Undergraduate - UnitATS2083 - Bread and circuses: Understanding Roman culture

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides

Synopsis

The unit examines the cultural experiences of the Romans from the time of the early Republic to the Empire through their literature and archaeology. Students will examine themes including: war and peace, violence and the games, science and knowledge, politics and litigation, love and sex, death and the Afterlife, through a study of lyric poetry (Horace), elegy (Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid), historical writings and biography (Livy, Tacitus, Plutarch, Suetonius), philosophy (Cicero, Seneca), comedy (Plautus, Terence), legal and political writings and magical tracts. All texts will be studied in translation. The quintessential Roman love of the games and their inherent violence is studied through the archaeological record.

Outcomes

Study the literary genres of ancient Rome and its conventions
Study the evolution of Roman literature in relation to contemporary socio-political changes
Become familiar with the Greek/Hellenistic influences on Roman literature
Explore the theoretical tools for the study of these genres including feminism and gender studies.
Study the scholarly history of these genres
Develop critical thinking and particular research skills to investigate the primary and secondary sources with regard to the above
Be familiar with archaeology of the games and their social and political significance.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 100%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Ancient cultures