CC 302: Introduction to Ancient Rome

October 12-14: Vergil's Aeneid

I: Lingua Latina

• Words attributed to some Julio-Claudian emperors

1. Festina lente (a favorite motto of Augustus)
   
2. O homines ad servitutem paratos! (allegedly said by Tiberius about Roman senators)
   
3. Utinam populus Romanus unam cervicem haberet! (supposedly said by Caligula)
   

• From Livy's Ab urbe condita

1. ego me etsi peccato absolvo, supplicio non libero (Lucretia)
   
2. et facere et pati fortia Romanum est (Mucius Scaevola)

• From the Aeneid

1. arma virumque cano
   Cf. George Bernard Shaw, Arms and the Man
   
2. sunt lacrimae rerum
   
3. timeo Danaos et dona ferentis
   
4. tu... Romane... memento...
   parcere subjectis et debellare superbos
   Cf. Bob Dylan, Lonesome Day Blues

II. The plan for Tuesday, October 19th

• Brief discussion of Exam I, with suggestions
• Roman Lyric poetry: Catullus and Horace

1. Review readings from Catullus in course packet
2. Read and study readings from Horace in course packet

III. Vergil's Aeneid

• Publius Vergilius Maro (70 BCE - 19 BCE)
  
• The Aeneid by book

1. Arrival in Carthage
   
2. Fall of Troy
   
3. Aeneas' wanderings
   
4. Love and death of Dido
   
5. Funeral Games
   
6. Aeneas goes to Hades
   
7. Arrival in Italy, war starts with Latins
   
8. Trip to where Rome will later be; shield
   
9. Nisus and Euryalus
   
10. Death of Lausus and Pallas
    
11. Death of Camilla
    
12. Death of Turnus

• Some themes to consider

1. Creative imitation: How does Vergil make use of his Greek predecessors, especially Homer?
2. Aeneas: What kind of hero is he?
3. Rome: What does Vergil say about Rome' s destiny and her history?
4. Augustus: What does Vergil have to say about Augustus and his role in Roman history?
5. Suffering: How does the suffering that occurs in the poem affect our attitude towards Rome's destiny?
6. Gods: What roles do the gods play in the poem?

Images from the Aeneid

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