CLAS 3130

I went into this class as a first year believing we would translate Latin...boy, was I wrong. The first day, Courney made a remark that went something like, "Latin?! What is this nonsense? *Chuckles* Don't worry, we won't be reading any Latin in the course." We first read through the first two books of Livy's The History of Rome, one book per class period. And later, we covered a selection of Horace's Odes, Ovid's Epistolae ex Ponto and Tristia as well as parts of his Metamorphoses, Suetonius, Vergil's Aeneid, and the like. Needless, to say, there was much printing involved--a nice alternative to purchasing full books, imo. Courtney was always passionate about the subject matter; but as the class was discussion-based, there would be some days when nobody spoke and class was dull. There was an essay involved, and exams came in the form of short answer and essays. We even had a little field trip to the Frahlin to study and handle Ancient Roman coins.

To do well in this class, I would suggest memorising multiple, specific details. Towards the end of the course, we studied Augustan architecture and coinage, and many of the questions required memory of the exact positions and descriptions of certain statues, murals, and structures along with understanding of why Augustus chose to include such images (hint: it usually leads back to propaganda and his political agenda). I also recommend knowing details of the major events in Augustus's life and the most important laws he passed (e.g. Lex Titia).

Overall, an enjoyable course for those greatly interested in the history, poetry, and architecture of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire...except when you're given images of Roman coins on an exam and are expected to tell when a coin was minted, whose portrait it displays, what the image on the tail side depicts, and the intention behind the propaganda.