLAS22408 or equivalent |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
AlieNation: The Far Side of the Roman World
As the Roman Empire expanded, its armies marched into ever wilder and more exotic lands, to conquer strange tribes in the name of the Eternal City. Meanwhile back in Rome, the political and moral landscape changed, and Romans felt increasingly estranged from their own homeland. The historians Sallust and Tacitus compellingly present this double vision of alienation. The far lands of the known world: the deserts of North Africa and the frozen seas around Scotland. The political jungles of factional strife and tyranny in Rome itself. How can a Roman pursue traditional virtus in such wastelands? Does the pursuit of empire abroad redeem the Romans from their political ills at home? These questions are explored in Sallust’s Jugurtha and Tacitus’ Agricola through images of foreign lands, reflections on the distant and recent past, and the speeches of Romans and barbarians in praise and denunciation of the imperium Romanum.
This unit aims to develop skills in sophisticated literary analysis of texts in Latin. The texts covered will be chosen to reflect the unit director's research interests, amounting to 1200-1500 lines. These texts will be studied in relation to the debates which they raise in secondary critical and theoretical literature, and in relation to their position in the literary history of Classics and its reception.
Aims:
Upon conclusion of this unit students will have developed knowledge of the issues raised in relation to the texts studied and their interpretation, and the relevance of these for wider theoretical issues. They will have developed a detailed appreciation of the literary style of the texts studied and improved their fluency in reading and stylistic translating of Latin.
On successful completion of this unit successful students will be able to demonstrate:
3 hours of seminars per week
Both will assess ILOs 1-4.
~extracts from Sallust Jugurtha and Tacitus Agricola~
Katherine Clarke. 2001. ‘An Island Nation: Re-reading Tacitus’ Agricola’ JRS 91
Casey Dué. 2000. ‘Tragic History and Barbarian Speech in Sallust’s Jugurtha’ HSCP 100
Dylan Sailor. 2008. Writing and Empire in Tacitus.
Thomas Wiedemann. 1993. ‘Sallust’s Jugurtha: Concord, Discord, & the Digressions’ G&R
Texts are specified on an annual basis according to the author being studied. Texts and references are detailed on the course handout.