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Detailed Assignment for Week 5 (29 Jan.-2 Feb.)

NB: Translation Passage 1 is due Thursday, Feb. 1 by 11 PM.  For description -- and link to the assignment itself -- click HERE.  

Read

☞Book 14.29-39 (Latin); 40-50 (English)

Ponderanda

We will devote our Latin reading this week to one of the most celebrated parts of Tacitus' Annales, his account of the revolt of Boudicca in Britain in AD 60-61.  While there is a lot to discuss and examine in these chapters, give some thought to these specific points:

  • Roman imperialism is a large topic in Tacitus generally.  What is your impression of his view of Roman imperialism, based on the Boudicca episode?
  • This is really the one 'foreign affairs' episode in the Neronian books I'm having you read in Latin.  Why do you suppose that is?  What is there about the Boudicca episode that sets it apart?  

Legenda ad libitum

  • A lot has been written about Boudicca in Tacitus, and much has been written about Boudicca in the larger context of 'women in Tacitus' (the bibliography on this is substantial).  But for one recent and compelling article that looks at Boudicca in comparison with Agrippina (a timely comparison for us), have a look at M.J. Düsenberg, 'Dux femina: Transgressive Women in Tacitus,' in Transgression and Deviance in the Ancient World, L. Gilhaus et al., edd., pp. 129–150 (Stuttgart 2022).  EBook (and thus chapter) available through UW Libraries.  
  • To my mind one of the best scholars currently working on women in Tacitus is Caitlin Gillespie (watch for her forthcoming book on the subject), who also has written one of the best new overviews of Boudicca available, Boudicca: Warrior Woman of Roman Britain (Oxford 2018).  Ebook available through UW Libraries.  If you find Boudicca intriguing, I strongly recommend you have a look at this book.  

Nugatoria

You might find these entertaining:

a. A video reconstruction of the battle with Boudicca (known as the Battle of Watling St.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDXcQLwhKWc Links to an external site.

b. A site devoted to the story of Boudicca: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/warwickclassicsnetwork/romancoventry/resources/boudica/ Links to an external site.