The final project is an opportunity for you to combine your research and writing skills and develop a project that reflects aspects of Roman history that interest you. Your main source of material is Shelton's As the Romans Did. You are to select one chapter, read all of the primary source materials and Shelton's commentary, and over the course of the rest of the semester write two 300-word essays and one 3000-word paper.

The first short paper is due in class on Friday, November 12th, and will focus on what chapter and issues you have chosen to address. Feel free to write the paper in the first person if you so choose. Compose it as you would any paper, with an introduction, a body of a few paragraphs and a conclusion. In that essay, explain why you have chosen that chapter and what issues you intend to consider.

The second short paper is due in class on Wednesday, December 1st, and will consist of a sample of your final paper. This could consist of the introduction or any other part of the final version. It should include your own prose, crafted to form a portion of the final thesis you will present, and some of the primary sources either as quotations or as citations, to substantiate your arguments with evidence. This last issue is critical; the second essay is not only an opportunity to demonstrate your thinking and your cogent writing, but as well that you know how to use, cite and analyze evidence to persuade your audience. For proper citation of ancient sources (the primary evidence) and modern scholarship (Shelton's book), see the department's webpage on citation. Please read this webpage carefully, as it is the standard to which I shall hold your citation of the sources.

The final, longest paper, approximating 10 pages (3000 words), is due on Thursday, December 16th, at noon and in my office. No late papers will be accepted; this is absolute.

If you wish, you may take a fictional stab at papers two and three. That is, you may utilize the sources just as you would in a research paper, but could do so in a creative way. You might, for example, reconstruct the life of fictional slave, or create a fictional scenario among various characters from the Roman world. If you choose this path, you still must use, cite and analyze the evidence to persuade, but can do so in a more creative fashion. If this is the tack you decide to take, please indicate as such in the first essay.