Classics 470 Fall 2010 Democracies Ancient and Modern Prof. Vincent Farenga What is this course about? CLAS 470 takes an in-depth look at the two societies in the Greco-Roman world that deserve to be called democratic : Athens from 508 322 BC and Rome from 509 31 BC. 1. We will examine the political histories of democratic Athens and republican Rome, but also their political institutions, practices, values, and ways of life. 2. We ll use written sources in Greek and Roman history, philosophy, political theory, oratory and biography to see how each society organized citizens and non-citizens, engaged in decision-making and law-making, and developed different leadership roles and leader follower dynamics. 3. We ll also consider how the reputations of Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism have changed in the modern world and whether we should look today to these two societies as a prototype or model for modern democracies. 4. To answer these two questions, we ll examine innovations and controversies in recent scholarship by ancient historians and classicists. Course Goals: What sort of knowledge and skills will you acquire? 1. You will learn about the key events and individuals responsible for the revolutions that produced democratic Athens and republican Rome. You ll also understand how each key political and legal institution functioned and contributed to a system that put degrees of political power into the hands of ordinary people. You ll understand how Athenians and Romans assembled, deliberated, voted, dispensed justice, and responded to leaders. You ll acquire a deeper understanding of core democratic values like freedom, equality, competition for individual merit and honor, and how elite and common citizens managed their differences to develop a common democratic or republican culture. 2. Case studies taken from ancient historians, philosophers and speechwriters will draw you into some of the most memorable political deliberations and legal/criminal judgments in each society. You ll share in the reasoning, prejudices, and emotions that emerge from the conflicting perspectives of male citizens, women, foreigners, and slaves. Key document discussion will also give you the chance to join other students in identifying crucial information, generating comparisons, engaging in disagreements, and reaching conclusions.
3. You ll become familiar with the theoretical attempts by major thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Polybius, Cicero and Machiavelli to understand (and control) the problems and controversies of democratic and republican society. 4. Recent scholarship will involve you in the current reevaluation of Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism. You ll be able to judge each society as a model for, or as an alternative to, the values and practices of today s democratic societies. Course requirements 1. Commitment to participation: you should be ready each time class meets to engage in well-informed discussions of case studies and key documents. You should also be prepared to contribute information on important facts, events, individuals, etc., and to volunteer your opinion on major questions or controversies. (When case studies are discussed, each student will receive an individual evaluation). Each student will also report to the class on one recent, controversial work of scholarship [15 % of final grade] 2. Short written assignments. You ll be asked to write a report of 4-5 pp. on two of the case study discussions we have considered. Reports are due on the dates indicated in the syllabus. [20%] 3. Exams. There will be a midterm and a final exam. No make-up exam will be provided unless you have a personal emergency or illness; you must contact Prof. Farenga for approval. [Midterm: 20%, Final 25%.] 4. Final Project: a research project (research paper, an original case study presentation or key document analysis, a leadership profile & evaluation). [20%] Study and Research Aids: To help with assigned readings, focus questions will be provided for some key documents and case study preparations for each case study. These highlight the key information and developments you should look for and key concepts you should recognize. Policy on written assignments: If a report is submitted after 5 pm on the due date, it will be considered one day late and will receive a penalty of ½ grade (5 points). Each additional day late accrues a penalty of ½ grade. After 3 days, the assignment will not be accepted. N.B. Electronic submissions are not accepted hard copy only. Policy on academic integrity: We will adhere rigorously to the university's policies on academic integrity as described in SCampus. Violations, during exams or through plagiarism in written work, will be reported to the Office for Student Conduct. Policy on Grade of Incomplete : A grade of IN can only be assigned if you do not complete work after the end of the 12th week because of illness or personal emergency. Prof. Farenga must, however, approve assignment of this grade. The missed work must be completed within one academic year.
Statement on Students with Disabilities: Any student requesting accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP, STU 301; x00776) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please have the letter delivered to Prof. Farenga ASAP. Required Readings You ll find the following texts at the USC Bookstore; some of them (as indicated) are also available on Reserve in Leavey. They are listed in the order we ll use them. Hansen, Mogens H. 1999. The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes. U Okla P, ISBN 0806131438 [also Reserve] Aristotle. 1996. The Politics and the Constitution of Athens. Cambridge UP, 0521484006 [also Reserve] Thucydides 1994. Of Justice, Power and Human Nature. Hackett P, 0872201686. Plutarch 1998. Greek Lives. U Oxford P, 019825011. [also on Reserve] Millar, Fergus. 2002. The Roman Republic in Political Thought. UP New England, 1584651997. Livy. History of Rome Books 1-5. Hackett P, 0872207234. Cicero 1999. On the Commonwealth and On the Laws. Cambridge UP, 0521459591 [also on Reserve] Machiavelli, Niccolo. Selected Political Writings. (Discourses on Livy). Hackett P, 087220247. Other required readings are available online through Ares Electronic Reserve, Blackboard, USC s ebrary, or in hard copy on the Reserve list in Leavey. [see Syllabus] Instructor: Vincent Farenga, Prof., Classics & Comparative Lit, THH 256-R, x00106, farenga@usc.edu. Office hours for Fall: Tu 11-12 and Th 2-3 in THH 256-R and by appointment. Week 1 Aug 24 COURSE SYLLABUS 1. Course intro: What is this course about? Its goals, requirements, procedures, policies. Aug 26 1. In world history, how common have democratic societies been? Is it basically a Western type of society, or is it found in non-western societies? Does it have a core element? 2. How and why did the Athenians reorganize their society into a democracy in 508/7 BC?
Sen 2003, Democracy and Its Global Roots, The New Republic 229, n. 14, on Blackboard; Week 2 Aug 31 Hansen 1999: 27-43 ( The Athenian Constitution down to 403 BC in Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes,); Aristotle 1996: 211-42 (secs. 1-41 in Constitution of Athens. 1. Core values of the democracy: equality, freedom, and public vs. private life. 2. Case study. Herodotus stages an imaginary, cross-cultural debate: Which is the superior political society: monarchy, oligarchy or democracy? See Case Study 1 (Blackboard). 3. Key Document Discussion. Pericles Funeral Oration. Hansen 1999: 55-85; Herodotus 1998: 204-208 (Histories 3.80-87, Ares Elec Reserve); Aristotle 1996: 243-4 (sec. 42 in Constitution of Athens); Thucydides 1993: 39-46 (Pericles Funeral Oration, in On Justice, Power & Human Nature); Sep 2 Citizenship 1. What did it mean to be an Athenian citizen, a metic, a slave? How does Aristotle theorize the nature of citizenship and non-citizenship? 2. How were citizens divided into groups by age, location, & descent? (Ephebes, demes, trittyes, tribes.) Citizen rights, duties, and social classes 3. Key Doc: How do you know an Athenian citizen when you see him? Lysias 23 Against Pancleon (387 BC). Hansen 1999: 86-124; Aristotle 1996: 11-19 and 61-69 (The Politics 1.1-1.6 & 3.1-3.5); Lysias 2000: 245-51 ( Against Pancleon, in Speeches, on ebrary); Week 3 Sep 7 Institutions: Assembly 1. The citizen assembly: crucible of Athenian democracy? Organization & dynamics.
2. How did leaders try to persuade citizens in assembly speeches? By contrast how did citizens of one state try to persuade those of other states? 3. Key docs: Pericles War Speech; Last Speech; debate on Mytilene; Platean debate. Hansen 1999: 123-60; Aritsotle 1996: 244-5 (sec. 43 in Constitution of Athens; Thucydides 1993: 31-36 (Pericles War Speech), 52-56 (Pericles Last Speech), 66-76 (Mytilenean debate), & 76-87 (Platean debate). Sep 9 1. Deliberation: how vital to democracies ancient and modern? 2. Case studies: deliberation in the Assembly on war: (a) Should Athens invade Sicily? (415 BC); (b) should Athens fight Philip II of Macedon? (351 BC). Week 4 Thucydides 1993: 102-109 (Nicias and Alcibiades speeches on Sicily); Demosthenes 1970: 188-98 ( Philippic I, Greek Political Oratory, Ares Elec Reserve); Aristotle 1996: 76-78 (in Politics 3.11); Gutmann & Thompson 2004: 1-21 ( What Deliberative Democracy Means, in Why Deliberative Democracy? on Ares Elec Reserve). Institutions: Law-making Sep 14 1. Were Athenian laws and law-making the keystone of the democracy? Unlike modern law, how did Athenian law have an open texture? 2. How can innovations in deliberation improve our own democratic decision-making and law-making on today s critical issues? 3. Case study: Dialogue between Athenians & Melians: Could changes in their process of deliberation have led to a less deadly outcome in 416 BC? Hansen 1999: 161-77; Harris 2000 ( Open Texture in Athenian Law, in Dikê 3, elec Reserve); Gutmann & Thompson 2004: 21-48 (Why Deliberative Democracy? on Reserve); Thucydides 1993: 102-109 (Melian dialogue). Sep 16 1. Was Athenian law flexible or rigid? Was the Athenian people s changing opinion about law ( popular sovereignty ) more decisive than the abstract rule of law?
2. How deliberative was Athenian legal decision-making? Key doc: pseudo-demosthenes Against Aristogeiton ca. 325 BC. Week 5 Allen 2000: 179-90 ( The Rule of Judgment vs. the Rule of Law, in The World of Prometheus, Ares Elec Reserve); Cohen 1995: 227-44 ( The Rule of Law and Democratic Ideology in Classical Athens, in Die Athenische Demokratie, ed. Eder, Ares Elec Reserve); Demosthenes 25.1-27 & 92-101 ( Against Aristogeiton, Ares Elec Reserve). Institutions: The Law Courts Sep 21 1. Were the law courts the foundation of the democracy? How were they organized? How did a case come to trial? What was the dynamics of a jury trial? 2. Case studies: homicide cases for the prosecution (Antiphon 1) and for the defense (Lysias 1). Hansen 1999: 178-203; Aristotle 1996: 259-63 (secs. 63-69 in Constitution of Athens); Antiphon 1998: 9-16 ( Against the Stepmother in Antiphon & Andocides, on ebrary); Lysias 2000: 13-24 ( On the Death of Eratosthenes, in Speeches, on ebrary). Sep 23 1. How did citizens use the law courts to wage political & social war on one another? 2. What were: graphê paranomôn (indictment for illegal law-making), eisangelia (impeachment proceeding), and euthynai (audit for illegal financial gain)? How were they related to ostracism? 3. In 330 BC how does one political leader (Aeschines) use the courts to attack another (Demosthenes) for graphê paranomôn? Hansen 1999: 203-224; Rhodes 1998 ( Enmity in Fourth-Century Athens, in Kosmos, edds. Cartledge, Millett & von Reden, on Ares Elec Reserve); Aeschines 3.1-24 ( Against Ktesiphon, on Ares Elec Reserve). Week 6 Sep 28 FIRST REPORT ON CASE STUDY DUE AT START OF CLASS TODAY
Institutions: the Council of 500 1. The role of the Council of 500 and the archons (magistrates) in the democracy. 2. Aristotle s description of the Council and the theoretical link between democracy and its magistracies. 3. Key doc: a disabled citizen pleads to the Council of 500 for his state pension. Hansen 1999: 225-65; Aristotle 1996: 245-49 (secs. 43-49 in Constitution of Athens); Aristotle 1996: 153-66 (The Politics 6); Lysias 2000: 252-59 ( For the Disabled Man, in Speeches, on ebrary). Sep 30 Leadership as a Democratic Practice 1. What types of leaders did the democracy encourage? How were they recruited? What were their motives? 2. Why didn t Athens have political parties? 3. Who was Athens first truly democratic leader? Hansen 1999: 266-87; Plutarch 1998: 78-111 ( Life of Themistocles, in Greek Lives) Recommended: Plutarch 1998: 118-39 ( Life of Cimon, in Greek Lives). Week 7 Oct 5 1. What were leader follower dynamics like early in the democracy? Did Pericles leadership follow this pattern or break with it? 2. What is a demagogue? Are all democratic leaders demagogues? 3. Leadership profiles: presentations on Pericles, Nicias, Alcibiades. Oct 7 Finley 1985: 38-75 ( Athenian Demagogues, in Democracy Ancient & Modern, on Ares Elec Reserve); Plutarch 1998: Life of Pericles or Life of Nicias or Life of Alcibiades in Greek Lives. 1. How did democratic leadership change in the fourth century? 2. Key doc: Plutarch s Life of Demosthenes.
Reading: Week 8 Plutarch Life of Demosthenes (364-94) on Ares Elec Reserve. Ober 1989: 293-339 ( Conclusions, in Mass & Elite in Democratic Athens, on Reserve) Rejecting Democracy: Voices of Dissent Oct 12 1. Why did some intelligent Athenians despise democracy? Case study: the Old Oligarch s Constitution of the Athenians. 2. Key doc: Plato s critique of democratic society and the democratic character (personality). Oct 14 Week 9 Old Oligarch s Constitution of the Athenians in Aristotle and Xenophon 1975: 37-47 on Ares Elec Reserve; Plato, Republic 8 (555b-565d) (225-36) on Ares Elec Reserve. MIDTERM EXAM TODAY. See Policy on Exams. The Roman Republic s Mythical and Historical Beginnings Oct 19 1. What is republicanism? What did Rome contribute to the tradition of republican thought? 2. Why are the origins of Rome, and of the Republic, accessible largely through myth and legend? What do historians today think were the Republic s historical origins? Legendary themes: tyrant-slaying, conflict of orders, secession of plebs; arrogant patricians. Millar 2002: 1-11 ( Introduction, in The Roman Republic in Political Thought); Livy, History of Rome, readings from books 1 & 2 (tba); Raaflaub 2006: 125-46 ( Between Myth and History: Rome s Rise from Village to Empire ) on Ares Elec Reserve. Oct 21 1. Case study: Why is the rape of Lucretia the Republic s founding myth? 2. Key doc: Livy s mini-essay on Roman liberty. 3. Is there one reform that made Rome a republic? Or is it a combination of reforms?
Week 10 Livy, pages tba Institutions: Consulate, Senate, Plebeian Assembly, Tribunate Oct 26 1. How accurate is the idea that the Republic s constitution mixed elements of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy? 2. What evidence makes the early Republic look like two societies (one of elites, the other of commoners) co-existing side-by-side? Millar 2002: 12-36 ( Greek Observers ); North 2006: 256-77 ( The Constitution of the Roman Republic ) on Blackboard. Oct 28 1. Key doc: The Greek historian Polybius analyzes the Roman constitution. 2. How does Cicero create a philosopher s version of the development of the constitution? Week 11 Polybius 1979: 302-318 (6.1-18 in The Rise of the Roman Empire, Ares Elec Reserve); Cicero 1999: 13-32 & 33-57 (secs. 1.26-71 & 2.1-69 in On the Commonwealth (De republica). Institutions: Citizen Assemblies Nov 2 1. Citizen Assemblies: how were they organized and conducted? 2. Case study: How should a magistrate address an assembly? Cicero on going to war under Pompey s leadership in 66 BC. Nov 4 Lintott 1999: 40-64 ( The Assemblies in Constitution of the Roman Republic on Ares Elec Reserve); Millar 1998: 13-48 ( The Roman Crowd in Perspective in The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic, on Ares Elec Reserve; Cicero 1989: 35-44 & 47-59 ( On the Command of C. Pompeius in Selected Political Speeches on Ares Elec Reserve). Institutions: the Senate 1. Why was the Senate the Republic s dominant political institution?
2. Case study: Cicero mobilizes the Senate to meet a crisis of political terrorism in 63 BC. Why does his own account differ from the historian Sallust s? Lintott 1999: 65-88 ( The Senate ) (availability tba); Cicero1989: 129-45 ( Fourth Speech against Catilina in Selected Political Speeches, on Ares Elec Reserve); Sallust 1963: 215-27 (from The Conspiracy of Catiline in The Jugurthine War and the Conspiracy of Catiline on Ares Elec Reserve. Week 12 Nov 9 SECOND REPORT ON CASE STUDY DUE IN CLASS TODAY Institutions: Major Magistrates 1. Consul, praetor, dictator, proconsul, propraetor, censor: What were their different functions? Their powers? [potestas, imperium, collega, provincia, auspicia] Nov 11 Lintott 1999: 94-120, 121-37, & 144-46 ( The Higher Magistrates & Tribunes... ) on Blackboard; Cicero 1999: 157-63 ([imperium of magistrates] and 164-67 [on tribunes] in On the Laws 3.1-15 and 3.19-26). Institutions: Tribunes; the Contio 1. The tribunes of the plebs; their powers and privileges {sacrosancticity, intercessio, auxilium, provocatio] 2. The contio as the primary stage for communication between leaders and common citizens 3. Key docs: (a) consul Marius boasts of his non-aristocratic credentials for leadership in 107 BC; (b) Cicero s brother sends him advice on how to campaign for the consulship. Week 13 Nov 16 Morstein Marx 2004: 34-67 ( Setting the Stage in Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Republic, on elecreserve); Sallust 1963: 116-22 (Marius speech in Jurgurthine War, photocopy); Quintus Tullius Cicero, Advice on Running for Consul (photocopy). Practices & Values: What Motivated Roman Aristocrats? 1. Honor, courage in war, eloquence, public service, freedom to compete. 2. Presentations: profiles of leaders Cato, Scipio, T. Gracchus, Marius, Sulla [photocopies from Plutarch s Roman Lives]
3. How did the Republic s system of criminal justice work? How were the courts organized? Who served on juries? Rosenstein 2006: 365-82; Riggsby 1999: 1-20 ( What Can We Know... in Crime & Criminality in Ciceronian Rome on Ares Elec Reserve) Nov 18 Institutions: the Law Courts 1. Case study: Cicero s defense of M. Caelius Rufus on charges of murder and attempted poisoning. 2. Presentation of profiles of leaders: Cicero and J. Caesar [from Plutarch] Week 14 Riggsby 1999: 97-105 ( The oratio pro Caelio Crime & Criminality, photocopy); Cicero 1989: 166-193 ( In Defence of M. Caelius Rufus in Selected Political Speeches, photocopy). No class on Nov 23 and Nov 25 (Thanksgiving Holiday) Week 15 Nov 30 Evaluating the Republic 1. How did later ages evaluate the Republic? Machiavelli s Discourses. Millar 2002: 157-82 ( Cicero s Rome: What Aristotle Might Have Thought in The Roman Republic in Political Thought; Millar 2002: 50-79 ( Looking Back on the Republic: the Empire, Middle Ages, Machiavelli ); Machiavelli 1994: 82-104 (Discourses on Livy, in Selected Political Writings). Dec 2 1. Continued discussion of Machiavelli s Roman Republic. 2. From today s perspective, how democratic was the Republic? Machiavelli 1994: 104-124 & 158-72; Millar 2002: 135-56 ( Some Contemporary Approaches ). Dec 9 Dec 14 FINAL PROJECT DUE BY 5 PM TODAY in THH 256-R. See Policy on Assignments. FINAL EXAM TODAY 2 4 pm. See Policy on Exams.