Dr. Josephine Shaya
jshaya@wooster.edu
Office: Alumni Center 305
Office hours: Tu. 11:00-12:00, F. 10:00-10:50, and by appt.

FYS:

The Melting Pot of the Gods:
Religion in Ancient Rome

Fall 2005
First Year Seminar
T, Th 9:30-11:00 AM 
Ebert 223

T.A. Courter Shimeall
E-mail:  sshimeall@wooster.edu
Tel.:  ext. 2624

This seminar begins with the religion of a small city-state and ends with that 
of an empire. As we will see, radically new ways of conceptualizing both the 
divine and one's place in the universe accompanied the extraordinary expansion 
of Rome.  As the Empire grew, individuals were faced with many new religious 
choices; they began to speak of personal, private belief, to establish religious 
authorities and institutions separate from those of the state, and to create 
novel religious ideas like orthodoxy, dogma, morality, revelation, and salvation.  
Though such institutions and ideas are familiar today, that was not the case in 
early Rome. Indeed, many contemporary Western ways of organizing and thinking 
about religion simply do not fit the early Roman world.  In this seminar we will 
explore the profound difference between early Roman religion and that of the 
modern West.  And we will chart the vast religious changes that accompanied the 
growth of the Roman Empire.  We will devote much of our study to the ways in 
which Romans defined, debated, and interpreted these changes.  And we will 
reflect upon ways in which modern scholars have accounted for them.

Expectations and requirements 

Attendance and Participation

I expect students to arrive on time and prepared to engage in a thoughtful, 
informed, and critical discussion of the reading.  Attendance and active 
participation are mandatory. As a general rule, I allow one absence across the 
semester without penalty.  If you miss more than one class, your final grade 
will suffer. If you miss more than two classes, your grade will suffer 
dramatically. Tardiness will count as half an absence.  If you are unable to 
attend class, please contact me in advance and come to my office hours to find 
out what you will miss.  Note that telling me in advance that you will not be 
in class does not count as an excused absence.  

Assignments and grades

I expect students to complete the reading before class and to bring the text to 
class.  You will be marked down if you do not have the assigned text with you. 
In conjunction with your reading, I assign study questions. I collect answers 
to these questions at the beginning of class. I do not accept late answers to 
study questions.

I expect students to meet their assignment deadlines.  Late work will result in 
the lowering of your grade by one half letter mark for each day that the work is 
late (i.e. an A paper that is one day late will drop to an A-/B+ paper). I grant 
extensions only in the case of a certified illness or documented emergency. 

I follow the College guidelines for grading.  In other words, a grade in the A 
range means excellent work, the B range means good work, the C range means 
adequate work, the D range means minimal performance, and an F means 
unsatisfactory work.  Your final grade will be a measure of your effort and the 
level of your thinking and writing.  It will be based on five papers (10%, 15%, 
15%, 15%, 20%), responses to study questions (15%), class participation, 
attendance and quizzes (10%).

Honor code

I expect students to turn in their own work.  If you use another person's words 
or the ideas, you must cite them.  If you do not, you are committing the academic 
crime of plagiarism.  I will fail students for plagiarism and report them to the 
Dean of Faculty.

Class conduct 

Throughout this course, I expect students to show themselves to be tolerant of 
other opinions and other faith systems.  It is important, moreover, to stress 
at the beginning that we are not here to demonstrate our own faith or to defend 
our own religious values.  Rather, our aim is to study how religion worked in 
the ancient Roman world.


Texts

The following books are available at the Wooster Bookstore and are also on 
reserve at the library.  In addition to these books, we will read other works 
available on electronic reserve.  Be sure to print out these texts and bring 
them with you to class.  Our electronic reserve password is Roman.

Books available at Wooster Bookstore

John Scheid, An Introduction to Roman Religion, translated by Janet Lloyd, 
Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2003.

Mary Beard, John North, and Simon Price, Religions of Rome, Volume 2:  A 
Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, The Nature of the Gods and On Divination, translated 
by C. D. Yonge, Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York, 1997.

Lucretius, The Way Things Are, translated by Rolfe Humphries, Indiana University 
Press, Bloomington, 1968.

Ovid, Ovid's Fasti:  Roman Holidays, translated by Betty Rose Nagle, Indiana 
University Press, Bloomington, 1995.

Apuleius, The Golden Ass, translated by Robert Graves, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 
New York, 1979.

Athanasius, Life of St. Antony the Great, Eastern Orthodox Books, 1989.

St. Augustine, Confessions, translated by Henry Chadwick, Oxford University Press, 
Oxford, 1991.


Electronic reserves (also available on paper at the reserve desk):

Lesley Adkins and Roy Adkins, "Religion", from Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, 
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1994, pp. 251-302.

Cicero, On the Response of the Soothsayers (De Haruspicum Responsis), translated 
by N. H. Watts, London, 1923.

Catullus (poem 63)

Augustus, Res Gestae Divi Augusti, translated by P. A. Brunt and J. M. Moore, 
Oxford University Press, London, 1967.

Philo of Alexandria, Hypothetica:  Apology for the Jews, translated by C. D. 
Yonge, in The Works of Philo, Hendrickson Publishers, 2004.

Delbert Burkett, An Introduction to the New Testament and the Origins of 
Christianity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002, pp. 32-59.

Philo of Alexandria, Flaccus, translated by C. D. Yonge, in The Works of Philo, 
Hendrickson Publishers, 2004. 

Delbert Burkett, An Introduction to the New Testament and the Origins of 
Christianity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2002, pp. 60-89.

Gospel According to Matthew, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Oxford University 
Press, New York, 1977.

The Acts of the Apostles, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Oxford University 
Press, New York, 1977.

The Letter of Paul to the Galatians, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Oxford 
University Press, New York, 1977.

The Martyrdom of Perpetua, translated by Patricia Wilson-Kastner, in Lost 
Traditions.  Women Writers of the Early Church, Washington, 1981.

Aelius Aristides, The Sacred Tales, translated by C. A. Behr, in C. A. Behr, 
Aelius Aristides and the Sacred Tales, Amsterdam, 1968.

RR = Religions of Rome 
ER = electronic reserve
Electronic reserve password:  Roman
Part 1:  Overview
Week 1.  August 30, September 1
T          Introduction
Th	Definitions and Concepts; Ritual and Time
Map quiz
J. Scheid, An Introduction to Roman Religion, pp. 1-2; 18-59
Beard, RR, pp. 60-64 (The calendar, 3.1-3.3a)
Skim: L. Adkins and R. Adkins, "Religion", pp. 251-303 (ER)

Week 2.  September 6, 8
T	Space, Sacrifice, Divination
Paper assignment 
J. Scheid, An Introduction to Roman Religion, pp. 60-128 (ch. 5-7)
Skim:  L. Adkins and R. Adkins, "Religion", pp. 251-303 (ER)
Th	Priests and Gods
J. Scheid, An Introduction to Roman Religion, pp. 129-192 (ch. 8-10)
Skim:  L. Adkins and R. Adkins, "Religion", pp. 251-303 (ER) 
Part 2:  Republic
Week 3.  September 13, 15
T	Cicero and Divine Communication
Paper due
Cicero, On Divination, pp. 141-200 (book 1) 
Th	Skepticism
Cicero, On Divination, pp. 201-263 (book 2)
Week 4.  September 20, 22
T	Politics and Religion
Cicero, On the Response of the Soothsayers (De Haruspicum Responsis) (ER)
Th	New Gods:  The Case of Magna Mater
Paper assignment 
Catullus 63 (ER); Ovid, Fasti, l. 4.180-370 (pp. 110-15, April 4); RR, pp. 43-47 
(Magna Mater and her cult); RR, pp. 132-5 (Ceremonies of Magna Mater); RR, pp. 
209-211 (Priests of Magna Mater)
Week 5.  September 27, 29
T	Superstition
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things, pp. 19-85 (books I-II)
Th	Death
Paper due
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things, pp. 86-118; 158-201 (books III and V)
Part 3:  Empire
Week 6.  October 4, 6
T	Augustus, Religious Revival, and Religious Change 
Augustus, Res Gestae (ER); RR, pp. 78-85 (Roman temple building and the Forum 
of Augustus; Altars and the Augustan Ara Pacis)
Th	Myth, Cult, and Commentary
Ovid, Fasti, pp. 37-91 (January - March 2)
Week 7.  October 11, 13
T	The Emperor, Festivals, and Time
Ovid, Fasti, pp. 91-151 (March 3 - May 27)
Th	Judaism
Paper assignment
Philo of Alexandria, Hypothetica: Apology for the Jews, pp. 742-46 (ER); RR, 
pp. 320-329 (the Jews); D. Burkett, An Introduction to the New Testament and 
the Origins of Christianity, pp. 32- 59 (ER)
Week 8.  October 18, 20
T	Jews in the Roman Empire
Philo of Alexandria, Flaccus, pp. 725-741 (ER)
Th	Jesus and the Gospels
Paper due
Gospel According to Matthew (ER) D. Burkett, An Introduction to the New 
Testament and the Origins of Christianity, pp. 60-89 (ER)
Week 9.  October 27
T	The Spread of Christianity 
Acts of the Apostles (ER)
The Letter of Paul to the Galatians (ER)
Week 10.  November 1, 3
T	Responses to Christians and Martyrdom 
RR, pp. 276-281 (responses to the Christians); RR, p. 165 (certificate of 
sacrifice) Martyrdom of Perpetua, pp. 19-30 (ER)
Th	Magic and Witchcraft 
Apuleius, The Golden Ass, pp. 3-67 (chapters 1-4); RR, pp. 260-268 (Threats to 
the Roman order:  magic)
Week 11.  November 8, 10
T	A Spiritual Quest
Apuleius, The Golden Ass, pp. 68-161 (chapters 5-10)
Th	Fate and Fortune
Apuleius, The Golden Ass, pp. 161-240 (chapters 11-15) 
Week 12.  November 15, 17
T	The Mysteries of Isis and Osiris
Apuleius, The Golden Ass, pp. 241-288 (chapters 16-19); RR, pp. 136-7 (sacred 
objects of the Isiac cult); RR, pp. 303 (Isiac ceremonial) 
Th	Sickness, Trouble, and Personal Salvation:  Asklepios 
Paper assignment
Aristides, Sacred Tales, pp. 205-252 (ER)
Week 13.  November 22, 24
T	Divine Dreams
Aristides, Sacred Tales, pp. 252-292 (ER)
Th	Mithras; Dura Europos
Paper due
RR, pp. 88-91 (cult centers of Mithras); RR, pp. 305-319 (mysteries of Mithras); 
RR, pp. 71-74 (calendar from Dura); RR, pp. 107-110 (synagogue at Dura); RR, 
pp. 110-111 (house church at Dura)
Part 4:  Late Antiquity
Week 14.  November 29, December 1
T	Asceticism
Athanasius, Life of Antony 
Th	Religious Autobiography
St. Augustine, Confessions, pp. 3-51 (books I-III)
Paper assignment
Week 15. December 6, 8
T	Heresy
St. Augustine, Confessions, pp. 52-110 (books IV-VI )
Th	Crisis and Conversion
St. Augustine, Confessions, pp. 110-178 (books VII-IX)

Final paper due Monday, December 12, 12:00 PM, Alumni Center 305