Latin 520: Schooling the Emperor: Quintilian, Pliny and Tacitus’

Spring Quarter 2015

Denny 210

MW 12:30-2:20 PM

Professor A. M. Gowing

Office: M-24 Denny Hall

Office Hours: M 10-11, and by appointment

Phone: 543-2266 (main office)

e-mail: alain@u.washington.edu

Course website: http://faculty.washington.edu/alain/Latin520-Quintilian/Lat520-QuintilianHome.html

Here you will (eventually) find a copy of this syllabus and links to various texts etc. I will also post here the weekly assignments (see below).

Texts:

R. Mayer, ed. Tacitus: Dialogus de Oratoribus. Cambridge 2001.

B. Radice, trans. Pliny. Letters, Books VIII-X, Panegyricus. Loeb Classical Library 1969, rp. 1992.

D.A. Russell, ed. and trans. Quintilian. The Orator’s Education. 5 vols. Loeb Classical Library 2001

Reserve: Some books and materials will be on reserve in the seminar room (Denny 210) as well.

Description: A reading of texts by three contemporary authors whose works span the reigns of several emperors, with special attention to Quintilian’s Institutio Oratoria (ca. AD 95), a text that purports to outline the proper education and training of the vir bonus dicendi peritus – the good and skilled orator.  We will consider in the context of this seminal work some of the writings of Quintilian’s most famous student, Pliny the Younger (Panegyricus, and perhaps a letter or two), and of Tacitus (Dialogus), whose own views on education occasionally appear to be at odds with those of Quintilian yet who is sometimes imagined to have been another of Quintilian’s students.  The fundamental question we will seek to address is this: what do these authors believe should be the education of a Roman emperor? There will be a seminar paper and associated activities (e.g., oral presentation on topic of seminar paper as part of a final ‘conference’).

Requirements: 1) Consistent attendance and preparation (I place a lot of stock in your having things to say!)

2) 10-12 page paper on some aspect of the material we cover, including a brief (10-15 min.) in-class report and abstract on topic of your paper, a la SCS. These will be presented in a ‘conference’ held the last class meeting. Details forthcoming. Paper due Wednesday, June 10.

3) The occasional written translation exercise…one or two in class, one or two outside of class.

General schedule

NB: For each week I will circulate by e-mail and post to our webpage a specific assignment that will indicate what texts are to be read, secondary reading (some required, some optional), and issues to think about. But this is a rough guide to the authors/topics we’ll cover each week:

Week 1 (30 March-3 April): Introduction; Quintilian Inst. 1 (i.e., Book 1)

Weeks 2 (4-10 April): Quintilian, Inst. 2-3

Week 3 (11-17 April: Quintilian, Inst. 4-5

Weeks 4 (18-24 April): Quintilian, Inst. 6-8

Week 5 (25 April-May 1): Quintilian, Inst. 9-10

Week 6 (2-8 May): Quintilian, Inst. 11-12

Week 7 (9-15 May): Tacitus, Dialogus 1-23

Week 8 (16-22 May): Tacitus, Dialogus 24-42

Week 9 (23-29 May): NO CLASS MONDAY, MAY 25 (Memorial Day); Pliny, Panegyricus 1-43

Week 10 (30 May-5 June): Pliny, Pan. 44-95. Conference on Wednesday, June 3