[Loyola University Chicago]

LATN 388/488
Readings in Latin Literature I: Ammianus Marcellinus

Spring Semester 2001



Wednesday, 2:30-5:00 PM
Crown Center 572
Dr. Jacqueline Long


Provisional Order of Proceeding

After the first few weeks reading for continuity and introducing major questions and scholarship, we will assess where the seminar members' interests are crystalizing, and start to fine-tune the remainder of the semester's program.

Nota bene! 388 students and 488 students have different reading assignments in the Latin text.
388 students please read in English the balance of the 488 students' Latin assignments, beyond your particular Latin assignments, so that the whole seminar will be able to partake in and appreciate discussion.


Primary Text

Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, ed. and tr. John C. Rolfe, Loeb Classical Library, 3 vols. (Harvard UP, 1935-1939).

W 1/17 Procedural introduction
W 1/24 Picking up Ammianus as we do: author, textual transmission, prose style
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XIV.1-5 388: Ammianus XIV.1, 5
  • Article reports:
    • Charles W. Fornara, "Studies in Ammianus Marcellinus I: the Letter of Libanius and Ammianus' Connection with Antioch," Historia 41 (1992) 328-44.
    • John F. Matthews, "The Origins of Ammianus," CQ n.s. 44 (1994) 252-69.
    • Timothy D. Barnes, "Origin and Social Status," ch. 6 of Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality, 54-64 (Cornell UP 1998).
W 1/31 The Half We Have, and Feeling for a Sense of the Whole
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XIV.6-8 388: Ammianus XIV.6
  • Article reports:
    • J. F. Gilliam, "Ammianus and the Historia Augusta: the Lost Books and the Period 117-285," BHAC 1970 (1972) 125-47.
    • Michael Roberts, "The Treatment of Narrative in Late Antique Literature: Ammianus Marcellinus, Rutilius Namatianus and Paulinus of Pella," Philologus 132 (1988) 181-95.
    • Timothy D. Barnes, "Symmetry and Structure" and "Narrative and Excursus," ch. 3-4 of Ammianus Marcellinus and the Representation of Historical Reality, 20-42 (Cornell UP 1998).
W 2/7 Politics and Pathos in the Fall of Gallus Caesar
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XIV.9-XV.1 388: Ammianus XIV.11
  • Article reports:
    • E. A. Thompson, "Gallus," ch. 4 of The Historical Work of Ammianus Marcellinus (Cambridge 1947) 56-71.
    • R. C. Blockley, "Constantius Gallus and Julian as Caesars of Constantius II," Latomus 31 (1972) 433-68.
W 2/14 Constantius's Subordinates and the Usurpation of Silvanus
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XV.2-6 388: Ammianus XV.5.1-31
  • Article reports:
    • W. den Boer, "The Emperor Silvanus and his Army," Acta Classica 3 (1960) 105-9.
    • John Drinkwater, "Silvanus, Ursicinus, and Ammianus: Fact or Fiction?" in Carl Deroux, ed., Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History 7, Coll. Latomus 227 (1994) 568-76.
    • David Hunt, "The Outsider Inside: Ammianus on the Rebellion of Silvanus," ch. 5 of Jan Willem Drijvers and David Hunt, eds., The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus (Routledge 1999) 51-63.
W 2/21 Rome
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XV.7-13 388: Ammianus XV.7-8
  • Article reports:
    • Erich Auerbach, "The Arrest of Peter Valvomeres," in Mimesis. The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, tr. Willard R. Trask (Princeton 1953) 50-76.
    • R. A. Pack, "The Roman Digressions of Ammianus Marcellinus," TAPA 84 (1953) 181-89.
    • John F. Matthews, "Peter Valvomeres, Re-Arrested," in Michael Whitby et al., eds., Homo Viator: Classical Essays for John Bramble (Bristol Classical and Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers 1987) 277-84.
W 2/28 Julian Caesar at War
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XVI.1-9 388: Ammianus XVI.2-3, 7
  • Glen W. Bowersock, "Gaul," ch. 4 of Julian the Apostate (Duckworth 1978) 33-45.
M 3/5 - Su 3/11 No classes. MIDSEMESTER BREAK!
W 3/14 "Digressions" in the Res Gestae
  • Specifically, we will be digressing around Thrace and the Pontic Sea - as Julian advances from Constantinople to Antioch.
    Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XXII.8-9 388: Ammianus XXII.8.1-34
  • Article reports:
    • Tønnes Bekker-Nielsen, "Terra incognita: the Subjective Geography of the Roman Empire," in Aksel Damsgaard-Madsen et al., eds., Studies in Ancient History and Numismatics presented to Rudi Thomsen (Aarhus 1988) 148-61.
    • Gavin A. Sundwall, "Ammianus Geographicus," AJP 117.4 (1996) 619-43.
    • Jan Willem Drijvers, "Ammianus Marcellinus on the Geography of the Pontus Euxinus," Histos 2 (1998: on-line journal: articles paginated individually by your browser).
W 3/21 Emperors on Alert
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XVII.10-13 388: Ammianus XVII.10-12
  • Michael Whitby, "Images of Constantius," ch. 7 of Jan Willem Drijvers and David Hunt, eds., The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus (Routledge 1999) 77-88.
  • Report on research in progress: Sonya
W 3/28 Information and Hostility
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XVIII.4-8 388: Ammianus XVIII.5-6
  • John F. Matthews, "North-East Frontier", Ch. 4 of The Roman Empire of Ammianus (Johns Hopkins 1989) 48-66 and notes.
  • Report on research in progress: Scott
W 4/4 Religions in Ammianus
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XXII.10-15 388: Ammianus XXII.10-13
  • Thomas Harrison, "Templum Mundi Totius: Ammianus Marcellinus and a Religious Ideal of Rome," Ch. 15 of Jan Willem Drijvers and David Hunt, eds., The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus Marcellinus (Routledge 1999) 178-90.
  • Report on research in progress: Kirsten
W 4/11 A Miserable Usurper
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XXVI.6-9 388: Ammianus XXVI.6-7
  • John F. Matthews, "Legitimacy and Usurpation: Jovian to Procopius," Ch. 9 of The Roman Empire of Ammianus (Johns Hopkins 1989) 180-203 and notes.
  • Report on research in progress: Alex
W 4/18 Treason and Magic
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XXIX.1-2 388: Ammianus XXIX.1.5-35
  • A. A. Barb, "The Survival of Magic Arts," Ch. 5 of Arnaldo Momigliano, ed., The Conflict between Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century (Clarendon Press 1963) 100-25.
  • Report on research in progress: Justin
W 4/25 The Difference With Barbarians
  • Latin reading:
    488: Ammianus XXXI.2-6 388: Ammianus XXXI.2-3
  • Noel Lenski, "Initium mali Romano imperio: Contemporary Reactions to the Battle of Adrianople," TAPA 127 (1997) 129-68.
  • Report on research in progress: Stefan
M 4/30, Tu 5/1 Study days.
W 5/9
10:20 AM - 12:20 PM
Final examination.
See Loyola's Final Exam Schedule, p. 13 of the on-line Schedule of Classes.

BACK to LATN 388/488 homepage


Loyola Homepage Classical Studies Department Search Loyola Find Loyolans New on Loyola's Web Loyola Site Index

Loyola University Chicago

Revised 17 April 2001 by jlong1@orion.it.luc.edu
http://www.luc.edu/depts/classics/