Writing the City of Rome: Image, Text, Site
Class Syllabus: Spring 2023 (Carleton College)
Ancient Rome has occupied a unique place in the Western consciousness for over 2000 years. It is a city that has inspired many texts, and both its physical fabric and symbolic nature have been reworked and rethought by archaeologists, historians, and literary critics alike. For the ancients, ‘Rome’ took on meaning not just from its concrete monuments, but also from the literary motifs and symbols it evoked. In this class, we will consider how Rome is used as both a setting and inspiration for Latin poetry, and consider how poets both represented and created an image of ‘Rome’.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this class, students will:
Gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between space, place, and the written word.
Be encouraged to think and write creatively about the space in which you live and your responses to it.
Be able to discuss the implications of genre and literary techniques on the representation of space within Roman literature.
Be able to discuss and critically analyze the ways in which different Roman poets utilize the city of Rome as a setting and inspiration for their poetry.
Assessments
In order to achieve the above outcomes, student learning will be structured around the following assessments:
Attendance, Preparation, Participation (10%)
You will be expected to attend class, fully prepared (i.e. having completed all readings and any homework activities) and ready to actively participate in class discussions. You will be provided with opportunities in-class to reflect on your own learning and participation in your class journal. (Full guidance document for attendance, preparation, and participation available to download here)
Outdoor Journal (20% - 4x5%)
At four points during the term, we will leave the classroom and go outside for 15-20 minutes in order to reflect on where we are, and to consider what this particular place may teach us, and how our emotions impact our perception of ‘place’ and ‘space’. After we return from the outside, you will have the opportunity to free write about your experience in your class journal. The dates of our excursions are marked on the class schedule - please dress for the weather! (Full guidance document for outdoor journal available to download here)
Short Papers (40% - 4x10%)
Rather than one long final paper, you will turn in four short written response papers (2 pages) throughout the term that each reflect upon a specific element of class discussions. These papers will be an opportunity to practice analyzing texts, consolidating material, consider how your own thinking has changed, and/or extrapolate to other contexts what we have learned. Prompts for each response will be provided.
‘Writing Carleton’ Final Project (30%)
Your final project consists of two parts:
Complete a set of self-guided exercises and an accompanying worksheet designed to help you investigate monuments, buildings, and places within the ‘space’ of Carleton (15%) *Downloadable worksheet coming soon!*
Write your own creative piece (1-2 pages) about the space of Carleton utilizing one of the literary framework/generic conventions used by the Roman poets discussed in class (15%).
Class Schedule
Week 1: Thinking About Space, Place, and Monuments
Tues March 28th
Read: THIS SYLLABUS + Assignment Guidance Documents.
Activity: Complete ‘Getting to Know You’ Questionnaire on Moodle.
Thurs March 30th
Read: Edwards, C. and Wolfe, G. (2003), ‘Cosmopolis: Rome as World City’, in Rome The Cosmopolis, pp.1-20.
Edwards, C, (1993), ‘Introduction: the city of words’, in Writing Rome, pp. 1-26.
Week 2: Founding Rome - as a Place and an Idea.
Tues April 4th
Read: Selections from Livy and Virgil on Rome’s foundation.
Spencer, D. (2007), ‘Rome at a Gallop: Livy on not gazing, jumping, or toppling into the void’, in The Sites of Rome, pp. 61-100.
Thurs April 6th - *Outdoor Journal Excursion*
Read: Banta, J. (2007), ‘The Gates of Janus: Bakhtin and Plutarch’s Roman meta-chronotope’, in The Sites of Rome, pp. 238-270.
Assessment: Submit short response #1 (Moodle).
Week 3: Rome as Myth
Tues April 11th
Read: Tibullus 2.5 and Virgil Aeneid 8.306-69.
Rea, J. (2007), ‘Urbs Aeterna: Reinventing Rome in Tibullus 2.5 and Aeneid 8’, in Legendary Rome: Myth, Monuments, and Memory.
Thurs April 13th
Read:Hui, A. (2011), ‘The Textual City: Epic Walks in Virgil, Lucan, and Petrarch’, Classical Receptions Journal, 3.2: 148-165.
Week 4: From Brick to Marble? Responses to Augustan Rome
Tues April 18th
Read: Selections from Augustus’ Res Gestae and Suetonius’ Life of Augustus.
Morwood, J. (1991), ‘Aeneas, Augustus, and the Theme of the City’, Greece and Rome 38.2: 212-223.
Thurs April 20th - *Outdoor Journal Excursion*
Read: Spentzou, E. (2018), ‘Propertius’ Aberrant Itineraries: Fleeting Moments in the Eternal City’, in The Production of Space in Latin Literature, pp. 23-44.
Assessment: Submit short response #2 (Moodle); Submit class journal at the end of class.
Week 5: Ovid’s Rome
Tues April 25th
Read: Selections from Ovid’s Ars Amatoria.
Frank, R. (1975), ‘Augustus’ Legislation on Marriage and Children’, California Studies in Classical Antiquity, 8. 41-52.
Thurs April 27th
Read: Selections from Ovid’s Fasti.
Green, S. J. (2004), ‘Playing with Marble: The Monuments of the Caesars in Ovid’s Fasti’, CQ 54.1: 224-239.
Week 6: Martial’s Rome
Tues May 2nd
Read: Selections from Martial’s Liber Spectaculorum.
Lovatt, H. (2016), ‘Flavian Spectacle: Paradox and Wonder’, in A Companion to the Flavian Age of Imperial Rome’, pp. 361-376.
Thurs May 4th - *Outdoor Journal Excursion*
Read: Selections from Martial’s Epigrams.
Roman, L. (2010), ‘Martial and the City of Rome’, JRS 100: 88-117.
Assessment: Submit short response #3 (Moodle)
Week 7: Rome From Away - *Dr Austen off-campus*
There will be no in-person classes this week, but you will be expected to complete the following activities during the week:
Read: Selections from Ovid’s ‘Exile’ Poetry.
Edwards, C. (1996), ‘City of Exiles’, in Writing Rome: Textual Approaches to the City.
Respond: Based on the above reading material, I will post some guided discussion questions on Moodle. You are expected to 1) write your own response to at least one of the questions and 2) respond to at least two of your classmates’ responses.
Assessment: Complete ‘Writing Carleton’ self-guided activities and worksheet and submit on Moodle.
Week 8: Should I Stay or Should I Go? City vs. Countryside
Tues May 16th
Read: Horace Satire 2.6
Braund, S. (1989), ‘City and Country in Roman Satire’, in Satire and Society in Ancient Rome.
Thurs May 18th - *Outdoor Journal Excursion*
Read: Juvenal Satire 3
Geue, T. (2015), ‘The Loser Leaves (Rome’s Loss): Umbricius’ Wishful Exile in Juvenal, Satire 3’, CQ 65.2: 773-787.
Week 9: Rome as Ruin?
Tues May 23rd - *Class Visit to Gould Library Special Collections*
Read: Introduction + selections from ‘The Marvels of Rome: Mirabilia Urbis Romae’.
Assessment: Submit short response #4 (Moodle)
Thurs May 25th - *Class Visit to Perlman Teaching Museum*
Read: Wendort, R. (2001), ‘Piranesi’s Double Ruin’, Eighteenth Century Studies 34.2: 161-180.
Week 10: Rome as Reception - Reflecting on our Journey(s)
Tues May 30th
Activity: Select your favourite piece of writing on Rome that you have encountered during the term. Be prepared to discuss it in class.
Exam days: June 3rd-5th
Assessment: Submit final ‘Writing Carleton’ creative writing assignment.
