This course examines cases of ethnic, social, and political conflict relating to honours for the god(s) (“religion”) in the Roman empire. We will consider incidents involving ethnic and other conflicts as well as literary representations that reflect conflict. The relationship between Roman imperial authorities and particular groups will also occupy us. This year the focus will be on cultural minorities in the Roman empire, especially the Judeans (Jews) and a particular set of groups that arose from a Judean context (Jesus-followers). As many conflicts arise from relations between different ethnic groups, we will also give attention to issues of ethnography, namely ancient writings in which an author from one ethnic group describes or critiques the cultural practices of other peoples, particularly with respect to the gods, or god.
Each week, students will submit a 500 word (2 pages double-spaced maximum) analytical piece dealing with the readings for the upcoming discussion (due at the beginning of class). This should not be a summary, but rather a comparative analysis and synthesis focused on key issues raised by the readings, particularly with respect to our approach to the ancient sources. (You do not need to submit this assignment for the week when you lead or present).
Each student will choose a work (see options on the discussion schedule) and write a five-page (double-spaced) academic book review, which entails: outlining the main argument of the book and how the author builds up this argument; discussing the author’s methods (or approach) and use of evidence to support his or her points; and, providing a critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the work. To familiarize yourself with the genre of the academic book review, read at least five book reviews (but not reviews of the book you are analyzing) that interest you in an academic journal of your choice or online at: http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/ (Bryn Mawr Classical Review – note that reviews on that site are not limited to the typical 5 pages) or http://www.bookreviews.org/ (Review of Biblical Literature).
20 pages double-spaced maximum. A good research paper focuses its attention on analyzing primary sources (in our case ancient materials) with the help of scholarly sources. You may also choose to do a historiographical paper, which analyzes and assesses the history of scholarship on a particular topic. We will discuss the options at more length in class. (You will need to hand in a hardcopy in addition to sending an electronic version of your paper as an email attachment. Papers may be submitted to turnitin.com).
Brent Nongbri, “Dislodging ‘Embedded’ Religion: A Brief Note on a Scholarly Trope,” Numen 55 (2008) 440–460 (link); Also familiarize yourself with: James B. Rives, “Graeco-Roman Religion in the Roman Empire: Old Assumptions and New Approaches,” Currents in Biblical Research 8 (2010), especially 240-276 (link).
Scholarly sources: Erich Gruen, Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, especially intro, chapters 6-7, 11-12, and conclusion (ebook link in York library; also on reserve).
Further scholarly sources (not required): Eric M. Orlin, Foreign Cults in Rome: Creating a Roman Empire (Oxford: OUP, 2010) (ebook link); R. A. Bauman, “The Suppression of the Bacchanals: Five Questions,” Historia 39 (1990), 334–348; Erich S. Gruen, “The Bacchanalian Affair,” in Studies in Greek Culture and Roman Policy, Cincinnati Classical Studies 7 (Leiden: Brill, 1990), 34–78; J. A. North, “Religious Toleration in Republican Rome,” Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 25 (1979), 85–103; Fritz Graf, Magic in the Ancient World (Cambridge, MA: HUP, 1999); Sarah Iles Johnston, et al., “Panel Discussion: ‘Magic in the Ancient World’ by Fritz Graf,” Numen 46 (1999) 291–325 (link), especially Frankfurter’s response.
Further scholarly sources (not required): Andrew Harker, Loyalty and Dissidence in Roman Egypt: The Case of the Acta Alexandrinorum (Cambridge: CUP, 2008); Benjamin Kelly, Petitions, Litigation, and Social Control in Roman Egypt, Oxford Studies in Ancient Documents. (Oxford: OUP, 2011) (ebook link).
Josephus, Antiquities 14.185-260 (link to Loeb volume; link to PACE); Antiquities 16.162-178 (link) (edicts by authorities mainly relating to Asia Minor in the mid-late first century BCE).
Further scholarly sources (not required): Jean Juster, Les Juifs dans L’empire romain: Leur condition juridique, économique et sociale (New York: Burt Franklin, 1914) (vol. 1; vol. 2); Horst R. Moehring, “The Acta pro Judaeis in the Antiquities of Flavius Josephus,” in Christianity, Judaism and Other Greco-Roman Cults: Studies for Morton Smith at Sixty, ed. Jacob Neusner, vol. 3, SJLA (Leiden: Brill, 1975); John M.G. Barclay, Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora from Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE-117 CE) (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996), esp. pp. 259-281; Miriam Pucci Ben Zeev, Jewish Rights in the Roman World: The Greek and Roman Documents Quoted by Josephus Flavius (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1998) (documents in Josephus); Horst R. Moehring, “The Persecution of the Jews and the Adherents of the Isis Cult at Rome A.D. 19,” Novum Testamentum 3 (1959): 293–304 (link); Dixon Slingerland, “Suetonius ‘Claudius’ 25.4 and the Account in Cassius Dio,” Jewish Quarterly Review 79 (1989): 305–322 (link); Dixon Slingerland, “Suetonius Claudius 25.4, Acts 18, and Paulus Orosius’ ‘Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII:’ Dating the Claudian Expulsion(s) of Roman Jews,” The Jewish Quarterly Review 83 (1992): 127–44 (link); Pauline Ripat, “Expelling Misconceptions: Astrologers At Rome,” Classical Philology 106 (2011): 115–54 (link) (expulsions from Rome).
1 Peter (link to English; link to Greek).
Further scholarly sources (not required): F. Gerald Downing, “Pliny’s Prosecutions of Christians: Revelation and 1 Peter,” JSNT 34 (1988): 105–23 (link); David Horrell, “The Label Christianos: 1 Peter 4:16 and the Formation of Christian Identity,” JBL 126 (2007): 361–81 (link); Candida R. Moss, The Other Christs: Imitating Jesus in Ancient Christian Ideologies of Martyrdom (Oxford: OUP, 2010) (link).
Justin Martyr, First Apology (entirety); Second Apology 12 (link).
Origen, Contra Celsum 1.14-26 (link).