More than 60% of English words come from Greek and Latin roots. This language class teaches ancient Greek and Latin grammatical forms, phrases, and vocabulary which are elements of English. Cultural histories of the ancient Yamnaya (Proto-Indo-European, or PIE) and Greek and Roman cultures will also be covered. The class is taught in English. No prior knowledge of Latin or Greek is required. There are no prerequisites.
The ancient Greek and Latin languages account for some 90% of the technical terms used in many scientific and professional fields, perhaps most of all in medicine. The study of the Greek and Latin roots of technical terminology develops a rich and precise daily-use vocabulary, which leads to increased reading comprehension and better consumer awareness. This course is especially valuable vocabulary training for students entering technical, scientific, and medical professions. This class is taught in English. No prior knowledge of Greek or Latin is required.
Readings in English translation of the epics of Homer, Hesiod, Apollonius, Virgil, Lucretius, Lucan, and Statius. Special attention will be given to oral formulaic composition, the literary epic, the didactic epic, literary conventions and traditions, and the influence of the genre on Western literature.
Readings in English translation of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca. Special attention will be given to origins and development, literary and scenic conventions, and the influence of the genre on Western literature. Offered alternate years. C21:AE,HU.
Curriculum: AE,HU
Readings in English translation of the comedies of Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, and Terence. Special attention will be given to origins and development, literary and scenic conventions, and the influence of the genre on Western literature. Offered alternate years.
Although almost all of Greek and Roman literature was written by men, many works of literature written by women have come down to us in both complete and fragmented form. These works treat or concern women in a variety of ways, sometimes as realistic figures but more often as symbols. In either case, these works offer a unique viewpoint into the ancient world through the eyes of women. This course will examine these female-authored works in classical literature from Archaic Greece to Imperial Rome and in other ancient Mediterranean, Southwest Asian and African cultures. For purposes of comparison and discussion, the social and historical realities will be considered as well.
In the ancient world, people traveled for a variety of reasons: war and exploration, business and trade, visiting friends and family, or engaging in tourism to famous and revered sites. But how did people get from place to place and what of the accommodations along the way? What sorts of sites were important and worthy of dedicating weeks and months of travel to visit? In this course, students will answer these questions and many others through an exploration of travel in the ancient world, from technical feats of engineering, to fantastical accounts of strange peoples, to itineraries outlining the most popular tourist destinations. We will examine textual evidence in translation, such as military descriptions of Alexander the Great's army, diary entries of a Roman traveler in Greece, and accounts of early Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem. We will survey artistic and archaeological evidence for travel: the physical remains of Roman roads, ancient Greek shipwrecks, and other monuments that allow us to reconstruct ancient travel networks. We will discuss not just the methods of ancient travel, but also motivations for it, with a focus on the goods and peoples who traveled around the ancient Mediterranean.
When did civilization begin? How do we define civilization? How do we know when civilization has occurred and when it has ended? Why is civilization important to humans? What is the role of the arts in defining a civilization? In this course we will look at the development of early cultures and "civilizations." We will compare definitions of civilization and the processes by which a civilization develops and wanes. Satisfies part of the Civilizations AOK requirement as HIST 101. Offered every three years. C21:CL,HU,NW,WA.
Curriculum: CL,HU,NW,WA
A survey of the sites and art of Egypt and the various cultures of the Near East, from the neolithic period until the Arab conquest. Illustrated lectures. Offered every three years. C21:AE,HU,NW,WA.
Curriculum: AE,HU,NW,WA
The Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean cultures of the Bronze Age Aegean flourished for two thousand years and are often considered the earliest manifestation of civilization in Europe. This course looks at the art, monuments, and social structures of these cultures, along with classical Greek mythology about the Age of Heroes and the myth/history of the Trojan War. Illustrated lectures with seminar sessions. Offered every three years. C21:AE,HU.
Curriculum: AE,HU
This course covers the art and archaeology of Greece from the Geometric period c. 1000 B.C. through the Archaic, Classical, and early Hellenistic periods to 146 B.C. The emphasis will be on the legacy of the Greek civilization to Western art, city planning, and thought. Illustrated lectures. Offered every three years. C21:AE,HU.
Curriculum: AE,HU
This course covers the art and archaeology of the Neolithic through Iron Age cultures in Europe, with special emphasis on the Celts, Villanovans, and Etruscans. Also included is a survey of European and Asian cultures in contact with Bronze and Iron Age Europe, including the Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans. We will end with a brief look at the later European Iron Age, particularly the Vikings of northern Europe. Offered every three years. C21:AE,HU,WA.
Curriculum: AE,HU,WA
The Roman genius for art, as for many aspects of their civilization, was in the adaptation and originality with which they transformed borrowed ideas. This course begins with the Greek, Etruscan, and Latin origins of Roman Art, then examines the changes and innovations in art through the Roman Empire. Archaeological discoveries throughout the Mediterranean, especially Pompeii and Herculaneum, are highlighted. Illustrated lectures. C21:AE,HU.
Curriculum: AE,HU
Christian art began within the artistic traditions of the Classical world, but the prestige of the Church transformed and transmitted the ancient modes throughout medieval Europe and the Byzantine Empire. This course looks at art from the rise of Christianity to the fall of Constantinople in AD 1453. Illustrated lectures. Offered every three years.
The origins of organized athletics and many of the events still practiced today can be traced back to classical Greece and Rome. This course will primarily be a survey of the artistic representations, the architectural context, and the archaeological evidence for these games. It will also be a historical survey of Greek and Roman athletics including such topics as their role in ancient military and religious life; sites and facilities; events; training and professionalism; and status, rewards, and prizes. Vase paintings, sculptures, and written texts will be examined for the light they shed on ancient athletes and the original Olympic Games.
Urbanization within the early cultures of Europe led to a number of human achievements which form the basis for much of our society today. This course will look at the development of the city in ancient times, both in general and in the specific examples of Athens, Rome, and Corinth and their ports at Piraeus, Ostia, Lechaeum, and Cenchreae. Special emphasis will be on aspects of the ancient societies which were directly related to urbanization: laws and government, public spaces and architecture, water supply, social structure, defense strategies, and the expression of community values through art, literature, and religious ritual. Each of our subject cities enjoyed excellent natural harbors and we will examine the commercial and cultural benefits brought about by the establishment of maritime commerce and contacts.
This course is a survey of art, from the Paleolithic until the Renaissance, with a special emphasis on images of women in various roles, particularly motherhood. All early cultures (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Classical Greece, and Rome, Byzantium, and Renaissance Italy) have produced images of women for diverse reasons: from fertility symbols to icons of religious belief, from symbols of beauty, and lust to icons of purity and chastity. The course will survey these images as they reflect both the style of art and the role of women in the cultures and time periods. The visual images will be supplemented by brief selections from contemporaneous literature. Offered every three years.
Archaeology is the study of the human past through material remains. Why are we intrigued by archaeology? Whose interests are served by archaeology? This course introduces the theory, methods, and ethical issues of archaeology. Topics include the responsibilities of the archaeologist, stewardship of cultural remains, and tasks such as site identification, survey, excavation, and artifact conservation. Special emphasis is on applied sciences such as archaeological chemistry, bioarchaeology, geoarchaeology, and archaeometry which provide analyses of artifacts primarily for the purposes of finding dates and provenances. The course does not focus on specific cultures or past discoveries; the methods and approaches presented here are widely used by archaeologists in all areas of the world. This course involves field work, and has a laboratory component. Offered alternate years. C21:NS,SA,SP.
Curriculum: HU,SP
The history of Israel spans all of human history: the Paleolithic burials in the Carmel Caves, early farming settlements at Ohalo II and Ain Mallaha, the Bronze Age sites of the Philistines, the Iron Age City of David, Hellenistic Greek remains from the period of the Maccabean Revolt, Roman aqueducts and cemeteries, the Jewish fortress at Masada, early Christian churches, monuments of the early Islamic period such as the Dome of the Rock, and the castles of European Crusaders. This course will survey the archaeology of Israel, and will consider how the archaeological record supplements and contradicts the written histories of a land claimed and contested by numerous ethnic and religious populations over the centuries. Israel's place in the Roman world will be highlighted.
The principal Greek and Roman myths concerning creation, the underworld, the gods, and the heroes will be read and interpreted with consideration given to their use in ancient and modern literature, art, and music. Offered alternate years. C21:HC,HU.
Curriculum: HC,HU
A survey of the principal religions of antiquity and their role in shaping the intellectual climate as well as the political institutions and social conventions of Greco-Roman society. Various Near Eastern religions and Christian sects will be studied for background and comparison. Offered alternate years.
What did it mean to be a Roman? By looking at both the physical and literary remains, this course will survey the basic structures of Roman Society, the typical urban and rural monuments of the Latin-speaking world, and the intimate details of the daily lives of individuals and families. When taught in January term, this course may involve travel to Italy or England. Offered alternate years.
Military history is a crucial component of Ancient history, and much of Greek and Roman art and literature treats wars, warriors and their impact on society. This course will examine the practice of warfare in the Greek Polis, the Macedonian Kingdoms, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. Themes include the technical aspects (logistics, intelligence, strategy, naval warfare, and armor), but we will also examine the literary and artistic interpretations of war and the sociological and psychological aspects. No prior knowledge of military history or Greco/Roman history expected or required. Offered alternate years. When course travels C21:EL.
Curriculum: EL (when course travels)
Systems of sexuality and gender in ancient Greece and Rome were very different from our own. The aim of this course is to explore the cultural construction of sexuality and gender in ancient Greece and Rome, approaching them through their depictions in the archaeological and literary record. We will consider questions such as the status of women and the context of misogyny, the multiple manners in which masculinity was constructed, the societal role of same-sex relations, the presentation and visualization of sexuality, desire, and the body. This interdisciplinary approach will allow us to gain an understanding of what Greek and Roman systems of sexuality and gender were, how they changed over time, and how they can be used to offer insights into the shaping of our own cultural and personal attitudes towards sexuality and gender. Counts towards the Social Science AOK, GSWS major or minor, and CLAS major or minor.
This class thematically examines the intellectual, practical, and social dimensions of medicine in the ancient Mediterranean world. We begin with a brief survey of medical practices in Egypt, but the focus is squarely on medicine in the world of the ancient Greeks and Romans: the endemic and epidemic diseases, the instruments doctors used, their conceptions of disease, the intellectual origins of Greek medicine, what choices patients had in the medical marketplace, the status of doctors in society, how doctors practiced their craft. At regular intervals we will interrupt our thematic presentation to examine the historical context of these developments, examining how political and social change shaped medical practices and the status of medical practitioners .This is a class in intellectual history and historians tell stories. We are going to learn how to tell two different stories about ancient medicine in this class: first, a scientific narrative about disease in the ancient Mediterranean according to contemporary Western biomedicine; second, a historical narrative about the intellectual origin, development, and tradition of ancient medicine for Greek-and Latin-speaking doctors. These stories will often diverge. Ultimately this is a class concerned with historical reality: is either story an accurate historical account of medicine in Greco-Roman antiquity?
The ancient Mediterranean world was a multicultural one in which peoples from three different continents engaged and interacted with one another. This course explores the ways in which individuals from ancient Mediterranean cultures attempted to explain and interpret their world and the variety of cultural identities that constituted it. We will explore questions such as: How did these individuals construct their own identities and how did they interact with others? How were these identities manifested in the cultural products and practices of the ancient world? How have contemporary discussions of identity, race, and ethnicity been shaped by these ancient constructions? C21:GE,HU,WA.
Curriculum: GE,HU,WA
The history of Israel spans all of human history: the Paleolithic burials in the Carmel Caves, early farming settlements at Ohalo II and Ain Mallaha, the Bronze Age sites of the Philistines, the Iron Age City of David, Hellenistic Greek remains from the period of the Maccabean Revolt, Roman aqueducts and cemeteries, the Jewish fortress at Masada, early Christian churches, monuments of the early Islamic period such as the Dome of the Rock, and the castles of European Crusaders. This course will survey the archaeology of Israel, and will consider how the archaeological record supplements and contradicts the written histories of a land claimed and contested by numerous ethnic and religious populations over the centuries. Israel's place in the Roman world will be highlighted. C21:EL.
Curriculum: EL
An interdisciplinary survey of the Roman occupation of the British Isles based on readings of the historical sources in translation, study of modern analyses, and close examination of the archaeological and artistic remains. When taught in England, the course includes frequent visits to museums and Roman and Celtic sites. Offered alternate years.
A chronological survey of the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of Greek history from the Minoan and Mycenaean beginnings to the period of Roman domination. Offered alternate years. C21:GE,HU.
Curriculum: GE,HU
A chronological survey of the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of Roman History from the foundations to the end of the ancient world. Offered alternate years.
The Hellenistic Age beganamid the violence and upheaval that attended the campaigns of Alexander the Great, but his conquests ushered in an era of extraordinary diversity, cultural exchange, and cross-cultural ingenuity. Spanning the period between Alexander's death in Babylon in 323 BCEand the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra nearly three centuries later, this age of cultural globalization in many ways anticipated our own.This course offers a surveyof the new cultural world that developed in and around the Mediterranean during the last three centuries before the Common Era, with a special focus on the movement of people and ideas that resulted in political, social, military, and intellectual exchanges and developments.Since the Hellenistic period saw the establishment of hundreds of new urban foundations, and since many of the exchanges and developments that marked the period took place in cities, we will explore the artistic productions and built environments of a number of important urban centers, including Alexandria, Antioch, and Pergamon. C21:GE,HU,NW.
Curriculum: GE,HU,NW
Who owns the past? Who should profit from archaeological discoveries? Where should antiquities be stored or displayed? Who should pay for the safety, conservation, and preservation of sites, artifacts, and works of art? Should modern descendants have the option to prevent archaeological research aimed at their ancestors or museum exhibition of their ancestral material culture? Who should interpret the past of a culture or group of people? This course covers the current international and US laws which govern historic preservation, cultural resource management, archaeology, and commerce in antiquities; considers numerous case studies which have led to the creation of codes of ethics and professional standards for archaeologists and museums; and debates some of the diverse points of view concerning archaeological ethics and practice. Offered alternate years. C21:CC,HU.
Curriculum: CC,HU
A culminating experience in which a Classics, Latin, or Greek major will integrate, extend, and apply knowledge and skills from the student's general education and major programs. Enrollment is through a project contract which may include one of the following: student teaching in a Latin program, participation in a Classics Department Learning Community program abroad, completion of a semester at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome or the College Year in Athens, participation in an approved archaeological excavation, participation in an approved internship, a departmental honors course, a research experience outside of a class (including SURF), or a significant research project completed in conjunction with a regularly scheduled major course. Offered as needed. C21:CS.
Curriculum: CS
This course is an excavation, field research, or museum experience. The student will gain experience with archaeological techniques for survey, excavation, analysis, conservation, classification and recording on an approved excavation or in a museum or laboratory setting. A minimum of four weeks or 130 hours of participation in an excavation, field school, or museum program is required. If a student participates during the summer in an excavation or field school which is not part of the Randolph-Macon College summer session, the student should take ARCH 450 in the next term of residency at Randolph-Macon. Offered as needed. C21:CS,EL.
Curriculum: CS,EL
Application required.
Special topics in Classics. C21:EL.
Curriculum: EL
Special Topics in Classics. C21:EL.
Curriculum: EL
Student earns a total of six hours for the full senior project experience (496, 497, and 498). C21:EL.
Curriculum: EL
Student earns a total of six hours for the full senior project experience (496, 497, and 498). C21:EL.
Curriculum: EL
Student earns a total of six hours for the full senior project experience (496, 497, and 498). C21:EL.
Curriculum: EL