Format: the exam (15% of the course grade) will consist of 3 sections:
(1) matching (names, terms)
(2) commentaries on passages selected from your reading of Roman authors
(3) essay
Part I, matching [ca. 35% of total exam points]. You will be asked to match items listed with a brief description of them.
possible items for the matching section (note that Joshel has a Glossary of terms on pp. 215-18):
Cato
Varro
Columella
Seneca
Plautus
chattel
slavery
peculium
manumission
pilleus
Spartacus
servus (plural servi)
deracination/natal alienation
aedile
Edict of the Aediles
Stoicism
villa
vilicus/vilica
instrumentum vocale
contubernales
collegium (plural collegia)
columbarium
ergastulum
paterfamilias
Casina
Lysidamus
Cleostrata
cum manu
sine manu
Hegio
Philocrates
Tyndarus
Stalagmus
ethics of reciprocity/Golden Rule
Pseudolus
Calidorus
Phoenicium
Simo
Ballio
Part II: Passages for Commentary [ca. 35% of total exam points]. You will be given passages from the Roman literary works we have read*** and asked to provide the following:
(1) identify the author;
(2) identify the title of the work from which the passage is taken;
(3) identify the speaker(s) of the passage (i.e. character(s) if relevant, or the author);
(4) briefly describe the context in which the passage occurs;
(5) write a carefully organized paragraph commenting on the broader significance of the passage in light of our course themes (horror, terror, violence, and trauma) and the work’s particular treatment of any of these themes (this is the most important part of your commentary and the majority of commentary points fall here)
***works we have read:
Seneca, Letter 47
Cato, On Agriculture
Columella, On Agriculture
Plautus, Casina
Plautus, Captivi
Plautus, Pseudolus
Part III, essay. [ca. 30% of total exam points]. You will be asked to write a thoughful and coherent essay based on the following question(s):
In what specific ways was Roman slavery thoroughly rooted in horror, terror, violence, and trauma?
What factors seem to have made Roman slavery a relatively stable and enduring institution for so many centuries?
In what ways could Roman slaves express their agency and humanity or otherwise find significance and value in their enslaved lives?