CLAS 289A Are We Rome? Summer Session II 2017

CORE Social or Political History (SH) Course. GenEd: Distributive Studies - History and Social Sciences or Distributive Studies - Humanities;

Signature Courses - I-Series.

ONLINE Gregory A. Staley Professor of Classics 1210E Marie Mount Hall 301-405-2016 gstaley@umd.edu Office Hours: email me to schedule a time to chat by phone or Skype. REQUIRED TEXTS:

Cullen McMurphy, Are We Rome? (Mariner Books 9780547052106). Margaret Malamud, Ancient Rome and Modern America (Wiley-Blackwell

9781405139342). David M. Gwynn, The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford

9780199595112) Christopher Kelly, The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford

97801928039170) COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will: • Master the central themes and events of Roman history that are relevant to the American experience. • Understand how cultural historians use the past to think about the present and future. • Understand why America preferred Rome over Greece as an ancient model. • Explore the role of education, popular culture, travel and literature in introducing Americans to the Romans. • Use their knowledge of Rome to think critically about America's future. COURSE GRADING: • Two exams during the course of the term 40% • Discussion board postings and participation 40% • Policy Project on Rome and America’s Future 20% GRADE EQUIVALENCIES 97-100 A+ 93-96 A 90-92 A- 87-89 B+ 83-86 B 80-82 B- 77-79 C+ 73-76 C 70-72 C- Tentat

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67-69 D+ 63-66 D 60-62 D- 59 and below F COURSE DESCRIPTION AND POLICIES: 1. The rationale behind this course is right on the money. If you examine the back of a one dollar bill, you will see America's Great Seal, showing a pyramid with an eye above it and two Latin mottoes: Annuit Coeptis ("He gives is approval to our undertakings.") and Novus Ordo Seclorum (" A New Order of the Ages"). Both were drawn from the Roman poet Vergil's description of the Romans as god's favored people and the start of a new Golden Age in human history. America, from its very origins as an independent nation, saw itself as the new Rome: our system of government is built on Roman precedents, our national buildings look as if they came from the Roman Forum, our leisure activities take us to stadiums modeled on the Colosseum or to theaters modeled on the theaters of the Roman empire where we watch stories such as Gladiator or Star Wars in which evil empires are restored to virtuous republics. Our relationship to Rome, however, raises our greatest anxiety: will America fall as Rome did? In 1776, the year of American independence, Edward Gibbon published his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; America has been thinking about the trajectory of our history alongside Rome's from the very beginning. 2. This course will explore the implications of Rome's past for America's future by asking a series of questions implicit in the questioning title of Cullen Murphy's book, Are We Rome? Why do we ask that question? Why do we ask it about Rome instead of about Athens or Jerusalem or London? How did Americans learn about Rome and what influence did their knowledge of Rome have on their conceptions of America? What did the Romans themselves say about their "decline" and the reasons for it? How have modern historians explained the course of Roman history? Can we even use history to predict the future? Along the way we will learn about multiculturalism in Rome, military power and imperialism, about ancient democracy and its virtues and defects, as the Founders understood it. Ultimately we will use this knowledge actively, as so many commentators on American life regularly do, to critique America and its destiny. 3. The class will be organized in twelve models, two per week during each of the six weeks of the summer term. Each module will contain video lectures followed by discussion (in groups of 15 students) on a discussion board. For each module there will be associated readings which must be completed prior to viewing the lectures or participating in the discussion board. We will explore the American constitution, architecture, sports and entertainment; we will explore Washington as the new Rome in its architecture and symbolism and will produce at the end of the course a wiki that explores what Rome’s past has to teach us about America’s future. Students will work in teams on the themes of Culture, Economics, Foreign Policy and Politics to prepare this wiki and to make recommendations about the policies America needs to follow in the next fifty years to avoid a fall like Rome’s. At the end of the course students will debate these proposals and vote on the best of them on a discussion board. 4. The two exams given during the term will consist of identification questions, short answer questions, and essays. For each topic I will give you a list of key terms and questions to guide you in preparing for these exams Tentat

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