Avete, Discipuli! (Welcome Students!) You have reached "Rome: Republic and Empire (distance degree program version)" on the Web. I hope you find the course enjoyable and challenging and I also wish you well. The advantages of the Web for you are many: you have access to a lot of material that may support what you are doing in the course. There are also a number of images available of one kind or another that can supplement what you have seen of Roman civilization. When this page is finished, there should be a number of links set up so you can easily access these materials without having to "surf" the net hoping to find something useful!

I'm not including the syllabus on the web as that is a significant part of the course. You will have a syllabus plus a lot more information on Blackboard Academic Suite (see below for more information) which should become available shortly before the course starts.

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SOME COMMON QUESTIONS THAT DISCIPULI (students) HAVE ASKED IN THE PAST

• Should I concentrate on lectures or on the readings?
      Both are important, the readings should supplement the lectures, make certain elements more understandable, give additional details not covered in class. On the other hand, the lectures may go into more detail than the texts for certain points.

• Should I read the book before or after the lecture?
     Ideally, skim the book before the lecture, then read in detail afterwards. Realistically, most people don't have the time or patience for this. The real answer is to do what you have successfully done in the past. If the names and terms bother you a lot, reading ahead will give you some familiarity with them so the lectures won't seem so foreign.

• How do I read Plutarch and Suetonius?
      These authors, unlike modern textbooks, did not consider that students would be reading their work almost 2,000 years later.
  Plutarch was writing moral biographies, trying to demonstrate to his readers the importance of acting properly. His values were those of the early 2nd century A.D. He tends to collapse events to make a life more compact and consistent. He also tends to name a lot of people. As a student, you should ignore many of the figures named unless they play a role in the general history of the period. Basically, just concentrate on the figure whose life is being discussed. Don't read more than one life at a time. Take some time to reflect on what Plutarch was saying about this figure.
      Suetonius was not writing moral biographies, but scandalous ones. He would have written for the National Enquirer had he lived in our time. Suetonius mixes good data with backstairs gossip sexual exploits, bizarre rumors. It is your job to sort out the "normal" from the scandalous and improbable. Try to understand what Suetonius is trying to say about each figure. By the way, some of the material on Tiberius is a bit on the raw side (you can skim or skip that material if you are offended).

• What is Blackboard Academic Suite and how is it used?
      Blackboard Academic Suite (https://blackboard.wsu.edu) is a system used by DDP for most of  your class interaction.  In this course I do not have class discussion, but there is a messaging system (internal e-mail) as well as all the class information that you will need:  syllabus, schedule, lessons (this section includes handouts, maps, assignments, exams).   As soon as it becomes available at the beginning of the course, you should at least scan through all the sections of Blackboard.  DDP should send you information how to use Blackboard.

•  How do I submit assignments?

      Assignments should go through Blackboard Academic Suite .   Within Blackboard, there is a section called Grade Center where you post assignments and exams and can find your grades and feedback on graded assignments and exams.  You will be evaluated on two communications assignments, a map assignment, and three examinations.  In general, exams cover a third of the course each (Exam 1 covers material associated with the first 10 lectures, Exam 2 covers the second 9, and Exam 3 covers the final 11.  Exams are available the week you should be finishing the lectures if you are on schedule and are posted for about 2 weeks.  After that they are inaccessible.  You can still turn in exams, but you won't be able to download the instructions.  If you finish a section very early or somehow lose your copy of the exam, send me a message and I'll send you a copy of the appropriate exam. In general, it is not good pedagogy to send out exams early as it encourages students to just look up material they think applies.  Often students are wrong about what may and may not apply and often miss important background or other material.

• How do I use e-mail for my assignments?
      If you have problems with Grade Center submission, you can always attach an exam or assignment to a message to me within Blackboard.  If you have further problems with Blackboard, you may e-mail assignments or exams directly to me at:   sarek@wsu.edu.  However, when you send assignments directly to me, copy the material into the body of the e-mail.  Do not send an attachment, as I normally do not open attachments because they often carry viruses.  Often, viruses come from well-meaning, but electronically naive friends (or students), so I am very leery about ANY attachments.

• What else can I use e-mail for?
      You can ask me questions, make comments about the course, or discuss things with me privately.
   

   

  

  SOME OTHER SITES THAT MAY BE HELPFUL

  press the globe to get a select list of places to visit including MyDDP

  

  
  

  For information about your instructor and links to:
  the Department of History
  and
  Washington State University (WAZZU)

  go to
  the inaccurately named
  

  Richard S. Williams Unpretentious Home Page

  
  

  by pressing the comm-badge

  

  Return to beginning of this document

   

  Valete, Discipuli!