Ancient Historians
HIST 3013 • Spring 2025
This course fulfills the Methods requirement for the History major
Bust of Herodotus, the Father of History
Instructor: Dr. Charles E. Muntz
Time: MWF 9:40-10:30 am
Place: KIMP 411
Dr. Muntz's Office: 408 Old Main
Office Hours: Mon 1:00-2:30 and by appointment.
Phone: (479) 575-5891
Email: cmuntz@uark.edu
Synopsis
This class will introduce students to the rich historical traditions of ancient Greece and Rome. Beginning with Herodotus, the Father of History, we will examine the origins of history and how different historians developed ways of understanding historical events and their causes. Among other topics we will examine historical points of view, depictions of the “other,” history and power, biography versus history, the reinterpretation of earlier historians by their successors, and other types of evidence available to modern historians to reconstruct the past.
Learning Outcomes
To understand the origins and development of historical inquiry and writing in ancient Greece and Rome
To understand how ancient historians tried to understand historical processes and causes
To understand major issues and problems in ancient historiography
To understand other types of evidence available for reconstructing the history of the ancient world
To understand the specific contexts and audiences of ancient historical works
To present well-reasoned arguments about ancient historians based on primary sources with proper citations
To use feedback from the instructor to improve their writing and arguments
Workload
3 papers (1600-1800 words apiece, ca. 15 pages) on historical problems
Paper 1: An analysis of how Herodotus and Thucydides deal with Athenian Democracy
Paper 2: An analysis of passages of Polybius and Livy covering the same historical event
Paper 3: An analysis of Tacitus’s narrative of the trial of Piso versus the epigraphic evidence
Alternate paper - Caesar compared to Herodotus on ethnographies
Class Participation
Final Exam
Books
Herodotus translation
Thucydides translation
Polybius translation
Caesar translation
Tacitus translation
Shorter texts are almost all available in public domain translations
Daily Topics and Assignments
Day 1: Introduction
Part 1: The beginnings of History
Day 2: Herodotus and the beginnings of Inquiry
Herodotus: Book 1 start
Day 3: Herodotus and his sources
Herodotus: Book 1 finish
Day 4: Herodotus and the “Other”
Herodotus: Book 2 selections
Day 5: Herodotus and Historical Causality
Herodotus: Book 7 selections
Day 6: Herodotus and Patriotic History
Herodotus: Book 9 selections
Day 7: Thucydides and the beginning of Modern Historiography
Thucydides Book 1 Start
Day 8: Thucydides, Rhetoric, and Philosophy
Thucydides Book 1 Finish
Day 9: Thucydides, Pericles, and Imperialism
Thucydides Book 2 Start
Day 10: Thucydides and Human Nature
Thucydides Book 2 finish, Book 3 start
Day 11: Thucydides and Leadership
Thucydides Book 3 finish
Interlude
Day 12: Literary sources for history
Aristophanes versus Thucydides on the origins of the Peloponnesian War
Day 13: An Historical Problem: The Peace of Callias
Articles on Peace of Callias
Day 14: Coins and History: The Hellenistic World
Part 2: Encyclopaedic History
Day 15: Polybius and Universal History
Polybius Book 1 Start
Day 16: Polybius and the vicissitudes of Fortune
Polybius Book 1 finish
Day 17: Polybius and Historical Causality
Polybius Book 3 start
Day 18: Polybius on Leadership
Polybius Book 3 finish
Day 19: Polybius and historical polemic
Polybius Book 12
Day 20: Livy & Patriotic History
Livy Book 1 start
Day 21: Livy & the Sources for Early Rome
Livy Book 1 finish
Day 22: Livy as a Secondary Source Historian
Livy book 21 start
Day 23: Livy versus Polybius on the Punic Wars
Livy Book 21 finish
Interlude
Day 24: Fragmentary Historians
Fragments of Cleitarchus
Day 25: History and Art: the Augustan Era
Day 26: Rhetoric and History
Cicero: Speech on behalf of Caelius Rufus
Part 3: Imperial History
Day 27: Caesar’s Commentaries, the raw material of history
Caesar: The Conquest of Gaul, Book 1
Day 28: Caesar’s Commentaries as propaganda
Caesar: The Conquest of Gaul, excerpts from Books 4, 5, 6
Day 29: Tacitus and the Roman Empire
Annals Book 1
Day 30: Tacitus and the nature of Power
Annals Book 2
Day 31: Tacitus on Germanicus and Tiberius
Annals Book 3
Speech Concerning Piso
Day 32: Tacitus and History under a Tyrant
Annals Book 4
Day 33: Tacitus and the Corruption of Power
Annals Book 6
Day 34: Suetonius: Biography versus History
Life of Tiberius
Day 35: Velleius Paterculus: The Alternative View of Power
Velleius Paterculus: Book 2 on Augustus and Tiberius
Interlude
Day 36: Coins as History II: The Roman Empire
Day 37: Prosopography
Day 38: Material Remains
Part 4: Aftermaths of History
Day 39: How NOT to write history
Lucian: How to Write History
Day 40: Reader’s Digests of History: Epitomes and Summaries
Livy: Epitomes of Book 1 and Book 21
Day 41: Dangers of Reception - Tacitus’s Germany
Tacitus: Germany
Day 42: Epilogue