Classical Historiography

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

The topics will be presented by the teachers, through their contextualization and commentary of sources.

Students will be called to participate actively in the reflection on the themes of the program, especially through individual research, with the purpose of writing and presenting essays.

Learning Outcomes

To know the origins and development of Greek historiographic discourse.

To be able to insert Herodotus' historical discourse in the historical and intellectual context of his production.

Identify the plurality of discourses present in Herodotus' Histories.

Understand the reception of Herodothean historiography in Antiquity and the Age of Discoveries.

To know the process of development of Roman historiography, as well as the political and cultural context of the production of historical discourse at the end of the Republic.

To understand the reasons for the appearance of the biographical and autobiographical discourse of politicians in Rome and its objectives.

To understand, through the analysis of sources, the process of creation of imperial historiography and the reasons for the development of the biographies of emperors and other politicians.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Herodotus' Histories: a holistic and universal historiography.

1.1. Introduction: origins of historiographic thought and discourse in the Greek World.

1.2 Herodotus and his time: historical and intellectual context of production of the historiographic discourse

1.3 Historical research (historia) and methodology (meta-historia)

1.4 Plurality of discourses in the historiography of Histories: ethnic, dietetic, dramatic and scientific discourse.

1.5. The reception of Herodotus' historiography: in Antiquity (Thucydides) and the Age of Discovery.

 

2. Development of a Roman historiography

2.1 From the Annales of the Pontiffs to Republican historiography in Greek and Latin

2.2 Historiography of the end of the Republic. Retroprojection and moralizing discourse

2.3 The appearance of biography and autobiography: comentarii de vita sua, res gestae

2.4 Writing the history of the empire: imperial historiography and biography of emperors and other major figures.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Participation in courses: 20.0%
Synthesis work: 20.0%
Research work: 60.0%

Bibliography

Bakker, E.J., et alii (eds.) (2000), Brill’s Companion to Herodotus. Leiden.

Brandão, J. L. (2009), Suetónio e os Césares. Teatro e moralidade nas vidas suetonianas. Coimbra.

Brandão, J. L., Oliveira, F. (2020), História da Roma Antiga. Vol. II.  Império e Romanidade Hispânica. Coimbra.

Dewald, C., Marincola, J. (eds.) (2006), Cambridge Companion to Herodotus. Cambridge.

Dominik, W. J. et al. (eds.), (2009), Writing politics in imperial Rome. Leiden-Boston.

Figueira, T., Soares, C. (eds.) (2020), Ethnicity and Identity in Herodotus. London.

Marasco, G., (ed.) (2011), Political autobiography and memoirs in Antiquity. Leiden-Boston.

Schulz, V. (2019), Deconstructing Imperial Representation. Leiden-Boston.

Soares, C. (2003), A morte em Heródoto. Valores universais e particularismos étnicos. Lisboa.

Thomas, R. (2000), Herodotus in Context: Ethnography, Science and the art of Persuasion. Cambridge.

Walsh, P. G. (1996 reimp), Livy: his historical aims and methods. Bristol.