Basic Course Materials: History 490, Classical Antiquity Independent Study

Office Hours: Wed. 10am-12pm; Thurs. 12pm-2pm; Fri. 2:30pm-4:30pm (Blodgett 200F - History department Office)

In this post (which will always be at the top) are included some of the basic course info and readings.

Here is the syllabus for the Classical Antiquity Independent Study, Spring 2015 semester:

History 490: Classical Antiquity Independent Study, Spring 2015

Links to the secondary material we are using for background information [password protected]:

CAH 5: The Fifth Century BC;  CAH 7.2: The Rise of Rome to 220 BC;  CAH 8: Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 BC;  CAH 9: The Last Age of the Roman Republic;  CAH 12: The Crisis of Empire, 193-337 AD;  CAH 13: The Late Empire: 337-425 AD

Additional background volumes [password protected]:

CAH qui supersunt

Assigned Primary texts:

Xenophon - Constitution of the Lacedaemonians

Thucydides - Peloponnesian War, I.1 -- II.65

Additional Primary Texts:

Pseudo-Xenophon (aka The Old Oligarch) - Constitution of the Athenians

Herodotus - Persian Debate over Best Form of Government, 3.80-83

Online Resources:

Perseus Digital Library -- exhaustive collection of classical texts in original and translation as well as selected older commentaries.

Disbanding The Navy

The biggest thing that I found odd earlier on in the reading was that Alexander was more confident in his ability to hold Asia with infantry than he was in the ability of Greece to defeat the Persian navy.  I thought this was odd because it seemed like Athens with the Delian league was more or less able to dominate the Persian navy in the Mediterranean when Athens was at the peak of its empire. The fact that the navy of Alexander when he controlled all of Greece and then some still wasn't powerful enough to defeat a Persian navy that probably already had a fair number of deserters if the impression I got later on with the speed of people deserting the Persian navy is correct.

Also two other small things that I thought were odd and cool were the fact that apparently Ptolemy was a far more common name than I thought, and also the development of silt deposits forming a land-bridge around the mole to Tyre was absolutely incredible.

Alexander's Character

I cannot decide what to make of Alexander. On the one hand, he is depicted as a fairly benevolent ruler. He cares for his wounded troops, respects the dead of his enemies on several occasions, joins his troops while they're doing hard work, respects Darius' women, and spares the lives of several enemies out of compassion or respect (or so claims Arrian). Then on the flipside, he appears to be very proud and brutal on several occasions. He massacres the people of Thebes and treats the Greek prisoners of war very harshly after one of his first Persian battles. What do you think about Alexander?

Alexander and the Greek Gods

I find it interesting that Alexander claims to be descended from Zeus and Heracles. While this maintains his Greek heritage, at times he is almost shown as a god himself. For example, when he is fighting the Thebans, he appears to pop up almost everywhere which makes him sound like a super soldier. I'm surprised that he does not make a claim to be descended from Ares, the god of war because wouldn't that be just as effective as claiming to be descended from Zeus?

I noticed a few small things in the larger Isocrates piece.  At the start he mentioned a Spartan colony that was much better placed than the Athenian colony that Athens was warring with Macedonia over.  I just thought this was odd because by the context of it, it seemed like this was a recent settlement.  What struck me about that was that I'm pretty sure this was when Sparta was essentially at the peak of its demographic crisis.  It just doesn't seem like the best time to send some of your already few citizens to found another city. 

Also I thought it was strange that I don't remember seeing Corinth mentioned at all in that document.  I generally think of Corinth before I think of the Argives, but they are mentioned all over the place, while Corinth is as far as I can remember completely ignored. I just thought that was odd.

Athletic Competitions after the Colchian Victory

Something that struck me as a little odd were the games that the Greeks hosted after their victory against the Colchians. They are still in hostile territory and are by no means safely home yet they chose to host mini Olympic games. Religion seems to be an important factor to Xenophon and the army continuously sacrifices to the gods before and after battles to win their favor. Were these games done to gain the gods' favor or was this more of a "bread and circus" situation?

Ancient Liberty

I just reread Benjamin Constant's claim that the ancients had a very different view of liberty. So as I read through the first half of the Anabasis, I had that in the back of my mind. It was interesting to see it in action. (Especially considering Constant sights Xenophon as a source several times.) Two things stood out more than anything. When the generals consulted the army to decide what to do, but that that group decision still seemed binding on the members. There are also a few points where they are talking about themselves as free men. Through Constant's analysis this just means they have a right to participate in governance. They are not slaves because they have some small say in their fates, even if they as individuals have almost no rights.