Course Description
The literature and history of late antiquity (270-400 AD) with
attention to political, social, intellectual, and religious
developments.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to write an in-depth research
paper of at least 25 pages wherein they are expected to formulate
their own research topics and use Latin and Greek sources to
present their evidence (the undergraduates use only literature in
translation). Graduate students will also be expected to read
from current scholarship in French, German, and Italian. Graduate
students will present their findings in prepared twenty-minute
presentations in front of the entire class. Their presentations
will be graded on quality of research, import of findings, and
professional, polished methods of delivery.
Athena Title
History of Late Antiquity
Prerequisite
CLAS 1000 or CLAS 1000E or CLAS 1000H or CLAS 1010 or CLAS 1010E or CLAS 1010H or CLAS 1020 or CLAS 1020E or CLAS 1020H or CLAS 3000 or CLAS 3010 or CLAS(ANTH) 3015 or CLAS(ANTH) 3015E or CLAS 3030 or CLAS 3040 or CLAS3050 or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student Learning Outcomes
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to recall and summarize the major intellectual arguments made by ancient historical, rhetorical, and religious authors of Late Antiquity.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to interpret and explain the historical and social contexts of the ancient texts.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to assess and critique the rhetorical and propagandistic strategies employed by ancient philosophers, theologians, and politicians of Late Antiquity.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to formulate and defend, in both oral and written formats, their own analyses of the projects and strategies of the ancient writers as well as larger historical and social trends as demonstrated by the ancient texts.
- Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to compose a substantial research paper appropriate to the subject matter of the course and to the discipline of Classics.
Topical Outline
- General introduction to the world of late antiquity
- The crisis of the third century
- History and politics of the Tetrarchy (reading the Panegyrici Latini)
- Introduction to the religious world of late antiquity (reading martyrdom accounts, specifically the martyrdoms of Perpetua, Felicitas, Marcellus, Julius the veteran and the saints Agape, Irene and Chione)
- Constantine and the Tetrarchy (reading Lactantius, On the death of the persecutors)
- Constantine the Emperor (reading Eusebius' life of Constantine)
- Reading Constantine's Oration to the Saints
- Constantius II, the son and successor of Constantine
- Christianity in the reigns of Constantine and Constantius (reading Athenasius' life of St. Antony)
- Introduction to the Emperor Julian
- Reading Julian's letter to the senate and people of Athens
- The reign of Julian and paganism in late antiquity (reading the histories of Ammianus Marcellinus, books 20 - 26)
- Reading Julian's Caesars
- The legacy of Julian the Apostate
- The intellectual world of Late Antiquity
- Reading Porphyry's life of Plotinus
- The world of law: reading excerpts from the Theodosian code
- The tenacity of classical life: reading the autobiography of Libanius
Institutional Competencies
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
Social Awareness & Responsibility
The capacity to understand the interdependence of people, communities, and self in a global society.
