INTRODUCTION TO CLASSICAL
AND MODERN HISTORY

Teacher: Rook Hawkins

Course Description

This course will use modern historical methodologies to explore both classical and modern historians, ancient historical methods, the genre of history and how to apply modern methodologies to a variety of ancient texts and classical historians.

HISTORIANS COVERED IN CLASS

Classical Historians (Free Online Resources at the Bottom)

1. Justin
2. Caesar
3. Tacitus
4. Suetonius
5. Josephus
6. Arrian
7. Eusebius

Modern Historians

1. H.G. Wells
2. Michael Grant
3. Richard Carrier
4. Bart Ehrman

RESOURCES USED (Textbooks)

I’ll be supplying a lot of the resources (all of the Classical Historian texts) used for this class, however additional resource material could be used, although will not be supplied by me. Here is a list of excellent books which will help understand this class, and promote better self-education in history and historical methodologies.

• Richard Carrier, Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism
• Michael Grant, Greek and Roman Historians: Information and Misinformation
• Louis Feldman, Jew and Gentile in the Ancient World: Attitudes and Interactions from Alexander to Justinian
• Robert M. Price, The DaVinci Fraud: Why the Truth is Stranger than Fiction
• Teresa Morgan, Literate Education in the Hellenistic and Roman Worlds
• Robert Jones Shafer, A Guide to the Historical Method (Dorsey Series in History)
• Martha C. Howell, From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods
• Konrad H. Jarausch, Quantative Methods for Historians: A Guide to Research, Data and Statistics
• William V. Harris, Ancient Literacy (British Museum)

Although more expensive then the aforementioned resources, some additionally handy authoritative resources are:

• The Oxford Classical Dictionary
• The Cambridge Dictionary of Classical Civilization

COURSE DETAIL

Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 4pm & 11pm EST

The class will be two days a week for eight weeks, with two classes being taught each day (with the same course material being taught the same day).

If for some reason you cannot make an early class (4pm), for example, you can make the late class (IIpm EST) and receive the same material. It may be beneficial to try to keep the same schedule so you’re always with the same classmates, however we understand the factor of Life and how sometimes that is not possible, which is why we offer two separate times of attendance.

Here is the layout of the eight weeks:

Week 1
- Day 1: Introduction to Course (An Intro to an Intro)
- Day 2: Studies in Historical Methodology 1

Week 2
- Day 3: Studies in Historical Methodology 2
- Quiz on Historical Methodology
- Day 4: Studies in Classical Historians (Justin)

Week 3
- Day 5: Studies in Classical Historians (Caesar)
- Day 6: Studies in Classical Historians (Tacitus & Suetonius)

Week 4
- Day 7: Studies in Classical Historians (Josephus 1)
- Day 8: Studies in Classical Historians (Josephus 2)

Week 5
- Day 9: Studies in Classical Historians (Arrian)
- Day 10: Studies in Classical Historians (Eusebius)

Week 6
- Day 11: Review and Quiz on Classical Historians
- Day 12: Introduction to History

Week 7
- Day 13: Studies in Classical History (Hellenism & Diaspora)
- Day 14: Studies in Classical History (The Romans & The Rise of Christianity)

Week 8
- Day 15: Review
- Day 16: Exam

Homework should be expected, although it will not be very time consuming and may require some independent reading from a variety of free resources available online. All homework should be handed in ONE DAY PRIOR to your scheduled class to permit me the opportunity to review it all.

Upon completion of the course, a Course Evaluation Sheet will be given to all classroom enrollees and all enrollees are asked to fill it out and return it to give feedback on how they liked the course and how it could be improved for future attendees.

In the future there will be more in-depth courses specifically dealing with the Roman Empire, the Hellenistic Age, the Diaspora, and the Origins of Christianity. Since this is such an introductory course, the general history will be covered but not much more. The faculty asks that if you find this course interesting, you look into the later courses on the general topics covered in this course.

FREE RESOURCES

1. Josephus Online: http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/josephus.html

2. Arrian Online: http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/intro.asp

3. Justin Online: http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/index.html

4. Caesar Online: http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/caesarx.html

5. Tacitus Online: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/tacitus.html

6. Suetonius Online: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/suetonius.html

7. Eusebius Online: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.iii.i.html?bcb=0

Those who meet a level of proficiency after taking the course will be awarded a badge of honor to be worn on your RationalResponder.com account. You will also receive access to a special forum specifically for graduates of any class in the academy.