Ancient Rome      Fall 2012

Response Papers

Each Response Paper should be between 1.5 and 2 pages in length, 12 point font, double spaced and 1 inch margins. You need to incorporate the primary sources from the Reader and cite that evidence in order to adequately answer the question. Each Response Paper should be on the following topics:

Format: 

  • double spaced
  • 12 point font
  • one inch margins (top and bottom and sides)
  • NO COVER PAGE
  • Print front/back if possible
  •  “drop-down” footnotes
    • proper citation style (see footnote below)

To insert drop-down footnotes in MS Word: place the cursor at the end of the sentence you wish to reference. Go to the “References” tab. Select “AB1 Insert Footnote.” This will automatically place a numbered footnote at that location. This system will also re-organize all numbers as you work through the text.

 

 

Response Paper A:      Mythic Origins (due 9/14)

According to Warrior, what does Livy blend to make up the first five books of his history? What do the stories of Rome’s origins reveal about Roman culture? What do the objects/people represent? What similar myths do we Americans have to explain historical “truths” of our foundational past?   

 

Response Paper B:      Romanitas  (due 9/21)

How was Roman society interconnected with warfare? What does Rosenstein say were quintessential Roman characteristics that lead to conquest of the Italian Peninsula? How does he and the sources define virtus, laus, gloria, and mos maiorum?  What strategies did Rome use to "assimulate" Italy in such a short amount of time?

 

Response Paper C:      Conquest (due 9/28)

How does Rich define Roman "imperialism"? Was it offensive or defensive?What do the sources tell us about how the Romans understood their place in the Mediterranean by 148 BCE?

 

Response Paper D:      Imperialism (due 10/5)

According to Garnsey and Rathbone, why did Gaius Gracchus draft his grain law? How did changes in the accumulation of empire attribute to the dissolving of Roman moral bonds? What specifically do Roman authors say about the cause of this degeneracy?

 

Response Paper E:      Subaltern (due 10/19)

What do the sources say about being a slave or a female in ancient Rome? What was their life like? What rights and responsibilities did they have? How were they valued? Who was Spartacus and why did his followers revolt?

 

Response Paper F:      Augustus (due 11/2)

According to Mellor, how did Octavian transform himself into Augustus? What changes did Augustus make to that system? How did that system establish "Empire"?

 

Response Paper G:      Principate (due 11/9)

According to Kyle, what is the connection between Empire and gladiatorial games? How do Roman sources describe the abuses of Roman Emperors and how did the Flavians seek to correct the public perception?

 

Response Paper H:      Barbarians and Empire (due 11/19)

According to Tacitus, why were the German "barbarians "noble"? How does the Germanic "Assembly function like Romans? What makes them virtuous? Have the Romans lost some of this type of virtus?