CLAS 357
COURSE SCHEDULE

Spring 2024



Unit 1: The Institution of Roman Slavery

Wednesday, January 10: course introduction 
Read: Joshel, Slavery in the Roman World, pp. 1-27
 
Monday, January 15: M. L. King, Jr. Holiday

Wednesday, January 17: introduction to Roman society
Read: Joshel, Slavery in the Roman World, pp. 30-75
 
Monday, January 22: natal alienation and deracination of persons; social death
Read: Joshel, pp. 78-110; Cato, On Agriculture 1-6, 11, 53-60, 143 (translation at LacusCurtius)

Wednesday, January 24: commodification, instrumentum vocale (“a tool with a voice”)
Read: Joshel, pp. 112-160; Varro, On Agriculture 1.17 (translation at LacusCurtius); Seneca, Letter 47 (in E. Fantham, Seneca: Selected Letters, online at UA Library)

Monday, January 29: slave labor
Read: Joshel, pp. 162-214; Columella, On Agriculture 1.7-9 (translation at LacusCurtius)


Unit II: The Roman familia

Wednesday, January 31: paterfamilias – father and master
Read: Terence, Adelphoe (PDF on D2L)

Monday, February 5: paterfamilias (cont.)
Read: Plautus, Captivi

Wednesday, February 7: the idealized matrona
Read: Livy, Ab Urbe Condita 1.9-13 (“Rape of the Sabine Women”; in T. J. Luce, Livy: The Rise of Rome, Books 1-5, online at UA Library), Ab Urbe Condita 1.57-60 (“Lucretia”; in T. J. Luce, Livy: The Rise of Rome, Books 1-5, online at UA Library); ILS 8393 (laudatio Turiae; E. Wistrand translation); Pliny, Letters 3.16 (PDF on D2L); Response #1 due

Monday, February 12: a space between – freedpersons; Phaedrus' animal fables
Read:
Phaedrus, Fables Prologues (Books 1, 2), 1.1, 1.11, 1.15, 1.24, 1.28, 1.30, 2.5, 2.6, 2.9

Wednesday, February 14: animal fables (cont.)
Read: Phaedrus, Fables Prologues (Books 3-5), 3.1, 3.7, 3.10, 4.4, 4.13A, 4.13B, 5.7, 5.10

Monday, February 19: imperial freedpersons
Read: Petronius, Satyricon ("Dinner at Trimalchio's") 26-78 (PDF on D2L)

Wednesday, February 21: Examination #1 


Unit III: Elite Male Self-Enslavement


Monday, February 26: the comic lover enslaved
Read: Terence, Eunuchus (PDF on D2L)

Wednesday, February 28: the elegiac lover’s submission and dominance
Read: Propertius 1.1, 2.7, 2.13/13A, 3.11 (A. S. Kline translations)

Monday, March 4: Spring Break

Wednesday, March 6: Spring Break

Monday, March 11: the elegiac lover’s submission and dominance (cont.)
Read: Ovid, Amores 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.7, 2.8, 3.11A/B (A. S. Kline translations); Creative Project #1 due

Wednesday, March 13: the comic father enslaved
Read: Plautus, Casina


Unit IV: The Enslavement of a Nation – Autocracy

Monday, March 18: Augustus – from Republic to Empire
Read: Suetonius, Augustus

Wednesday, March 20: Caligula
Read: Suetonius, Caligula

Friday, March 22 (11:59pm): Response #2 due

Monday, March 25: Nero
Read: Suetonius, Nero

Wednesday, March 27: Examination #2


Unit V: Psychologizing, Philosophizing and Moralizing about Slavery & Freedom

Monday, April 1: the freedom of creative resistance
Read: Plautus, Pseudolus

Wednesday, April 3: what is freedom?
Read: Horace, Satires 1.6, 2.7; Epistles 1.10, 1.20 (A. S. Kline translations)

Monday, April 8: freedom via Stoicism
Read: Seneca, Letters 8, 14, 31, 110 (in E. Fantham, Seneca: Selected Letters, online at UA Library)

Wednesday, April 10: liberation from religio – Epicurean science & philosophy
Read: Lucretius, On the Nature of Things 1.1-148, 2.1-61, 3.1-93, 3.830-1094, 4.1037-1287 (PDF on D2L)


Unit VI: Freedom & Slavery in Religion

Monday, April 15: mystery cult
Read: Livy 39.8-19 (“Cult of Bacchus”; PDF on D2L); Senatorial Decree on the Bacchanalia (186 BCE)

Wednesday, April 17: slavish pleasures
Read:
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 1-2

Monday, April 22: enslaved bodies
Read:
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 3-5 

Wednesday, April 24: beasts and men of burden
Read:
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 6-8

Monday, April 29: liberation and salvation through Isis
Read: Apuleius, The Golden Ass 9-11; Creative Project #2 due

Wednesday, May 1: universalizing freedom – Christianity
Read: Romans 1:1-8:39, Galatians 1:1-6:18 (PDF on D2L); Response #3 due


Final Examination: Monday, May 6, 10:30am-12:30pm


UA Spring 2024 Final Exam Schedule and Regulations


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