Module CLAS2721: Latin Literature of the Early Empire

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS2721: Latin Literature of the Early Empire

Prerequisites

• Either CLAS1601 (Remembering Athens) or CLAS1301 (Monuments and Memory in the Age of Augustus) or CLAS 1731 (Craft of the Ancient Historian) or CLAS 1741 (Living in the Classical World).

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• to build on level 1 knowledge of classical literature by providing an introduction to post-Augustan (first century AD) prose literary genres
• to develop further skills of literary analysis acquired at level 1 through a deeper and closer exploration of particular texts
• to deepen students’ understanding of culture at large by exploring the political and social functions of post-Augustan literature.

Content

• The texts to be used in this module, and the genres to be studied, may vary from year to year (in part to ensure appropriate fit with texts encountered in earlier levels of study). Typically they will be drawn from the following:
• satire (e.g. Seneca’s Apocolocyntosis)
• epistolography (e.g. Seneca's Epistulae morales and Pliny the Younger)
• the Roman novel (e.g. Petronius)
• rhetoric (e.g. Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria and Tacitus’ Dialogus de oratoribus)
• science and scholarship (e.g. Columella, Pliny the Elder, Frontinus).

Learning Outcomes

• knowledge of some major examples of Latin prose literature of the early Empire (post-Augustan)
• familiarity with the notion of literary ‘genre’, and an udnerstanding of genre-boundaries in this period
• knowledge of the political and social context relevant to udnerstanding the literature of this period.

• an ability to make intelligent use the notion of ‘genre’ in the analysis of literature
• an ability to make use of the socio-cultural and historical context in the assessment of literary texts
• an broader ability to draw on diverse theoretical approaches in literary analysis.

• An ability to engage in an informed and sophisticated way with diverse and challenging texts;
• an ability to compare and assess different interpretative approaches and methodologies;
• a capacity to sustain a clear, well-structured and well-defended argument in written form.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The lectures focus on the main texts and topics covered in the course.
• Seminars enable students to discuss and develop their ideas in an interactive environment.
• The written exam will assess the students’ familiarity with the evidence and the sophistication of their analyses. It will test student’s ability to focus on relevant issues and organise knowledge and argument appropriate to questions raised.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two shorter essays (ca. 2-4 A4 pages).

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University