B.C. Discusses the history of Greece, Rome, Carthage, and neighboring regions, including Persia, Israel, Egypt, and the Celtic lands. Analyzes the spread of Greek culture and the growth of the Roman Empire in a Mediterranean context. Focuses on economic, social, and political themes.
Readings consist of primary and secondary sources, with emphasis on critical interpretation.
Students will develop the topic and bibliography of the interdisciplinary senior research paper required for graduation. Close reading and study of selections from the romantic prose compositions of Achilles Statius, Chariton, Heliodorus, Longus, and Xenophon Ephesius. The emphasis will be on close reading of primary texts by Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, and Symeon the New Theologian, among others. Participants are expected to translate from the original Greek texts as well as read a variety of secondary sources. A continuation of LAT 101-102 or 112 that provides an introduction to the prose and poetry of the Republican period, with emphasis on the close reading, translation, study, and discussion of representative texts and attention to their characteristic language, syntax, and style.