Oct 05, 2024
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2024-25
CARS 3480 - War and Ethics in Ancient Mediterranean Society
This course studies the development of warfare in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. The primary focus is on the close reading and analysis of ancient texts to understand how the changing practices and narrative traditions of war reflect changing ethical ideas held by Greek and Roman societies towards warfare itself. Starting with the honor-based fighting and values reflected in the Homeric epics, the course explores the evolution of ancient thinking about the ethics of war in the Greek states, the Hellenistic kingdoms, the Roman Republic, and finally the Roman Empire, and in doing so enables student to reflect upon and discuss modern ideas about the ethics and morality of war.
Requisites: WARNING: No credit if CARS 2160 and CARS 2160A
Credit Hours: 3
OHIO BRICKS: Bridge: Ethics and Reasoning
Repeat/Retake Information: May be retaken two times excluding withdrawals, but only last course taken counts.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 lecture
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Learning Outcomes:
- Students will be able to analyze a wide range of literature from the ancient Greek and Roman world, in particular the variety of different cultures in the Mediterranean world from 700 BC to AD 400.
- Students will be able to define key concepts in thinking about war and warfare, to identify major developments, and be able to explain how and why those developments occurred.
- Students will be able to develop critical thinking skills by explaining the many different effects of war on societies through a wide variety of literary and artistic expressions from diverse cultures and social situations.
- Students will be able to evaluate the cultural context of sources studied, identify bias or predisposition in primary literary sources, and determine the reliability and usefulness of each for understanding different societies.
- Students will be able to recognize, evaluate, and connect ethical issues when reading sources related to and writing about warfare.
- Students will be able to describe and explain ethical perspectives, theories, and/or concepts expressed as it relates to different forms of warfare.
- Students will be able to apply ethical perspectives, theories, or concepts when comparing and contrasting different approaches to war.
- Students will be able to identify and describe one’s own ethical core beliefs and how they shape ethical conduct and thinking, using topics related to different forms of warfare.
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