28278 - Hellenistic History (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course thestudent will be able to know in a deeply way the Hellenistic history. He will know the most up-to-date tendencies ofscholarship and he will be able to approach the main problems concerning the historical development of Greek world from the death of Alexander the Great onwards, withspecial attention to the intercultural relations. He will able to use differentsources.

Course contents

Analysis of the following topic: 'Parallel' Lives in the Peloponnesus  of III Century BC. Aratus of Sicyon and Cleomenes III. The main issues addressed are:

1) Analysis of the sources (4 h.).

2) Poleis, Leagues and foreign royalties in the Pelopponese (h. 6).

3) The Politics of Aratus and Cleomenes III till the battle of Sellasia (h. 16).

4) The end of the two 'heroes' (4 h.).

It is presupposed the knowledge of Hellenistic history. Text for the exam: F. Muccioli, Storia dell'Ellenismo, Il Mulino, Bologna 2019.

Readings/Bibliography

Students should study on the following texts:

1) Y.A. Lolos, Land of Sikyon. Archaeology and History of a Greek City-State, Princeton 2011, pp. 59-80, 182-189, 272-286, 377-382 (see   AlmaRE, Biblioteca delle risorse elettroniche dell'Ateneo di Bologna)

2) K. Haegemens – E. Kosmetatou, Aratus and the Achaen Background of Polybius, in The Shadow of Polybius. Intertextuality as a Research Tool in Greek Historiography, Leuven-Paris-Dudley, MA 2005, pp. 123-139.

3) M. Mari – J. Thornton, Città greche tra conservazione e modelli rivoluzionari. Megalopoli, Larisa e i re macedoni nel III secolo a.C., «Studi Ellenistici», 30 (2016), pp. 139-195.

4) Á.M. Moreno Leoni Un capitolo oscuro nella storia della Confederazione Achea: riflessioni sulla condanna a morte di Aristomaco di Argo (224 a.C.), «Athenaeum», 106 (2018), pp. 82-93.

5) D.P. Orsi, Il tema antitirannico nella “Vita di Arato” plutarchea, «Grazer Beiträge», 17 (1990), pp. 147-162.

Class notes and teaching materials available in the website of Unibo, with the sources examined during the course (the download is required: students will bring the printed copy to the exam). 

Students not attending the class should study on: F. Muccioli, Storia dell'Ellenismo, Il Mulino, Bologna 2019. Furthermore, they should study on the following texts:

6) M. Mari (a cura di), L’età ellenistica, Carocci, Roma 2019;

7) F. Muccioli, Le orecchie lunghe di Alessandro Magno. Satira del potere nel mondo greco (IV-I secolo a.C.), Carocci, Roma 2018.

 

Teaching methods

Taught class, with full discussion of the sources of the teaching material.

Course attendance is not compulsory. Nevertheless, the course will cover specialist topics and I warmly suggest to attend the course.

Assessment methods

The exam is oral. First, there will be a debate on the knowledge of Hellenistic history. Secondly, the knowledge of the course contents will be tested (lessons; individual study texts).

If the student achieves a complete vision of the topics discussed in class and required for the discipline, a good knowledge of the texts of scholarship, shows mastery of expression and of the specific language, both written (if required) and oral, he will obtain excellence in the evaluation.

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.

The final evaluation in the integrated course of Greek history (archaic and Classical Greek history + Hellenistic history) is the arithmetic average of both evaluations. Students should attend the exam in the two parts the same day.

Teaching tools

Before the beginning of the course, aPDF will be at disposal in the teaching material on the website with all the sources discussed during the course.

Office hours

See the website of Federicomaria Muccioli