Jane Chaplin
James I. Armstrong Professor of Classics
Email: chaplin@middlebury.edu
Phone: work802.443.5111
Office Hours: Mon: 2:45-4:15 Thurs: 2:30-4
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Professor Chaplin's full CV
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
CLAS 0131 / HIST 0131 - Archaic and Classical Greece
Archaic and Classical Greece
A survey of Greek history from Homer to the Hellenistic period, based primarily on a close reading of ancient sources in translation. The course covers the emergence of the polis in the Dark Age, colonization and tyranny, the birth of democracy, the Persian Wars, the interdependence of democracy and Athenian imperialism, the Peloponnesian War, and the rise of Macedon. Authors read include Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristophanes, Plutarch, Xenophon, and the Greek orators. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc.
Fall 2010, Fall 2012
CLAS 0132 / HIST 0132 - History of Rome ▲
History of Rome
This course will study Roman history from its origins to Constantine. Particular emphasis will be on the unique characteristics of Roman society, the rise and influence of imperialism, the transition from Republic to Empire, the role of Rome as a Mediterranean power, and the emergence of Christianity. Readings will focus on the ancient sources, all in translation; authors include Polybius, Plutarch, Tacitus, and Eusebius. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc.
Fall 2009, Fall 2011, Fall 2013
CLAS 0331 / HIST 0331 - Sparta And Athens
Sparta and Athens
For over 200 years, Athens and Sparta were recognized as the most powerful Greek city-states, and yet one was a democracy (Athens), the other an oligarchy (Sparta). One promoted the free and open exchange of ideas (Athens); one tried to remain closed to outside influence (Sparta). This course studies the two city-states from the myths of their origins through their respective periods of hegemony to their decline as imperial powers. The goal is to understand the interaction between political success and intellectual and cultural development in ancient Greece. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc.
Spring 2013
CLAS 0337 / HIST 0337 - From Alexander to Rome
From Alexander to Rome
At the age of 19, Alexander the Great set out to conquer the world. His successful domination of the eastern Mediterranean led to a new world order known as the Hellenistic Age. Under Alexander's successors, literature, art, and philosophy flourished, but a little more than a century later the Hellenistic Greeks found themselves on a collision course with Rome's expanding republic. This course will investigate the political and cultural history of the Greeks and Romans in this period and consider the forces that created the Graeco-Roman world. Readings include Arrian, the Alexandrian poets, Polybius, Livy, and Plutarch. (This course replaces CLAS/HIST 0338: The Hellenistic World and the Foundations of Graeco-Roman Culture.)
Spring 2011
CLAS 0500 - Independent Study ▲ ▹
Independent Study
(Approval required)
Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
CLAS 0505 - Ind Senior Project ▲ ▹
(Approval Required)
Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
CLAS 0700 - Sr Essay Classics/Cy ▲ ▹
Senior Essay for Classics/Classical Studies Majors
(Approval required)
Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Winter 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
FYSE 1294 - Making History
Making History
History is ‘made’ as much by those who write about events as by those who cause and experience them. The Titanic, the Boxer Rebellion, and Alexander the Great share a power to generate historical meaning in multiple time periods. In this seminar we will look at the ways people make past events meaningful for themselves in their own historical circumstances. Using recent books about the Titanic disaster and the Boxer Rebellion as case studies, we will focus on the narratives of Curtius Rufus and Arrian to study how Greeks and Romans explained and emulated Alexander. 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2010
GREK 0101 - Beginning Greek
Beginning Greek I
This course is a rapid and intensive introduction to classical Greek for beginners. The aim of the course is to prepare students to read the major authors of Greek literature. In addition to a systematic study of grammar and syntax, we will also read excerpts from a variety of ancient authors.
Winter 2010
GREK 0302 - Readings in Greek Lit II
Readings in Greek Literature II
Readings in major authors. (formerly CLAS 0304) 3 hrs. lect.
Spring 2012
HIST 0500 - Special Research Projects ▲ ▹
Special research projects during the junior year may be used to fulfill the research seminar requirements in some cases. Approval of department chair and project advisor is required.
Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
HIST 0700 - Senior Independent Study ▲ ▹
The History Senior Thesis is required of all majors. It is written over two terms, with the final grade applying to both terms. The project is generally begun in the fall and completed during winter or spring. Approval is required to begin the thesis in winter or spring, and such students must still attend the Thesis Writer's Workshops that take place in fall and winter.
Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014
INDE 0500 - Independent Project
LATN 0201 - Intermediate Latin: Prose ▲
Intermediate Latin: Prose
Readings in major authors. 3 hrs. lect.
Fall 2011, Fall 2013
LATN 0301 - Readings in Latin Literature I
Readings in Latin Literature I: Roman Epic and Empire
Readings in major authors. 3 hrs. lect.
Fall 2010
LATN 0302 - Readings Latin Literature II
Readings in Latin Literature II: Roman Satire*
Readings in major authors. 3 hrs. lect.
Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2013
LATN 0401 - Advanced Readings in Latin I
LATN 0501 - Adv Readings in Latin III
Advanced Readings in Latin III: Historians & Historiography
Readings in major authors. 3 hrs lect.
Fall 2009
LATN 0502 - Advanced Readings in Latin IV
Teaching Profile
The teaching of Greek and Latin is shared by all faculty in the Classics Department.The courses I have taught this century are
Greek 101 (intensive beginning course in Winter Term using Hansen and Quinn)
Greek 201 (Herodotus Book 1 using Barbour)
Latin 201 (Livy Book 1 and Virgil Aeneid 8; Livy Book 5)
Latin 301 (Livy; Livy Book 39 and Tacitus Annals 15)
Latin 302 (Lucretius Book 5 and Virgil Georgics 4)
Latin 402 (Cicero and Sallust; Lucretius Books 1 and 5)
Latin 501 (Livy Book 21)
Latin 502 (Sallust and Livy; Horace and Juvenal)
The ancient history courses alternate from year to year between Greek and Roman.Typically an introductory course is given in the fall (Classics/History 131 is Archaic and Classical Greece; Classics/History 132 is Roman History), and a topics course in the spring: Classics/History 331 (Sparta and Athens); Classics/History 332 (Roman Law); Classics/History 337 (From Greece to Rome). The emphasis in all these courses is on working from ancient sources.
For First-Year Seminars, my preference is to ask a ‘big’ question (How is history written?Is it possible to learn from the past?How does writing history shape the past?) and to approach it through a specific author, text, or problem.
I supervise independent work for both Classics and history majors.Topics have included the coinage of Vespasian, Sextus Pompeius, Alexander the Great, Herodotean and Thucydidean historiography, translating Juvenal, and Augustus’ manipulation of the law of persons.
Research Profile
My primary interest and area of specialization is Roman historiography. All my published work has dealt with Livy.Most recently I have written an article on the Periochae, the surviving summaries of all but two of 142 books of the Ab Urbe Condita. My current interests revolve around intertextuality in the classical historians, and in particular how textual repetition intersects with actual repetition.