CLST 277 / CATH 200 / MSTU 298: The World of Late Antiquity Spring Semester 2012

Our work will pursue five main aims or Learning Outcomes (as well as having fun with them):

• Acquiring historical knowledge, to master the chronology of the later Roman empire and to know its signal events, people, institutions, and productions.
• Thinking critically, to analyze late antique texts, artistic representations, spaces, and experiences, in order to understand how events and social forces, both collective and individual, influence the processes of historical change.
• Reasoning across diverse cultural backgrounds from the present to the later Roman empire, to identify distinctive patterns of thought and behavior so as to understand late antique motivations and actions on their own terms.
• Synthesizing historical understanding, to assess late-antique and modern interpretations of what happened and what it meant, from material, documentary, and literary sources, and to generate and evaluate our own theories about historical change.
• Communicating thoughtfully and effectively, to participate in the process of historical inquiry and formation of knowledge.

• Averil Cameron, The Later Roman Empire (Harvard)
• Ammianus Marcellinus, The Later Roman Empire, tr. W. Hamilton (Penguin)
• A. D. Lee, ed., Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity: A Sourcebook (Routledge)
• Additional resources in photocopy and on the Internet

Studying, Research, and Writing Basics

• SQ3R for Primary-Source Coursework: a method for effective studying
• Guide to Writing Academic Papers: a strategic checklist devised by your instructor (hint, hint)
• Guide to Beginning Research on Topics in Classical Studies: suggestions and resources
• Patrick Rael, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: a Guide for College Students (Brunswick, ME: Bowdoin College 2004): developed by a historian of African American history and the American Antibellum/Civil War/Reconstruction periods, as the illustrations suggest, but applicable to our materials as well, and much more besides, at all stages of academic study
• Loyola Libraries' Subject Guide to Classical Studies, prepared by Classical Studies Bibliographer Jane Currie: a research guide to help identify and access core research resources relating to Classical Civilization, ancient Greek, or Latin.
• Oxford Bibliographies Online - Classics: annotated bibliographies compiled by leading scholars in the relevant fields, including a historical overview of our period (look under History, Roman: Late Antiquity), some of our major primary sources, and a couple of important cultural topics
• Loyola Writing Program's Statement of Grading Standards. It credits the Rhetoric Program of the University of Illinois at Urbana; other universities also observe similar criteria (e.g., this outline from Harvard University's Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning): these expectations are held widely.
• 1st edn. (1918) of William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style: print editions have been updated and it's well worth getting a copy if you don't own one already, but in whatever edition you use it, Strunk and White is the classic guide to desirable American prose style
• How to use apostrophes, or else.
• The the impotence of proofreading by Taylor Mali.

• Sources and Resources: Late Antique, general
  • ORB - Late Antiquity: a division of the On-Line Reference Book for Medieval Studies focused on the period AD 284-632. A clearinghouse of on-line resources for the study of late antiquity, with links to other sites. Scholarly; edited and managed by Steven Muhlberger of Nipissing University.
  • IAHS - Late Antiquity: part of the Internet Ancient History Sourcebook, an index of on-line translations of primary sources, focused on "the end of antiquity" - some texts as early as the first and second centuries AD, but mostly third and fourth; the main site covers ancient history comprehensively. Scholarly compilation for teaching purposes, relying principally on older translations in the public domain; edited by Paul Hallsall, then of Fordham University where the Sourcebook is maintained, now of the University of North Florida.
  • IMS - the End of the Classical World: part of the Internet Medieval Sourcebook, an index of on-line translations of primary sources, a few texts as early as the second and third centuries AD, but mainly focused on the fourth and fifth; the main collection is the largest of on-line medieval texts. Scholarly; edited by Paul Hallsall, then of Fordham University where the Sourcebook is maintained, now of the University of North Florida.
  • Art in Late Antiquity - Early Christian and Byzantine: compilation of images and resources on-line, amassed by Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe of Sweet Briar College
  • Journal of Early Christian Studies (access provided by Loyola University Chicago through Project Muse): the official publication of the North American Patristics Society, focusing on the study of Christianity in the context of late ancient societies and religions from c.e. 100-700.
  • Journal of Late Antiquity (access provided by Loyola University Chicago through Project Muse): a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary journal covering the world of Late Antiquity, broadly defined as the late Roman, western European, Byzantine, Sassanid, and Islamic worlds, ca. AD 250-800, i.e., the late and post-classical world up to the Carolingian period.
  • Centre for Late Antique Religion & Culture: research center at Cardiff University.
  • Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity: research center at the University of Oxford.
  • Research News in Late Antiquity: blog.
• Sources and Resources: Classical including Late Antique, general
  • De Imperatoribus Romanis: an on-line encyclopedia of Roman emperors, including empresses, junior emperors, and ultimately non-successful claimants of imperial power - classical, later Roman, and Byzantine. Includes interlinked biographical articles with bibliography, imperial stemmata, the DIR/ORB Ancient and Medieval Atlas, and an index of select major battles. Scholarly, peer-edited; editorial boards currently under the presidency of Richard Weigel of Western Kentucky University (Classical through Later Roman Empire) and Lynda Garland of the University of New England, New South Wales (Byzantine).
  • Diotima: a clearing-house of resources on the Internet for the study of women and gender in the ancient world: including items relevant to late antiquity.
  • Lacus Curtius, a staggeringly rich treasurehouse of on-line resources for Roman archaeology and topography (especially; compiled by Bill Thayer).
  • Pagan and Christian Rome, by Rodolfo Lanciani (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1892; republished in a web-enhanced edition by Bill Thayer as part of Lacus Curtius [see above]) - detailed, albeit now rather old, scholarly study of the transformation of a city.
  • Perseus Digital Library: collection of texts and images for the study of the Greek and Roman worlds, not excluding their late periods.
• Particular Late Antique Resources that Open Up Wider as you go:
  • Art and Social Identitities in Late Antiquity: website of a research program at the University of Aarhus, with extensive links to other research centers, projects, and resources
  • Augustine's web-page: nerve-center for teaching and research on Augustine on the Internet, including articles, bibliographies, texts, commentaries, images, records of an on-line seminar run in 1994 and 1995, and links to other off-site resources; edited by James J. O'Donnell, Provost of Georgetown University
  • Virgil in Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance: on-line bibliography concerned with the reception in later periods of Classical Roman literature's "greatest hit" -by no means the only route into late antique literature, but a wider pathway than you might guess- click on "Late Antiquity", "Vitae", or "Servius" in the left-hand list to get to different bibliographies; part of virgil.org.
• Academic Honesty, the Only Way to Go:
  • For basic principles and definitions, see the subsection on "Academic Integrity" in the General Academic Standards and Regulations and the College of Arts and Sciences' Academic Integrity Statement. The Department of Classical Studies' Policy on Academic Integrity incorporates these documents. We also recommend you consult the helpful discussion of The Use and Misuse of Source Materials, provided by Loyola's Writing Center.
  • Any practice of academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, obstructing the work of other students, etc.) perpetrated in this course will result in failure of the course. Do not do it.
  • Loyola University requires that all instances of academic dishonesty must be reported to the chairperson of the department involved and to the academic Dean of the student's College.
  • Learning is wholly personal: it only happens if you do it yourself. Your University record should be certifying only what has really happened.

Revised 9 January 2012 by jlong1@luc.edu
http://www.luc.edu/classicalstudies/