Your final project for this course is to conduct research on a specific topic and write a carefully written and well-argued paper. You have considerable latitude in the topic you select; though it must pertain to some aspect of Roman history, it need not focus on any particular issue we have discussed in class, but it must include key topics we have discussed in class. You may explore other aspects of Rome's history, however, and devise a topic that you want to read and write about.

The first step consists of selecting a topic. You must choose a paper topic and submit it via email to me (marnush) by Monday, November 5th. I will review all of your submissions and return my comments by Wednesday, November 7th. All topics must receive my approval. During the week of November 12th, you will need to hand in a thesis statement (11/12), a working bibliography (11/14) and a rough abstract (11/16). Note that the rough draft is due on Tuesday, November 27th, and the final draft on Thursday, December 13, by 4.30pm. See the checklist for the paper for deadlines, etc.

The paper must be at least 3000 words in length (approximately 10 pages). For both the rough and final drafts you must

• use 1" margins on all four sides (in MSWord, use File/Page Setup)
  
• create a title page containing the title, your name, the course and the date
  
• begin the text on the top of a clean sheet and double-space the body of the text
  
• number all pages
  
• provide proper citations within the paper (either in the text in parentheses, or as a footnote/endnote) for ideas or language other than your own
• provide a bibliography on separate pages of only those sources that you used and cited in your essay; do not include works just because you read them.
  • For proper citation and bibliographic styles, see the Classics Department pages on citations, the Department's pages on bibliography and The Skidmore Guide to Writing.
    

Your tasks include

• selecting a specific topic
• fashioning a thesis from that topic
• marshalling the ancient evidence
• analyzing the problems raised
• presenting your own reasoned conclusions, supported and documented by the evidence.

Possible topics follow; you may elect to pursue another topic. All topics must receive my approval.

• Institution of slavery in the Republic or Empire
  
• Causes of a particular slave war
  
• Bureaucratic system of administration during the Empire
  
• Influence of women in the Republic or Empire, or within Christianity in the Empire
  
• Art or poetry as political propaganda in the Republic or Empire
  
• Divinity of the emperor and the imperial cult
  
• Economy, industry, taxation or finances of the Republic or Empire
  
• Rise of Christianity in the Empire
  
• Relationship of Judaism (or other religions) to the Empire
  
• Aspects of patronage and clientage in the Republic or Empire
  
• Role of mercenaries or piracy in ancient warfare and diplomacy
  
• Aspects of the army; warfare; defense; military tactics and strategies; engineering and warfare
  
• Bread and circuses: keeping the citizenry satisfied
  
• Assemblies and voting; citizenship
  
• Religious practices and worship (individual cult; magic; prophecy and divination; astrology)
  
• Historiography (the writing of history)
  
• Comparison of the characterization of two men by one biographer (e.g., Augustus & Caligula by Suetonius), or one individual by two biographers (e.g., Caesar by Plutarch & Suetonius)
  
• Demagoguery
  
• Timekeeping and calendars
  
• Education, rhetoric, or oratory
  
• Role of the Senate in the Republic or Empire
  
• Law enforcement in the Republic or Empire
  
• Succession and the principate
  
• Roman relations with other cultures in the Empire and the meaning and effect of "Romanization"
  
• Local responses to Roman imperialism and "Romanization"
  
• Expansion of the Empire
  
• Public works in the Republic or Empire
  
• Powers of the principate
  
• Municipal life during the Empire
  
• Professional guilds during the Empire
  
• Medicine, geography, and other sciences during the Empire
  
• Stoicism or other philosophical schools and their influence on the Republic or Empire
  
• End of paganism in the Empire
  
  Some specific examples:
  
• Relationship between Rome and an ally or enemy, such as between Rome and Pergamum
  
• An alliance between political opposites, such as Saturninus and Marius: causes and results
  
• The view of the Senatorial oligarchy towards C. Iulius Caesar
  
• Constantine's motivations for conversion to Christianity
  
• The ambitions of Cleopatra and her impact on Rome's history
  
• Augustus' foreign policy: aggressive conquest or defensive imperialism?
  
• Tactical uses of auxiliary troops in the Imperial army
  
• Military campaigns of Caligula
  
• Tolerance of Claudius towards non-pagan religions
  
• Criminal prosecution of Christians in the early Empire
  
• Literary patronage by Roman emperors
• Sexual mores in the Republic or Empire
• Role of gladiatorial combat in the Empire