Introductory description

Since its beginning, the history of Rome is permeated by conflicts, foreign as well as civil. Among the many wars that the Romans fought, the Hannibalic war against the Carthaginians (218-201 BC) and the civil war between Caesar and Pompey (49-48 BC) are two of the most influential and consequential and, hence, play a prominent role in Roman collective memory even centuries after they ended. But how are the wars narrated in ancient literature? How do these narratives interact with each other and with material evidence as authors (re-)construct the wars and their outcomes and create collective memory in the process? How are Roman victories and defeats approached? How are Roman and non-Roman leaders characterised?

Based on a comparative approach, this module will discuss the ways in which the war against Hannibal and the civil war are narrated in ancient literary texts, focusing primarily on the writings of Polybius, Livy, Julius Caesar and Suetonius.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The following module outline is indicative: titles and/or order of lectures and seminars may change.

Wk 1: Introduction to war narratives in Roman historiography and the main authors analysed in the module (Polybius, Livy, Caesar, Suetonius; other authors such as Plutarch, Appian or Lucan may be discussed as required by individual lectures) [2-hour lecture]

Wk 2: Pretexts and Causes of the Hannibalic war [1h lecture; 1h seminar]

Polybius 3.6-9; 3.15, 3.20, 3.30.3-4
Livy 21 (extracts)

Wk 3: Pretexts and Causes of the Civil war between Caesar and Pompey [1h lecture; 1h seminar]

Caesar’s BC 1 (selection of passages)
Suetonius Iul. 28-30

Wk 4: The outbreak of the Hannibalic war: the siege of Saguntum [1h lecture; 1h seminar]

Pol. 3.14.9-17, 20-33 (selection of passages)
Liv. 21.12-16

Wk 5: The outbreak of the civil war: did Caesar cross the Rubicon? [1h lecture; 1h seminar]

Caes. BC 1 (selection of passages)
Suetonius Iul. 31-33
Lucan 1.183-203

Wk 6: Reading Week

Wk 7: Leaders & Enemies: Hannibal & Scipio [1h lecture; 1h seminar]

Livy 21.4, 26.7, 28.12; 30.30-1, 39.51
Pol. 9.22.1–10, 24.1–26.11; 11.19.1–7; 15.6; 23.13.1–2 (selection of chapters)

Wk 8: Leaders & Enemies: Caesar & Pompey [1h lecture; 1h seminar]

Caes. BC (selection of passages)
Plut. Pompey (selection of passages)
Suet. Divus Iulius (selection of passages)

Wk 9: Narrating military strategy: Cannae and Zama [1h lecture; 1h seminar]

Cannae
Pol. 3.107-109; 111-112; 115-118
Liv. 22.39-54 (selection of passages)

Zama
Pol. 15.1-16 (extracts; esp. 15-16)
Liv. 30.32-6

Wk 10: Narrating military strategy: Caesar on Dyrrhachium and Pharsalus [1h lecture; 1h seminar]

Dyrrhachium

Caes. BC 3.9-74 (selection of passages)

Pharsalus

Caes. BC 3.82-112 (selection of passages)
Lucan (selection of passages)

The module will offer a Latin-text option for Q800 students:
Selection of chapters from:

Livy Ab Urbe Condita Book XXII. Edited by J. Briscoe & S. Hornblower, Cambridge University Press (2020)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Show a good understanding of the Roman historiography of war with a particular focus on the Hannibalic war and the civil war between Caesar and Pompey.
• Demostrate a broad understanding of the main theories surrounding war narratives in antiquity
• show the ability to use different methodologies, such as interdiscursivity and intertextuality, exemplarity, memory studies, narratology.
• demonstrate critical analysis of ancient historiographical texts in their political and cultural contexts
• (for those taking the module in Latin) Advanced Latin linguistic skills;
• Advanced skills in the critical analysis of classical scholarship.
• develop the ability to set their findings into a wider comparative context, drawing in other aspects of the study of the ancient world;
• engage creatively with a wider range of secondary literature that includes discussion of classical literature within broader comparative, including critical-theoretical, frames.

Indicative reading list

• Batstone, W. & Damon, C. (2006) Caesar’s Civil War. Oxford Approaches to Classical Literature, OUP (e-book)
• Chaplin, J. D. (2000). Livy's exemplary history. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Pr. (e-book)
• Feldherr, A. (2009) The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Historians (e-book)
• Feldherr, A., Hardy, G., Hesketh, I. & Woolf, D. (Eds.). (2011). The Oxford history of historical writing. 1, Beginnings to AD 600. Oxford: Oxford University Pr. [D13.O9]
• Feldherr, Andrew. Spectacle and society in Livy's «History». Berkeley (Calif.): University of California Pr., 1998. (e-book)
• Grillo, L. & Krebs, C. (2017) The Cambridge Companion to the Writings of Julius Caesar (e-book)
• Gowing, A. (2005) Empire and Memory: the representation of the Roman Republic in imperial culture. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Pr. (e-book)
• Henderson, J. (Ed.). (1998). Fighting for Rome: poets and Caesars, history and civil war. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Pr. (PA 6019.H3)
• Jaeger, Mary K. (1997). Livy's written Rome. Ann Arbor (Mich.): University of Michigan Pr. (DG241.J34)
• Kraus, C.S., Marincola, J. & Pelling, C. B. R. (Eds.). (2010). Ancient historiography and its contexts: studies in honour of A. J. Woodman. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Pr. (e-book)
• Levene, D. (2010) Livy on the Hannibalic War (CUP) (e-book)
• Marincola, J. (2008) A Companion to Greek and Roman Historiography (e-book)
• Osgood, J. (2015) “Ending civil war at Rome: rhetoric and reality, 88 BCE-197 CE”, American Historical Review 120.5 (2015)
• Roller, Matthew B. (2018). Models from the past in Roman culture: a world of exempla. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Pr. (e-book)
• Van Gils, L., De Jong, I. & Kroon, C. (Eds.), Textual strategies in ancient war narrative: Thermopylae, Cannae and beyond (pp. 319-341). Leiden; Boston (Mass.): Brill. (e-book)
• Westall, R.W. (2017). Caesar’s Civil War: Historical Reality and Fabrication. Leiden; Boston: Brill (e-book)
  Livy Ab Urbe Condita Book XXII. Edited by J. Briscoe & S. Hornblower, Cambridge University Press (2020)

Subject specific skills

linguistic skills, interpretive skills, content knowledge

Transferable skills

argumentative skills, linguistic skills, writing skills, interpretive skills, communication skills (orally and in writing)