29440 - Archaic and Republican Roman History (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will know the Roman history of the republican age. He will read documents and texts of the classical civilisation in original languages. He will analyse them in the historical perspective. He will apply the metodologies of the research in the field of historical studies on the Roman world and on the provinces of the republican age. He will able to research in historical field.

Course contents

The course will be organized as follow:

1 General introduction (1 h)

2 Subjects of the course and its thematic, chronological and geographic limits (2 h)

3 Main theme of the course: Rome and Cartago: the first phases of the II Punic War

• Premises and background events of the war (2 h)
• Hannibal, his ancestry and his family (3 h)
• Punic campaigns in Spain (3 h)
• The relations between Roman and Punic aristocracies (3 h)
• Roman and Punic military structures (3 h)
• The siege and conquest of Saguntus: juridical issues (3 h)
• The declaration of war (2 h)
• Hannibal towards the Alps (1 h)
• The campaign of 218 B.C. and the battle of the Trebbia river (2 h)
• Towards the lake Trasimene (5 h)

Readings/Bibliography

G. Brizzi, Canne: la sconfitta che fece vincere Roma, Il Mulino 2016.

Non-attending students:

G. Brizzi, Ribelli contro Roma: Spartaco, gli schiavi, le due Italie, Mulino 2017

G. Brizzi, E. Gambini, L. Gasperini, Annibale al Trasimeno. Indagine su una battaglia, Perugia 2018

Teaching methods

Frontal lectures on methods and themes.

Assessment methods

Oral examination.

Students have to answer some questions about the bibliography of the course and about the topics analysed in class.

The exam will be conducted orally and will assess the student's command of the material studied in the course. The student will be asked to provide a commentary on cultural aspects of the disciplines and will be judged on his ability to summarise and critically discuss topics raised in the course, making use of the exam bibliography and the course tools provided.

The assessment will thus consider the student's:
- knowledge and understanding of the topics covered;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an ability to provide a full description of the inscriptions and an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he displays significant errors in his understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

In the assessment of the integrated course in Roman History (12 CFU), the final mark will be the result of the arithmetic average between the mark obtained in the partial examination in Archaic and Republican Roman History and the one in the partial exam in Imperial Roman history.

Oral examination tipically involves three questions for attending students; they will concern the topics discussed in class and the recommended book. For non-attending students there will be three questions too and they will be focused on the replacement readings.

Teaching tools

Texts and cartographic tools will be distributed if necessary.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Brizzi