What you must do in this unit
- Read chapter 7 in the textbook.
- Read Pericles' Funeral Oration.
- Read my notes on Ancient Greece and Rome.
- Watch the short, not great but OK, video on the Classical Mediterranean. Watch my short video on Rome.
- Check out Professor Campbell's video Was The Fall Of Rome B.S.?
- Study the Questions to Consider and the Key Terms for the unit.
- Think about your Digital Project assignment (150 points). Please check your course schedule for the exact due date and for the deadline for instructor approval of your project, and please read the details about the assignment now so that you are prepared as the due date approaches. Please submit your topic and type of project to your instructor for approval.
- Post (or respond) with your thoughts/ideas/comments in the discussion forum: What were some of the main features of Athenian democracy (5 points)?
What you can do in this unit
- Two online videos by Professor Sheda Vasseghi, NVCC, on Cyrus and the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE) are very useful.
- Jonathan Hagos, a student in HIS 111, created this digital project story map illustrating the military campaigns of Alexander the Great.
- Check out the online exhibit on Roman Gladiators, created by Aaron Goodman, a former student in HIS 111.
- Elizabeth Corder, former student HIS 111, created this nice narrated Prezi on Marriage Practices in Ancient Societies.
Some videos that you can watch for this unit
- The Persians & Greeks: Crash Course World History #5
- Socrates Plato Aristotle | World History | Khan Academy
- Golden Age of Athens, Pericles and Greek Culture | World History | Khan Academy
- The Roman Empire. Or Republic. Or...Which Was It?: Crash Course World History #10
- The Persians & Greeks: Crash Course World History #5
- Hunts on site: Thermopylae
- Alexander the Great and the Situation ... the Great? Crash Course World History #8
- Parthenon
- A Mysterious Illness Takes the Lives of One Third of Athenians
- Julius Caesar (Part 1/3)
- Christianity from Judaism to the Constantine: Crash Course World History #11
- Colosseum
- The Pantheon, Rome
- Art of the Western World (highly recommended)
- Sounds of Faith PBS Documentary Islam Christianity Judaism
- For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a relevant video for this unit of the course. Send the title of the video, the URL and a brief explanation of why you find the video interesting and applicable to the material that is being studied in this unit.
Extra Credit Options
- For up to 20 points of extra credit, submit the Ancient paragraph
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, read Plato's Allegory of the Cave and write a one-page paper in which you explain, in your own words, the allegory and indicate why it is important. Here are two videos, one animated, and one not animated, dealing with the allegory.
- For up to 25 points of extra credit, read the documents associated with the Trial of Socrates, including Plato's Apology and, in a one-page paper (maybe two pages), note and explain the main points of Socrates' defense.
- For up to 10 points of extra credit,you may choose to do an extra credit assignment on the Melian Dialogue (also here). In the "Dialogue," the Ancient Greek historian Thucydides reconstructed the negotiations that took place between the Athenians, who wanted to annex the island city-state of Melos, and the Melians, who wished to remain neutral and not get involved in the war between Athens and Sparta. In 416 BCE, after discussions failed to reach an agreement, the Athenians invaded Melos and enslaved the inhabitants of the island. The representatives of Melos argued for neutrality; Athens asserted that neutrality was just not good enough and that Athens had a right, and duty, to assert its power. Sound familiar? The "Melian Dialogue" remains a stunning example of how stronger nations/countries/societies manipulate ideas of justice and natural rights to achieve their own political ends. In a one-page paper, assess the relevance of some of the issues touched on in the "Dialogue" to recent (last 25 years) international politics.
- For up to 10 points of extra credit, you may also choose to do an extra credit assignment on Thucydides.
- For up to 10 points of extra credit, read some of Aristotle's comments on democracy (from his Politics), and summarize his views on democracy and the polis in a long paragraph.
- For up to 10 points of extra credit, read excerpts from the Meditations of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and write a paragraph: What were some of the principles of the Roman philosophy of stoicism reflected in these Meditations?
- For extra credit, please suggest a relevant website for this unit of the course. Send your instructor the title of the site, the URL and a brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to the material being studied this unit.
Unit Learning Objectives
- Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to (1) explain the development of Athenian democracy, (2) summarize the key features of Ancient Greece and Rome and (3) establish a timeline of key dates in classical Western history.