Texts:

• Ammianus Marcellinus. Loeb edition. 2 vols.
• Philological and Historical Commentary on Ammianus Marcellinus by J. Den Boeft, D. Den Hengst, and H. C. Teitler available on reserve in the Alexander Room. PLEASE be kind and do not remove these books from the room.
• Julian (vol. 2 of the Loeb, to be read in translation)
• Glen Bowersock, Julian the Apostate (Harvard University Press)
• A variety of articles and books on reserve in the Alexander Room as well as available on this website

Please do not remove reserve materials from the Alexander room. If at the end of the semester there are books missing from our shelf, whether those books be mine or the library’s, you will all receive a grade of Incomplete “I” until all items have been returned.

*All students must adhere to the University Honor Code. Any violation will be pursued to its conclusion in cooperation with the Office of the Vice President of Instruction.

All academic work must meet the standards contained in “A Culture of Honesty.” Students are responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work.

The link to more detailed information about academic honesty can be found at: http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/acadhon.htm

*Adhering to university policy, I include the following statement: The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

SCHEDULE:

F: Aug. 17: Introduction to class, syllabus and sources. Please begin reading the Latin now.

Week One:

M Aug 20: Lecture: Introduction to the 4th century. Read Glen Bowersock, Julian the Apostate, chapter one: “Approaching the Reign.”
W Aug 22: Lecture: Introduction to Ammianus Marcellinus. Read John Matthews “Ammianus Marcellinus” in Ancient Writers of Greece and Rome.
F: Aug 24: Book 14: chapters 1-5. Pay special attention to the Latin in Sections 1 and 5.
Read Bowersock, Julian the Apostate, chapter two: “The Personality of the Emperor.”

Week Two:

M Aug 27: Book 14: chapter 6. On Rome and her faults.
W Aug 29: Book 14: chapters 7-10: Also read Glen Bowersock, Julian the Apostate chapter three: “The Heritage of Adolescence.”
F Aug 31: Book 14: chapter 11: the strange ending of Gallus.

Week Three:

M Sept. 3: No class: Labor Day.
W Sept. 5: Book 15: chapters 1-4. The post-Gallus mop up.
F Sept. 7: Book 15: 5-7. Pay very close attention to chapter 7 in Latin. Read “The Arrest of Peter Valvomeres” in Erich Auerbach, Mimesis (Princeton, 1953), 50 – 76.

Week Four:

M Sept. 10: Book 15: 8-13. Julian is appointed Caesar. Read Bowersock, Julian the Apostate, chapter 4: “Gaul.”
W Sept. 12: Book 16: Chapters 1 – 4. Julian.
F Sept. 14: Book 16: Chapter 5. Read Edward Gibbon The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire chapter 19 (pages 598 – 634 in the Modern Library Version on Reserve in the Alexander Room as well as on PDF file).

Week Five:

M Sept. 17: Book 16: Chapters 6 – 9. Pay special attention to 7-8 in the Latin.
W Sept. 19: Book 16: Chapter 10 –11. Please pay very special attention to chapter 10, the grand adventus of Constantius. In honor of this very famous scene, you will also read (in English translation and on PDF file) Julian’s panegyric to Constantius, which he delivered before Constantius arrived in Rome, but this is a good opportunity to begin to get a feel for the genre.
F Sept. 21: Book 16: Chapter 12. The Battle of Strasburg.

Week Six:

M Sept. 24: Book 17: Read chapters 1 – 3 in Latin. Read chapters 4 (on obelisks), 5, 6 and 7 (earthquakes) in English.
W Sept. 26: Book 17: Chapters 8 – 14. A lot of Latin for today; try to get through as much as possible.
F Sept. 28: Book 17: Book 18: Chapters 1-3. Read Matthews The Roman Empire of Ammianus, chapter three: “Ammianus and Constantius: Civil Dissension and Civil War,” pp. 33-47.

Week Seven:

M Oct. 1: Book 18: Chapters 4-7.
W Oct. 3: Book 18: Chapter 8 - end, Book 19, chapter 1. Read Matthews The Roman Empire of Ammianus, chapter four: “North-East Frontier,” pp. 48-66.
F. Oct. 5: Book 19, chapters 2 – 4.

Week Eight:

M Oct. 8: MID-TERM TRANSLATION EXAM
W Oct. 10: Book 19, chapters 5 – 8. An eye-witness to the taking of the city of Amida. Also read chapters 9 and 10 of Tim Barnes’ book Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality: “Things Seen and Read” and “Enemies, Animals and Stereotypes.”
F Oct. 12: Book 19, chapters 9 - to the end of the book (13).

Week Nine:

M Oct. 15: Book 20, chapters 1-5. Ursicinus is sacked and Julian is hailed Augustus. Pay special attention to chapters 4 and 5. And read from Bowersock’s book Julian the Apostate, chapter 5: “The Acclamation at Paris” (pp. 46-54).
W Oct. 17: Book 20, chapters 5-7: pay special attention to Julian’s letter to Constantius in chapter 8.
F Oct. 19: Book 20, chapters 8-9. Read Bowersock, chapter 6: “The Mask Removed.”

Week Ten:

M Oct. 22: Book 20, chapter 10 – end. Julian continues his campaigns in Gaul and Ammianus explains rainbows. As a coda to Book 19, please read in English Julian’s “Letter to the Athenians” wherein Julian defends himself after having revolted against Constantius and accepted the title of Augustus.
W Oct. 24: Book 21, chapters 1-5. Pay special attention to chapters 1 and 2.
F Oct. 26: NO CLASS FALL BREAK

Week Eleven:

M Oct. 29: Book 21, chapters 6 – 12. Looks like civil war as Julian heads east. Pay special attention to who is on what side and what it must be like to choose between competing emperors. Read Mamertinus’ panegyric (PDF File) to Julian which was delivered in Constantinople on January 1st of 362. We read it now because Ammianus refers in these chapters to Mamertinus who, as we will see, begins to be appointed to successively higher offices, culminating in the consulship (the reason he thanks Julian in January of 362).
W. Oct. 31: Book 21, chapters 13 – end. Constantius is dead. Pay special attention to chapter 16, the assessment of Constantius. Read Tim Barnes, Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality, chapter 12: “Tyranny and Incompetence”, 129 – 142. Read also Bowersock, Julian the Apostate chapter 7: “Justice and Reform.”
F Nov. 2: Book 22, chapters 1- 8. You have been reading lots of Latin lately. Pay attention to the Latin in chapters 1-7 which deal with Julian’s first actions as sole emperor. Chapter 8 is a description of Thrace and the Pontic sea. You are encouraged to read this section 8 in the Latin, but we will not spend much time on this in class. Read Bowersock, Julian the Apostate chapter 8: “The Puritanical Pagan.”

Week Twelve:

M Nov. 5: Book 22, chapters 9 - 12, Julian in Antioch. His beliefs. To understand Julian’s love for philosophy and theurgy, as well as to help us understand the generations of philosophers who influenced and directed trends in Neoplatonism from the 3rd to the 4th centuries AD, we read, in translation, a section of Eunapius’ Lives of the Philosophers, pp. 319-451. For those who are interested, you may also want to read E.R. Dodd’s article, there is a copy in the Alexander Room and is also available on JSTOR, “Theurgy and Its Relationship to Neoplatonism” Journal of Roman Studies 37 (1947), 55-69.
W Nov. 7: Book 22, chapters 13-14. Read in English translation Julian’s Misopogon, or, “the Beard Hater,” Julian’s acerbic diatribe against the people of Antioch (Loeb volume).
John Chrysostom was about 15 years old and living in Antioch when Julian and the people of that city found they disliked each other intensely. Read, in translation, John’s Homily on Saint Babylas, against Julian and the Pagans.
Read also Bowersock’s ninth chapter “Antioch,” which is very good for Julian’s reaction to the people of Antioch.
F. Nov. 9: Chapters 15 – 16. Ammianus on Egypt. Read, for background, Tim Barnes’ chapter “The Greek Template”(pp. 65 – 78) in Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality. You may also want to look at the Appendix (number 5) on the subjects and locations of Ammianus’ digressions (pp. 222 – 224).

Week Thirteen:

M Nov. 12: Book 23, chapters 1-5. We set out for Persia.
W Nov. 14: Book 23, chapter 6. A description of Persia. We will not be paying too much attention to the Latin, but I am very interested in you reading (yes, it’s a bit long, but good for you), John Matthews, The Roman Empire of Ammianus chapter 8: “The Invasion of Persia,” pp. 130 – 179.
F Nov. 16: Book 24: Chapters 1-3.

Week Fourteen:

M Nov. 19: Book 24: chapters 4-5.
W Nov. 21: No Class. Thanksgiving
F Nov. 23: No Class. Thanksgiving

Week Fifteen:

M Nov. 26: Book 24, Chapter 6- end. Read Bowersock, Julian the Apostate, Chapter ten: “The Final Campaign.”
W Nov. 28: Book 25, chapters 1 –3. The Death of Julian.
F Nov. 30: Book 25, chapter 4. Ammianus’ assessment of Julian’s character.

Week Sixteen:

M Dec. 3: Read in English Libanius’ Oration 18: Funeral Oration Over Julian.
Tu. Dec. 4: University works on a Friday schedule. Read Book 25, chapters 5-7.
F Dec. 5: Read Book 25, chapters 7- end

YOUR FINAL PAPER IS DUE ON Wednesday, DECEMBER 12th at 3:30 PM. This is also the time of your final exam.

Grading: Midterm exam: 20 percent.
Paper: 40 percent.
Final Exam: 40 percent.