SYLLABUS
COURSE TITLE
FACULTY/INSTITUTE
COURSE CODE
DEGREE PROGRAMME
FIELD OF STUDY
ANCIENT HISTORY
COURSE FORMAT
YEAR AND SEMESTER
NAME OF THE TEACHER
THE ROMAN REVOLUTION. THE PROCESS
OF DECLINE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
INSTITUTE OF HISTORY
ANT.HIST.001
DEGREE LEVEL
FORMA STUDIÓW/STUDY
MODE
UNDERGRADUATE
FULL-TIME COURSE
TUTORIAL
2015/2016, SECOND SEMESTER
PIOTR BERDOWSKI PHD.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
KNOWLEDGE
BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS OF FUNCTIONING OF THE
LATE ROMAN REPUBLIC AND ITS INSTITUTIONS. A DISPLAY OF THE ROLE OF
CHARISMATIC LEADERS IN THE LATE REPUBLIC (AMONG THEM POMPEY THE
GREAT, CAESAR, MARK ANTONY, OCTAVIAN, SEXTUS POMPEIUS);
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT
PRACTICAL SKILLS USEFUL IN READING AND INTERPRETATION OF ANCIENT
TEXTS AND OBJECTS OF MATERIAL CULTURE (ESPECIALLY COINS)
PRESENTATION
COMMUNICATION SKILLS CONNECTED WITH FORMULATING IDEAS AND
INTERPRETATIONS
PREREQUISITES
BASIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ANCIENT HISTORY (PASSED
EXAM), ESPECIALLY THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. LATIN READING
SKILLS WARMLY WELCOMED.
KNOWLEDGE:
BETTER KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE MECHANISMS OF THE
ROMAN REPUBLIC, ITS POLITICAL, CONSTITUTIONAL, LEGAL
AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN 2ND-1ST CENTURIES BC.
LEARNING
OUTCOMES
SKILLS:
BASIC CONCEPT OF WORKING WITH ANCIENT SOURCES (THE
PROCESS OF CRITIC AND INTERPRETATION OF DIFFERENT
KINDS OF NARRATIVE TEXT AND INSCRIPTIONS; “READING”
OF ROMAN COINS).
FINAL COURSE OUTPUT - SOCIAL COMPETENCES:
WORKING, ARGUING AND DISCUSSING AMONG OTHER
STUDENTS. SHARING DIFFERENT VIEWS WITH RESPECT TO
INTERLOCUTORS.
COURSE ORGANISATION –LEARNING FORMAT AND NUMBER OF HOURS
15 HOURS OF CLASSES
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course is intended to display a wide range of factors that contributed to decline of the
Roman Republic in 1st century BC. It includes political events and a role played by Roman
leaders (officials, generals, and others). Social and economic factors will be discussed either.
The focus will be on the so-called Third Civil War (44-31 BC) and charismatic leaders like
Marcus Antonius, Octavian, Cicero, Marcus Brutus, Sextus Pompeius.
The outline of the course:
- An introduction to the course: an explanation of methods and nature of the available
sources
- Gracchi Brothers and the Roman Revolution
- Sulla and the First Civil War
- The First Triumvirate and the Second Civil War
- Aftermath of Caesar
- The Second Triumvirate
- The War with „Liberators” (M.Brutus and C. Cassius)
- Charismatic Leaders of the Late Republic (case studies)
- Marcus Antonius
- Octavian
- Sextus Pompeius
- Towards the „new world”: the end of the Roman Republic
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION WORKING WITH TEXTS (CRITICIZING, ANALYSING),
DISCUSSING, FORMULATIONG CONCLUSIONS AND
GENERALIZATIONS
REQUIREMENTS AND
 ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION IN CLASS
ASSESSMENTS
(20%)
 ORAL PRESENTATION IN CLASS ON GIVEN
SUBJECT (40%)
 SHORT PAPER BEING AN INTERPRETATION OF THE
ICONOGRAPHIC MOTIVES AND INSCRIPTIONS ON
SELECTED ROMAN COINS (40%)
GRADING SYSTEM
2, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5
TOTAL STUDENT
15 HOURS OF TUTORIAL
WORKLOAD NEEDED TO
40 HOURS OF STUDENT’S OWN STUDIES
ACHIEVE EXPECTED
1 HOUR OF CONSULTATION
LEARNING OUTCOMES
EXPRESSED
IN TIME AND ECTS CREDIT
POINTS
LANGUAGE
OF
INSTRUCTION
INTERNSHIP
MATERIALS
5 ECTS
ENGLISH
–
PRIMARY OR REQUIRED BOOKS/READINGS:
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Appian, Roman History, vol. III-IV: Civil Wars (Loeb
Classical Library) – fragments.
Cassius Dio, Roman History (Loeb Classical Library) –
fragments.
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. Selected Political Speeches.
Penguin Classics, 1997.
H.H. Scullard, D. Rathbone, From the Gracchi to Nero: A
History of Rome 133 BC to AD 68 (Routledge Classics),

London 2010.
K. Bringmann, A history of the Roman republic, Cambridge
2007.
Additional literature will be provided during the classes.
SUPPLEMENTAL OR OPTIONAL BOOKS/READINGS:
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R. Syme, The Roman Revolution, Oxford 1939.
M. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, Cambridge
1975.
M. Gelzer, The Roman Nobility, New York 1969.
P. Greenhalgh, Pompey, the Republican Prince, Univ. of
Michigan 1981.
E. Gruen, Last Generation of the Roman Republic, Harvard
1968.
A.W. Lintott, Violence in Republican Rome, Oxford 1968.
R. Seager, Pompey, a Political Biography, California 1979.
P. Southern, Mark Antony, Tempus 1998.
P. Southern, Augustus, London 2001.
P. Southern, Julius Caesar, Tempus 2001.
E.G. Huzar, Mark Antony. A biography, Minneapolis 1978.
K. Welch, Magnus Pius : Sextus Pompeius and the
transformation of the Roman republic, Swansea 2012.
W. Eck, The age of Augustus, Oxford 2007.