You will be asked you to comment on 5 passages or images chosen from 10 which will be sent to you
Rules of the examinations
40 % of the final grade for this course will depend on two short commentary tests (20% on each). The questions will be posted via Bruinlearn 48 hours before the answers are due. Your should answer through the Assignments tool on BruinLearnEach examination will require you to comment on five source passages or images from a choice of ten. These will be familiar to you if you have attended the lectures and done the prescribed reading. The best preparation is to review the lecture slides and make sure you have read all the reading.
This is an open-book exam, but you should answer in your own words. Do not collaborate with other students on the course or with anyone else. You are free to use textbooks and other academic publications, but do not use ChatGBT or similar AI. Violation of these rules, as well as any other academic dishonesty, is prohibited.
Late penalties. Exams received after noon on the due date will lose half the total score. Exams received after midnight on the due date will receive a zero.
How to write a good commentary
The aim of the exam is to test your understanding of materials discussed in the lectures and assigned as reading. I am particularly interested in finding out how good you are at thinking critically about the different kinds of written testimony and material evidence we have for this period. What problems does each source raise? what contexts help us use it? and what is its wider significance for understanding the Roman Republic
You will be asked in each examination to write commentaries on five of the ten provided. For each one, write up to one page. Answers will be graded on quality not length. For each case, describe its context, its historical significance, and comment on any questions of interpretation. Depending on the passage or image, you might want to explain technical terms or allusions, pick out the political or literary aims of the author or maker, write about how it relates to other available evidence, or just show what it contributes to our understanding of the age. You should focus on explaining and interpreting: do not waste time repeating or paraphrase the passage, and do not write a mini-narrative, even if one springs to mind when you see a piece.
You will have an opportunity to write in a different way for the final paper. But for this exercise I am interested in your skills as an historian in interpreting evidence.
