Bust of Marcus Tullius Cicero, I BCE 
(Capitoline, Rome) 

LINGUA LATINA CCCLXXXI O (LAT 381O)
de operibus et rebus gestis M. Tulli Ciceronis et quibus modis homo et res publica titubabant
 

Tuesday/Thursday 2:50-4:15 PM
  Fine Arts 242

Fall 2014  

Prof. John H. Starks, Jr. 

  Binghamton University SUNY

jstarks@binghamton.edu, (607) 777-4524

1116 Library Tower; Hours – WTh 9-10 AM


Course requirements, texts and grading

Daily assignments/Syllabus


Statue of Cicero, Palazzo di Giustizia (Piazza Cavour, Rome)

 

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.