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LINGUA LATINA CCCLXXXI O
(LAT 381O) Tuesday/Thursday 2:50-4:15 PM Fall 2014 Prof. John H. Starks, Jr. jstarks@binghamton.edu,
(607) 777-4524 1116 Library Tower; Hours – WTh 9-10
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Synopsis: In this advanced Latin reading course, we will examine moments
in the later/post-consular career of the famous orator and politician,
Cicero, when he fell short of his best, whether in terms of oratorical
delivery, case selection, or political miscalculation. In Latin, we will read
two of his most famous speeches Pro Milone (against
his arch-enemy, P. Clodius Pulcher,
delivered before Pompey as sole consul) and the Second Philippic (a
brilliant, but personally costly, broadside against Marc Antony, who was
trying to consolidate power after Caesar’s assassination). We will also look
at excerpts from Cicero’s extensive body of letters discussing politics,
literature and culture in the late republic, as well as three defense
speeches Cicero delivered directly and uncomfortably to the dictator Caesar.
In order to aid our understanding of these important events and reflections
on the collapse of the aristocratic Roman republic, we will also use a modern
scholarly introduction, Catherine Steel’s Reading Cicero, a modern detective
novel, Steven Saylor’s Murder on the Appian Way, student oral reports on
other speeches of Cicero and on a scholarly article about his oratory, and a
final paper, in addition to daily discussion sessions, to examine Cicero’s
style and work, the inner workings of the late republic, and the
socio-political impact of the civil wars in Cicero’s Rome. Student Learning Outcomes Students in H courses
will demonstrate an understanding of human experience though the study of
literature or philosophy. Students in this Harpur W course will hone their composition skills in
expository writing about literary, historical and cultural questions in the
Roman world. |