Roman Civilization

CMS 206 /History 206

• Assigned primary readings from this week:
  • ARC - p. 24-25; p. 28-29; p.238-239
  • RCvI 90 (230-234); RCvII 5 (13-15)
  • ARC - 158-161
  • RCvI 112 (313 &endash; 314); 181-184 (517-525)
  • RCvII 53 -54 (189-198)
• Things for discussion group leaders to think about:
  • Who are the authors of the primary texts you've read? How do you think their identities might affect the way they percieved the events they described:
    • Josephus; Livy on triumphs
    • Suetonius; Polybius on funerals
  • The two funerals and two triumphs you've read about describe similar events separated by significant periods of time in Rome's history.
    • How are the descriptions similar and different?
    • Do you think the differences reflect changes in Roman civilization?
      • If they do reflect differences, does that mean Romanitas changed?
      • If Romanitas could change
        • what might cause these changes?
        • what does it mean that a concept like Romanitas could change?
    • Do you think the similarities reflect continuities in Roman civilization?
      • If they do reflect continuities, does that mean Romanitas didn't change?
      • If Romanitas didn't change
        • what might cause these continuites?
        • what does it mean that a concept like Romanitas could endure?
    • What does the fact that the same rituals might change and yet stay the same tell us about Romanitas as a conceptual tool?
  • How are triumphs and funerals similar?
  • How are each of these activities related to Roman ideas about the identity of the Roman citizen and his relationship to his communtiy?