AS Modules ~ CC3: Roman Society and Thought
 

Module Content

This course is designed to help students develop understanding of how the Romans lived in the 1st Century AD and what they thought. Students will explore this through reading selected passages in translation from four authors. We will be following the OCR CC3 syllabus. The assignments will be geared towards preparing students for the exam, but if you do not want or need to sit the examination, you can follow the course just for fun and fulfilment, ignoring the information and advice which is not relevant to you. 
The course is structured so that students will get to know the authors first through their own writing: we will study them in chronological order: Horace, Petronius, Juvenal, and Pliny. We will look at the literary context i.e. their style and characteristic approaches, choice of themes, their humour, uses of persona, their purposes. The set texts of Horace, Petronius and Juvenal are generally considered to be 'satire' or 'satirical' and we will discuss the meaning of these terms. The letters of Pliny were genuine letters but were also intended for publication: the syllabus asks us to look at them as 'a personal commentary on Roman life'. As we look at each of the authors, we will also deal with aspects of the social, cultural and political context, such as food and dinner parties, freedmen and slaves, the relationship between patron and client, living in the city of Rome or in the countryside, immigration and foreigners, the effects of poverty and wealth, the nouveau riches, men and women, the position and power of the Emperor, religion and philosophy, Stoicism and Epicureanism. The focus of the course is literature, society and values. 
Students' tasks will include reading, writing notes, answering questions with short and/or long answers and writing essays. Students will be invited to express critical and personal responses. 
 

Books

1. Horace Satires and Epistles and Persius Satires
translated by N Rudd, Penguin, 2005
ISBN 978-0-14-045508-3. 

2. Juvenal Satires
translated by P Green, Penguin, 2004
ISBN 978-0-14-044704-0.

3. Petronius' Satyricon
translated by J P Sullivan, Penguin.
ISBN 978-0-14-044489-6.

4. The Letters of the Younger Pliny 
translated by B Radice, Penguin.
ISBN 978-0-14-044127-7.

The Examination

Paper CC3: Roman Society and Thought (100 marks) (Entry code F383)

This paper lasts 1 hour 30 minutes and has two sections:

• Section A: (55 marks) Candidates are required to answer one commentary question selected from a choice of two. Candidates answer the three sub-questions set.

• Section B: (45 marks) Candidates are required to answer one essay question from a choice of three. Bullet point guidance is provided for the candidate for each essay question.

Further Information

If you would like further details of the content of this module, please visit the OCR website at www.ocr.org.uk, email the Independent Learning Manager or telephone us on 01223 330579.