Postgraduate Studies

“Being Greek under Rome”: Greek literature and culture in the Imperial Period

Module Code:

MAH7920

When taught:

Michaelmas

Residential students only

Credit points:

20

Method of Assessment:

1 x 5,000 word essay

Teaching Methods:

Seminars (video-conference)

Availability

Residential students only; taught from Swansea

Lecturers:

J. R. Morgan, M. Pretzler

Contact hours:

25

Syllabus:    

This module will study the relationship between Greek culture and Roman domination between the first and third centuries, and the Greeks’ use of their own past as a way of defining and asserting a cultural identity. Much of the focus will be on the Second Sophistic, an extraordinary reflorescence of Greek culture halfway between university and theatre. We will investigate the social standing and function of some individual sophists, and the soil of rhetorical education and display in which they flourished. Most of the module will take the form of a series of text-based case studies of major Greek writers of the period, for example Ploutarchos (Plutarch), Loukianos (Lucian), Aristeides, Dion of Prousa, Philostratos, Pausanias and the Greek novelists. A recurrent theme will be the complex cultural negotiations going on between the Greeks and their Roman rulers; the applicability of such modern conceptions as imperialism, colonialism, and multi-culturalism to the ancient contexts will be considered. The material to be discussed also raises, however, issues of sexuality, the emergent conception of the self, religion and philosophy. The module will be delivered through student-led seminars.

Learning outcomes:  

Students will:

• Demonstrate a broad and analytical understanding of Greek culture under the Roman Empire
• Apply sophisticated critical skills to the interpretation of literary texts and other cultural rtefacts of the period, particularly in relation to issues of cultural, ethnic and cultural identity
• Understand key modern theories of identity and colonialism and the limits of their applicability to the ancient world
• Demonstrate the ability to construct an independent and methodologically informed argument, based on independent research, synthesizing material relevant to the module

Transferable and other skills involved:  

• Application of cultural theory to literary texts
• Sophisticated writing skills
• Independent research skills
• Skills of extended oral presentation

Main recommended texts:  

• Swain, S (1996) Hellenism and empire. Language, classicism and power in the Greek world, AD 50-250. Oxford.
• Whitmarsh, T (2001) Greek literature and the Roman Empire: the politics of imitation. Oxford.
• Goldhill, S (2001) Being Greek under Rome: cultural identity, the Second Sophistic and the development of empire. Cambridge.
• Bowersock, G W (1969) Greek sophists in the Roman Empire. Oxford.

Evaluation (including student evaluation):  

Students will be asked to complete a questionnaire at the end of the module. This will be used by the Department in its annual review of all its teaching to help evaluate the module’s success. The external examiner will also have the opportunity to make comments and results of the questionnaires will be discussed in the SSCC.