This

course will examine the many ways in which ancient Roman law, society, and politics affected the framing of the United States Constitution. The course has three distinct goals, the first two of which should be more easily met than the last. They are: First, to introduce you to the broad outlines of the history and politics of ancient Rome, focusing primarily on the Roman Republic what was it? How was it organized and how did it operate? What made it a "republic"? What happened to it? Second, to acquaint you with the Constitutional theory presented by Hamilton and Madison in the justly-celebrated Federalist Papers, the best, and most influential, work of political theory ever written on the western side of the Atlantic. Third, to connect together goals 1 and 2 that is, to see the extent to which we can understand what the Framers of the Constitution learned from (or believed about) the Roman experience, and how that affected our Constitutional design. Reading and Schedule of Classes All assigned readings are from David Shotter, The Fall of the Roman Republic (2d Edition), and Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, The Federalist. There is also a Reading Supplement from which assignments will be drawn. In addition, I have prepared a Poetry Supplement containing excerpts from the works of some of Romes major poets (Ovid, Virgil, Horace, Martial, and Juvenal) as a background to our exploration of Roman history and society; these readings are entirely optional (but great fun). WEEK 1 Classes 1 - 2 Can anyone be so indifferent or idle as not to care to know by what means, and under what kind of polity, almost the whole inhabited world was conquered and brought under the dominion of the single city of Rome, and that, too, within a period of not quite fifty-three years? . . . Who can be so completely absorbed in

Rome, The Roman Republic, and the U.S. Constitution Prof. David G. Post Summer Semester (Temple/Rome) 2012 Syllabus

 Timeline I Timeline II: The Founding of the Republic through Expansion in the Mediterranean Reading: Shotter, Introduction and Chapters 1 & 2 Classes 3 4 The Roman Constitution Others, I have no doubt, will forge the bronze to breathe with suppler lines, draw from the block of marble features quick with life, plead their cases better, chart with their rods the stars that climb the sky and foretell the times they rise. But you, Roman, remember, rule with all your power the peoples of the earth. These will be your arts: to put your stamp on the works and ways of peace, to spare the defeated, break the proud in war. Virgil, The Aeneid, Book IV Assemblies, Magistrates, the Senate Reading: Shotter, Appendices II (Magistracies) and III (Assemblies) WEEK 2 Classes 5 6 Roman Society, Law, and Citizenship Classes 7 8 The Collapse of the Republic The Civil Wars The Rise of Augustus Reading: Shotter, Chapters 3 7

other subjects of contemplation or study so as to think any of them superior in importance to the accurate understanding of this event, unprecedented in human history? Polybius, The Histories, vol. 6

 WEEK 3 Classes 9 10 Rome in Retrospect: Polybius and Montesquieu Reading: Supplement (all) Classes 11-12 Rome and the Constitution, I Reading: The Federalist (all). We will spend these four classes (11 14) working through The Federalist, from start to finish. Our pace is difficult to predict in advance, for it will depend on the questions and issues we uncover; it is also hard to predict which numbers of the book turn out to be the most significant for our discussions. I strongly recommend that you try to read through the book twice once quickly, just to get a feel for the authors arguments and the overall structure and organization of the work, and a second time looking more specifically for issues and themes that relate back to our work on the Roman Republic. WEEK 4 Classes 13 14

If a man were called upon to fix the period in the history of the world during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would without hesitation name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian (AD 96) to the accession of Comitus (AD 180). . . . . . . . In the 2d century, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient reknown and disciplined valor. The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury. . . the image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence. The Roman Senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government. Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

 Rome and the Constitution, II Classes 15 16 Concluding Thoughts/Issues Exam The exam will be open-book, two hours long (with an extra half-hour for outlining and preparation). Although I am not certain what form it will take, it will probably consist of two essay questions requiring some synthesis of the range of material we covered in class.