Freedom in Ancient Rome and the Modern World

Spring Quarter 2019 ❋ TTh 10:30-12:20 ❋ 5 Credits  ❋ 115 Condon Hall

NO PREREQUISITES

SATISFIES VLPA/I&S, DIV REQUIREMENTS, AND COUNTS AS 'W' CLASS

Professor Alain M. Gowing
Office: M262C Denny Hall (north mezzanine)
Office Hours: M 9:30-10:20 and by appointment
e-mail: alain@u.washington.edu

Course on Canvas (canvas.uw.edu): Posted here (as of the start of and updated throughout the quarter) you will find: the course syllabus, the weekly assignments along with either pdf’s of or links to various readings, instructions on the ‘response’ papers and longer paper (see below under ‘requirements), a running bibliography, and other things.

Required texts:

• Readings drawn from various primary sources (=ancient authors), including: Plato, Cicero, Livy, Horace, Seneca the Younger, Tacitus, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Cassius Dio, St. Augustine. (This list is provisional and subject to change and emendation!)
• Patterson, Orlando.   Volume 1: Freedom in the Making of Western Culture. Harper Collins 1991.
• Powell, J., trans. (2009) The Republic and the Laws. Oxford World's Classics.  Oxford University Press. 
• Additional readings in various secondary sources will be supplied or are readily available online through the UW Libraries (links will be provided on Canvas as needed) 

Here's a SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY that includes both some of the secondary texts from which we will read selections as well as other studies you might want to be aware of.

Course description:  Freedom – libertas, in Latin – was a fundamental concept in ancient Rome, central throughout its history to, and in all aspects of, its political and social life.  Indeed, the word libertas became literally synonymous with (that is, a name for) the ‘Roman Republic’.  This course examines 'freedom' in ancient Rome, from its founding in the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD, when Christianity became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire.  Through selected readings in both primary and secondary sources, we will examine the various forms of freedom important to Romans and how their views evolved (or remained the same) over time, specifically: personal freedom (including slavery), political freedom, religious freedom, and intellectual freedom (i.e., the freedom to write or say what one wants).  In addition, however, we will also examine various perspectives on ‘freedom’ expressed in the modern world, including (but not limited to) the United States, and what they owe or do not owe to Roman concepts.  Readings in Orlando Patterson’s landmark book Freedom, an historical overview of the concept, will provide a benchmark for this, but will be supplemented by other readings as well.

Course requirements:

• (40%) successful completion of any 4 of 8 short, weekly ‘response’ papers (click HERE for Instructions). For 8 of the 10 weeks, you will be asked to write a 'response' to the week's readings; the requirement for each of your four papers is '2 pages or 1 hour, whichever comes first'.  For each week I will post a guide to the week's readings, specifying various issues and questions to which I want you to give your attention and which may help you think in a directed way about the readings; I will also post the specific writing assignments under 'Papers' in the Assignments section.
• (30%) 2 quizzes, each 15%. These will essentially serve to evaluate how well you are processing and retaining the information provided in the reading, and to some extent how effectively you are learning to think and write critically about the material.  The quizzes will be given online via Canvas and will be available over a period of several days.  CLICK HERE FOR A DESCRIPTION OF THE QUIZZES.
• (30%) In lieu of a standard final examination, you will write an 8-10 page paper, due on the date of the final exam (Monday, June 10). Throughout the quarter I will keep and post a list of suggested topics, but you are encouraged to come up with their own ideas. SEE INSTRUCTIONS AND SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR THIS UNDER 'THE LONG PAPER' UNDER ASSIGNMENTS TO THE LEFT.

Learning Objectives.  At the conclusion of this class, you will be able to:

• Think and write critically about fundamental perspectives on and ideas about ‘freedom’ in ancient Rome as expressed by a broad range of Greek and Roman writers and examined in variety of scholarly studies.
• Relate the Roman material to a broad selection of ideas and perspectives on ‘freedom’ in the modern world, including (but not limited to) the United States from its founding to the present day.
• Think and write critically about the role of ‘freedom’ in four essential areas: personal freedom (including slavery); political freedom; religious freedom; and intellectual freedom.
• Acquire the foundations for a historically and culturally informed appreciation of and sensitivity to a seminal concept in the development of Western and non-Western societies

Some important guidelines:

• In order for this class to be successful and meaningful for you, please a) make a concerted effort to keep up with and understand the readings, and b) come to class prepared to ask questions and contribute to discussions
• Cell phones: please don’t use them during class – at all. I say this not only to discourage you from texting during class, but (more importantly) to discourage you from using a phone to do the class readings.  That’s just a bad idea.
• Laptops or pads: It’s OK to use laptops or pads to take notes or consult texts, but please don’t use them for anything else.
• Online texts and the library. Some (if not many) of the texts we will read are only (or most conveniently) available online through the UW Libraries.  For that reason you should quickly become familiar, if you are not already, with how to check out, download, and read an electronic text from the library.
• Coming late: I understand that it can sometimes be a challenge to get to class on time, but on those occasions when you have to enter the room late, please do so as unobtrusively as possible.
• Missing classes: I also understand that from time to time you may have to miss a class, but please don’t ask me to recap a lecture or provide you with lecture notes. Ask someone in the class if you miss anything. 

Tentative schedule of reading and materials to be covered:

NB: This is merely a rough outline of the principal primary and secondary readings we will cover and when. Each week I will post to the website a weekly assignment (I will post this well in advance) that will include the primary and secondary readings to be covered as well as identify a few specific issues to think about in connection with that reading. You will get the most out of each class meeting if you have done the assigned week’s reading prior to the class meetings in which we cover it.

Introduction (Week 1):

Week 1, 1-5 April: Prolegomenon: The nature of freedom in ancient Greece. Primary source readings: Selections from Plato (to be provided); Secondary source readings: selections from Raaflaub; Patterson, Chap. 3.

Detailed assignment for Week 1

Political freedom (Weeks 2-4):

Week 2, 6-12 April: 

Detailed assignment for Week 2

Week 3, 13-19 April: 

Detailed assignment for Week 3

Week 4, 20-26 April: 

Detailed assignment for Week 4

Personal freedom (including slavery) (Weeks 5-7):

Week 5, 27 April-3 May: 

Detailed assignment for Week 5

Description of the Quizzes

Week 6, 4-10 May (Quiz #1 due Thursday, May , by 5 PM):

Detailed assignment for Week 6

Week 7, 11-17 May: 

Detailed assignment for Week 7

Intellectual freedom (Week 8): 

Week 8, 18-24 May: 

Detailed assignment for Week 8

Religious freedom (Week 9):

Week 9, 25-31 May: 

Detailed assignment for Week 9

Note that Quiz #2 will be available Thursday, 5/30 at 12:30 PM and must be completed on or by Thursday, June 6 by 5:00 PM

Retrospective reflection (Week 10):

Week 10, 1-7 

Detailed assignment for Week 10

Remember that Quiz #2 must be completed on or by Thursday, June 6 by 5:00 PM

MONDAY, JUNE 10: FINAL PAPER due by 5 PM