Ancient Mediterranean Studies
The program in Ancient Mediterranean Studies provides students with a broad background in the history and culture of the ancient Mediterranean world, in the study of Latin and Greek as common languages during and beyond Classical antiquity, and in the reception of the Classical tradition by later cultures. The field of Ancient Mediterranean Studies is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing on evidence and methodologies from fields like Archaeology, Art History, English, History, Religious Studies, and Philosophy, and it helps students develop important skills for advanced study in a variety of fields. Students in Ancient Mediterranean Studies discover how contemporary questions and cultures can connect directly to the human experience of living in the Ancient Mediterranean region millennia ago, including connections within and beyond the region due to newly discovered trade routes, economic exchanges and the movement of objects and texts through and across cultural communities.
Students in the Ancient Mediterranean Studies program will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of one or more cultures of the ancient Mediterranean region in a global context through analysis in written and/or oral form;
- Formulate an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of one or more cultures of the ancient Mediterranean;
- Synthesize and apply knowledge about Ancient Mediterranean Studies;
- Successfully complete a research project and in-depth analysis of a specific topic in Ancient Mediterranean Studies.
The Program in Ancient Mediterranean Studies offers two minors. The 24-credit minor in Greek and Latin is intended for students wishing to focus on the ancient languages. The 15-credit minor in Ancient Mediterranean Studies is a broader program, consisting of courses drawn from the program's offerings and from related courses in other departments. Most courses in Ancient Mediterranean Studies do not require knowledge of the ancient languages; courses specifically in Latin or Greek aim at building knowledge in those languages.
Students may also design a major in Ancient Mediterranean Studies. For more information, please consult the Individually Designed Major catalog section.
Classical Civilization
AMED 1060 Ancient Greek Literature 3 Credits
This course is an introduction to the literature of ancient Greece, from roughly the 8th century B.C.E. to the 2nd century C.E., a span of almost 1,000 years. We will read works of various genres of Greek literature in translation, with authors and works including Homer, the lyric poets, Herodotus, Greek tragedians, Aristophanes, the Attic orators, Hellenistic poetry, and the Greek novel. The goal is to gain a basic understanding of the progression of Greek literature and how each work or genre relates to social and political conditions in Greece at the time, especially with regard to gender and interpersonal relationships. Cross-listed with ENGL 1060. Previously CLST 1060.
AMED 1070 Ancient Roman Literature 3 Credits
This course is an introduction to the literature of ancient Rome, a canon that took shape from roughly the 3rd century BCE to the 2nd century CE but covers events as early as 753 BCE. We will read and analyze works of various genres of Roman literature in translation, with authors and works including Plautus, Cicero, Catullus, Sulpicia, Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid, Augustus, Livy, Vergil, Lucretius, Seneca, Tacitus, and epigraphy. These authors and works necessarily span a breadth of disciplines (including but not limited to literary studies, gender and sexuality s t udies, history, art history and archaeology, performing arts, philosophy, and religious studies) which offer a multitude of theoretical approaches and models that we can use to explore our material in an interdisciplinary fashion. Our ultimate goal is to gain a basic understanding of the progression of Roman literature and how each work or genre relates to social and political conditions in Rome at the time. Cross-listed with ENGL 1070. Previously CLST 1070.
AMED 1080 Myth in Classical Literature 3 Credits
This course introduces students to classical mythology through an examination of the diverse ways in which myth and legend are treated in the literatures of ancient Greece and Rome. Students read texts in English translation; knowledge of Greek or Latin is not required. This course may be taken to fulfill the Magis Core exploration tier requirement in literature. Crosslisted with ENGL 1080. Previously CLST 1080.
AMED 1090 Greek Tragedy in English Translation 3 Credits
AMED 1100 Greco-Roman Gender and Sexuality 3 Credits
In this course, we will analyze and engage with ancient Greco-Roman works of literature and art to reconstruct Greek and Roman conceptions of gender, sexuality, and interrelated topics: love, masculinity, femininity, homoeroticism, courtship, and marriage, among others. We will then use these investigations as a way to analyze our own modern conceptions of gender and sexuality and explore how issues like the definitions of sex and gender, the dynamics of socio-political power, the creation of community and relationships, and the boundaries of what is legal and moral are necessarily renegotiated from culture to culture and time period to time period. Cross-listed with ENGL 1100.
AMED 1114 Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations 3 Credits
The ancient Mediterranean world was far more than Greco-Roman civilization. The ancient Mediterranean was home to one of history’s first literate urbanized societies (pharaonic Egypt), ancient mariners reaching as far as Scandinavia and southern Africa (Carthage), a kingdom and people at the origins of ancient monotheism (Judea), the ancient society whose religious and architectural traditions shaped those of ancient Rome (Etruria), and many other rich and interesting cultures from the British Isles to the Horn of Africa. This course surveys the history of a selection of one or more of these societies to give students a sense of the complexity of the non-Greco-Roman ancient Mediterranean.
AMED 1115 Greek Civilization 3 Credits
Students study the Greek experience: the social and cultural values, political institutions, and economic structures of the ancient Greeks and their effect on the historical process in the period down to the death of Alexander. Knowledge of Greek is not required. This course may be used to fulfill the Magis Core orientation tier requirement in History. Previously CLST 1115.
AMED 1116 Roman Civilization 3 Credits
Roman civilization spanned more than 1000 years of history and culture, and influenced western society in profound ways. This course traces Rome's development from a small local tribe to a world power, examining how it expanded and conquered the Mediterranean and absorbed into its culture aspects of the peoples it defeated. Knowledge of Latin is not required. This course may be used to fulfill the Magis Core orientation tier requirement in History. Previously CLST 1116.
AMED 1270 Romantic Love in Greek and Roman Literature 3 Credits
The course of true love never did run smooth. From Homer's Penelopoe to Ovid's Remedies of Love we will examine the permutations of romantic desire and its frustrations in the literature of Greece and Rome. Readings also include selections from Sappho's poetry, Sophocles' Women of Trachis, Euripides' Hippolytos and Medea, comedies by Menander and Terence, Catullus poems to Lesbia, Vergil's tale of Dido and Aeneas, selections from the elegies of Tibullus Sulpicia, Propertius and Ovide, and briefer excerpts from other authors. All readings are in English translation. This course may be taken to fulfill the Magis Core exploration tier requirement in literature. Crosslisted with ENGL 1270. Previously CLST 1270.
AMED 1900 Special Topics (Shell) 3 Credits
This course explores a specific topic in the interdisciplinary field of classical studies. Content will vary in successive offerings of this course. Previously CLST 1900.
AMED 2005 Greco-Roman Literature 3 Credits
In this course, we will focus on one author from Greco-Roman antiquity and analyze and engage with their literary work(s) in English translation. Each successive offering of this shell course will focus on a different author or text, so students may take this course multiple times for credit. Topics will include the historical circumstances that formed the author and text; thematic considerations that offer us insights into the constructions of ancient society; the ways in which we might compare and contrast ancient beliefs about institutions like relationships, family, politics, war, and religion with those of the modern day; and the reception of ancient literature and narratives in later cultures. The study of any ancient author necessarily engages in methods and tools from a variety of associated disciplines, including literary studies, gender and sexuality studies, history, art history and archaeology, performing arts, philosophy, and religious studies; this interdisciplinary approach will enrich our understanding of the text. Cross-listed with ENGL 2005.
AMED 2221 Hellenistic World, 336-30 BCE 3 Credits
The course examines the Mediterranean world and the ancient near east from the late fourth to late first centuries BCE. Focus is on: the career of Alexander the Great; the Greek kingdoms that emerge after the collapse of his empire; the interaction between local cultures and religions - e.g. Egypt, ancient Judaism - and Greek civilization; the social history of daily life in conquered lands under Greek rule; and the transformations in the Hellenistic world with the arrival of Roman rule. Crosslisted with HIST 2221. Previously CLST 2221.
AMED 2222 The Roman Revolution 3 Credits
This course presents a comprehensive study of the political, social, artistic, literary, and military transformation of Rome from the middle of the second-century BCE through the reign of Augustus, with special attention given to Rome's response to the cultural and governmental challenges imposed by its growing empire and how its responses forever changed the course of Western civilization. Crosslisted with HIST 2222. Previously CLST 2222.
AMED 2223 Roman World in Late Antiquity, 284-642 CE 3 Credits
The course examines the Mediterranean world from the third to seventh centuries CE. Focus is on: the collapse of the Roman Empire in western Europe; the dramatic upheavals caused by the arrival in the Roman Empire of the Visigoths, Vandals, and other barbarian tribes; the survival of the Byzantine East through the early Islamic conquests; the rise of Christianity from a persecuted religion to the official religion of the Roman Empire; and the accompanying cultural transformations, including the rise of monasticism and the importance of the holy man. Crosslisted with HIST 2223. Previously CLST 2223.
AMED 2224 Byzantine World 3 Credits
This course is an introduction to political and social history of Byzantine Empire. It also highlights Byzantium's role as a bridge between Greco-Roman antiquity and modern European civilization. Course lectures will cover Byzantium's origins in the eastern half of the Roman Empire, Byzantium's middle period as a major Mediterranean power, and its late period as an increasingly shrinking city-state. The course will also introduce students to some of the major Byzantine historians and to methods of analysis using these sources, and train students to form historical arguments based on these analyses. Crosslisted with HIST 2224. Previously CLST 2224.
AMED 2225 Ancient Economic History 3 Credits
This course explores the economic history of the Greco-Roman Mediterranean from the eighth century BCE to the seventh century CE. It focuses primarily on a close reading of the relevant primary sources – particularly literary, epigraphic and numismatic – providing insight into both the functioning of the ancient economy and Greco-Roman beliefs about and values concerning that economy. It also invites students to engage in the modern debate about the nature of the ancient economy, and asks them to consider whether that economy was a so-called “primitive” economy, or fundamentally like the modern economy, adjusting simply for scale. This course analyzes ancient evidence for Greco-Roman accounting techniques; debt mechanisms; price formation; coinage; travel and trade; markets and demand; and other aspects of ancient economic behavior.
AMED 3325 Athenian Democracy and Empire 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): AMED 1115 or AMED1116 or one 1000-level history class.
This history seminar provides an in-depth exploration of classical Athens at the height of its power in the fifth century BCE. Its focus is on close reading of the primary sources describing the rise and fall of Athens in this period. It places particular emphasis on the parallel rise of Athenian democracy at home and the Athenian empire overseas. It places secondary emphasis on the nature of Athenian intellectual discourse in this period. A final research project will engage modern scholarly debates on the nature of fifth-century Athens. Crosslisted with HIST 3325. Previously CLST 3325.
AMED 4999 Capstone Project in Classics 3 Credits
Prerequisite(s): At least seven courses in the individually designed major.
Students completing an individually designed major in classical studies develop and carry out a major project that allows them to pull together the multiple threads of their interdisciplinary major. Enrollment by permission only. Previously CLST 4999.
Greek
GREK 1111 Introductory Ancient Greek 3 Credits
This course is an introduction to the ancient Greek language, the mode of communication that defines the literature and culture of ancient Greece. No previous knowledge of Greek is required. This course will start from the very basics of the Greek language (i.e., alphabet, parts of speech, inflection, pronunciation) and eventually build towards a strong command of Greek vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. The goal of introductory Greek is to build a solid foundation for reading actual ancient Greek texts. As such, the acquisition of those linguistic skills, elucidated and practiced through classroom instruction and examples in our textbook, will also be reinforced by the reading of select prose passages in Greek.
GREK 2001 Intermediate Ancient Greek 3 Credits
This course builds on the grammatical and syntactic knowledge base built in GREK 1111 or in previous iterations of GREK 2xxx through reading
unaltered Greek texts and applying concepts and skills to the actual words of the ancients. Specific language skills that we will develop include
recognizing syntactic patterns and larger narrative structures in connected passages of prose or poetry; reading ancient Greek at sight with confidence; reading with increased speed while remaining attentive to very close analysis of assigned passages; and understanding how to use lexica, commentaries, and other scholarly instruments in reading an edition of an ancient text.
Latin
LATN 1111 Introductory Latin 4 Credits
This course is a one-semester introduction to the Latin language, the mode of communication that defines the literature and culture of ancient Rome. No previous knowledge of Latin is required. This course will start from the very basics of the Latin language (i.e., parts of speech, inflection, pronunciation) and eventually build towards a strong command of Latin vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. The goal of introductory Latin is to build a solid foundation for reading actual ancient Roman texts. As such, the acquisition of those linguistic skills, elucidated and practiced through classroom instruction and examples in our textbook, will also be reinforced by the reading of select prose and poetry passages in Latin.
LATN 2001 Intermediate Latin 3 Credits
This course builds on the grammatical and syntactic knowledge base built in LATN 1111 or in high school through reading unaltered Latin texts and
applying concepts and skills to the actual words of the ancients. Specific language skills that we will develop include recognizing syntactic patterns and larger narrative structures in connected passages of prose or poetry; reading Latin at sight with confidence; reading (and rereading) with increased speed while remaining attentive to very close analysis of assigned passages; and understanding how to use lexica, commentaries, and other scholarly instruments in reading an edition of an ancient text.