History 203: Weird Antiquity (Fall 2025)

Time/Location: M/W, 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m., Cesar Chavez 406

Office: Cesar Chavez 410
Phone: (520) 621-7422 (office)
Email: jbausch1@arizona.edu

OVERVIEW

History 203 is a class about weird stuff in the Greco-Roman world. Like, genuinely strange stuff. Yeah, we’ll have to talk about history, art, culture, language, philosophy and other mainstream material in this course, but most of our time will be spent investigating little-known aspects of the Greeks and Romans. Bizarre aspects. Like, genuinely odd. I mean, did you see that teenager riding a rooster? Who does that?!?! 😮

COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES

In this course, we will survey a wide range of written and material sources to obtain a broad view of the offbeat and unusual in the Ancient Mediterranean world. By the end of the course, you should be able to:

Spout embarrassing amounts of trivia on a variety of niche areas of classical antiquity.
Tell your friends about a number of places in the Ancient Mediterranean where bizarre doings got did.
Reasonably approximate the style of a number of ancient writers who treat the unusual.
Art, architecture and archaeology? Yes. Farts, footlongs and fraud? Also yes.
Notice that nobody is reading this, not now, not never; Nell’s Nutella needs Nerds.
Give a number of reasons why the Greeks and Romans were as offbeat as they were.
Entertain ways in which your own civilization (whatever that is) is demonstrably outside of the mainstream.

PREREQUISITES

A degree in interior design is a must, as classroom desk reorganization will occur on a regular basis, and I can’t hand such a task to amateurs, obvs.

READINGS

There is no required textbook for the course. Course readings will be hyperlinked to this page or made available for download from the D2L site for HIST 203 as pdf files: see the “Readings” area of the “Content” section. Then read the “Readings” with your “Eyes” (eyes not included).

GRADING

Grading for the course will be based on the following breakdown. Go ahead, give it to me. OK!

Attendance (10%): How often you come to class. If you come to all 30 class sessions on time and stay until the end, you will get a perfect attendance grade for HIST 203. Absences are inevitable, so I will allow you to make up up to 3 classes’ worth of missed time (plus participation). The only way to do this is doing extra course-related reading and written work. If you would like to make up an absence for a given class, please let me know.
In-Class Participation (30%): The quality and quantity of your participation in class discussions. I expect you to actively engage in class discussions. If you do not, your grade will suffer. Your grade for in-class participation starts at zero and will increase over the course of the semester—based on how well you do—up to a maximum of 60 (which, over 30 class sessions, averages out to 2 points per session), which will be considered perfect participation (100%). Keep track of your in-class participation score on D2L regularly. To help you organize your thoughts, I will often post reading questions on D2L in advance of each class to give you a sense of what to watch out for in each reading. It is not required that you read and respond to these (or even look at them!), but you should feel free to write out responses to the questions and have them with you during class.
Quizzes (20%): There is a brief—15 minute, 20 questions—D2L quiz to complete pretty much every week on the readings from that week (15 quizzes total). Each quiz will be available to be taken on D2L until 11:59 p.m. on the Friday of the week in question. No supporting materials are allowed during quizzes: no notes, no books and certainly no internet sources. Your performance on quizzes should reflect your knowledge of the material, not someone or something else’s. If you do the readings you should have no trouble doing well on the quizzes. Your lowest three quiz grades will be dropped.
Short Writing Assignments (20% [5% each]): Four brief (ca 400–500 words) writing exercises will be assigned, the prompts for which will be posted on D2L. They vary widely in scope: some are source analyses, others are analytical and still others require a bit (or more!) of creativity. These will be completed in class on Wednesday, September 17; Wednesday, October 15; Wednesday, November 12; and Wednesday, December 10. Your lowest short writing assignment grade will be dropped.
Final Exam (20%): The in-class, cumulative, all multiple choice final exam will be held on Monday, December 15 from 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. It will be entirely based on class lectures. So you’d better pay attention. Because content.

OFFICE HOURS AND OTHER STUFF

Office Hours: I will hold weekly office hours on Mondays from 1–2 p.m. and Thursdays from 9:45–10:45 a.m., both in-person and via Zoom. You are also welcome and encouraged to make an appointment to meet with me. Call, email or holler (though hollering isn’t recommended).

Preceptor: That’s right! We have an undergraduate preceptor for the course. His name is Leo Klump (leoklump@arizona.edu) and he should prove to be a real asset to students in the class! (If he is not, we will have our revenge. 😮 ) Among Leo’s duties as preceptor will be notetaking for those who qualify, a weekly office hour (Wednesdays, 12:30–1:30 p.m. via Zoom), outline help for short writing assignments and a final exam review session. You can learn more about Leo on the course D2L page.

Course Content: Course readings will regularly contain brutally violent, sexually graphic and/or otherwise potentially offensive material. I assume that all students enrolled in HIST 203 are mature enough to handle such material and suggest that anyone easily offended by such material not take the course. No, really! I can’t have you getting all upset by grody stuff. I mean, come on!

D2L: As mentioned above, students in HIST 203 will be expected to be familiar with D2L (“Desire2Learn”), the University’s online course content management system. Our use of D2L in HIST 203 will be extensive: we will use D2L not only as a repository for course documents (readings, paper prompts, etc.) and as a place to post grades, but also for quizzes and updates about the course. If you are unfamiliar with D2L, see the D2L help homepage . If you are familiar with D2L, ooooooooooh! I bet your mom is real proud. 😉

In-Class Technology Policy: My general policy on the use of personal electronic devices in class is that you are not allowed to use personal electronic devices in class. Please put your devices on vibrate or turn your devices off at the beginning of class and put them away, unless you have been asked to get them out (which will occasionally happen). ***Students who have their devices out during a class—or have devices that have been put away but noisily disrupt class anyway—will receive attendance and participation grades of 0 for that class session.*** Three violations of this policy will lead to more significant penalties. Tablets and laptops are only permitted with the understanding that they are to be used solely for in-class note taking. ***If you use a device in a given class, you are required to post your class notes **within 24 hours after that class** to the “Class Notes” folder on D2L (in the “Assignments” tab).*** Use of a device for any other purpose in class without the permission of the instructor will be considered a violation of the in-class technology policy.

Earbud/Headphone Policy: Do I really need to spell out a policy for this? Evidently I do, because some of you think it’s OK to be listening to music/ podcasts/elephant farts while you’re in class. Shocker incoming: it isn’t! 😮 ***Students who have headphones of some kind on/in during a class will receive attendance and participation grades of 0 for that class session.*** Three violations of this policy will lead to more significant penalties, and possibly permanent ear damage. 🙁

Double Coupons: Wednesday is double coupon day. All manufacturers’ coupons will be honored at twice face value up to and including 50 cents. Shoppers who are members of the Johnny “C” Club will get a FREE bonus rubber band at checkout.

Plagiarism and Using Quoted/Cited Material: Plagiarism is the presentation of another entity’s work—or what is substantially another entity’s work—as one’s own, and it is strictly forbidden in higher education. If you copy material from an outside source and paste it into an assignment for HIST 203, you have plagiarized. If you copy material from an outside source and paste it into an assignment for HIST 203, and then tweak the pasted material a bit, you have still plagiarized. No credit is given for plagiarized material. Repeated instances of plagiarism may result in disciplinary acton at the university level. On a related note, it’s worth mentioning my policy on using quotations from course materials. I’m fine with it! That said, quotations (which must be set off by quotation marks and have a page number citation) should only be used as supporting material for making your own points.

AI Policy: Speaking of other authors, I am fine with students using generative AI tools for brainstorming purposes only in HIST 203. So if you want to see what a robot short writing assignment for HIST 203 looks like, knock yourself out. My expectation will be, however, that no AI-generated material will be handed in as student work for the course, as this is clearly plagiarism (see policy, above). Let me be clear(er) here! Material copied from an AI engine and handed in is plagiarized material. **Material copied from an AI engine, modified by a student and then handed in is also plagiarized material.**

Gum: If you have gum in class, you have to have enough for everyone. Seriously—be prepared to share. But not, like, if it’s some trash gum like Wrigley’s. :\

Grades: Quizzes are auto-graded and scores are reported immediately. Grades for class attendance and participation will generally appear within 24 hours of each class session. Grades for writing assignments will be entered on D2L within one week of their due date. ***It is your responsibility to keep track of your grades over the course of the semester. You have one week from the date of a posted grade to appeal it. After that, the assumption is that you have seen the grade and are OK with it.*** Grades for assignments turned in after posted due dates—and without documented excuses for lateness—are only awarded at the discretion of the professor. At the very least, late assignments will lose one letter grade (= 10 points off of the overall grade for the assignment) for every day they are late. Assignments that are five or more days late will receive no grade.

Honors Contracts: Students wishing to earn Honors in HIST 203 should let me know! We can likely work something out. But honestly, a lot of that will depend on what kind of day I’m having. If it’s a good day, hey! You’re in luck! If not, well, cash me outside. How ’bout dah? :\

Final Grades: Final grades ending in .5 or higher will be rounded up; those ending in .49 or lower will be rounded down. ***There are NO exceptions to this policy.***

Final Countdown: A song by Europe that reached #8 on the US pop charts in 1986. I would have given it the #1 slot, but songs that only reach #8 cannot reach #1. **There are NO exceptions to this policy.***

If you would like help with your writing, the University’s Writing Skills Improvement Program may be a valuable resource. The Program offers professional individual tutoring in writing for students, as well as biweekly writing workshops. These are free and open to UA students, but you do need to register with the program. This semester, the workshops will be held on Mondays from 12–1 p.m. and Wednesdays from 10–11 a.m. More information is available on the WSIP website.

The THINK TANK Writing Center may also prove useful! The Writing Center is free for all University of Arizona undergraduate and graduate students and offers in-person, Zoom, and asynchronous feedback options. During sessions, trained and certified undergraduate tutors work with you to identify major patterns—things that are working well and things you could improve. 🙂

If you would like five extra credit points on your first short writing assignment, raise both of your hands in the air at precisely 11:30 a.m. on the first day of class and shout, “Rutabagas for everybody!” No, really. 😮

VARIOUS UNIVERSITY POLICIES:

Absence and Class Participation Policy: The UA’s policy concerning Class Attendance, Participation, and Administrative Drops is available at here. Absences for any sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice will be accomodated where reasonable. Absences preapproved by the UA Dean of Students (or dean’s designee) will be honored. See here.
Accessibility and Accommodations: My goal in this classroom is that learning experiences be as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability, please let me know immediately so that we can discuss options. You are also welcome to contact the Disability Resource Center (520-621-3268) to establish reasonable accommodations. For additional information on the Disability Resource Center and reasonable accommodations.
Threatening Behavior Policy: The UA Threatening Behavior by Students Policy prohibits threats of physical harm to any member of the University community, including to oneself. See here.
Code of Academic Integrity: Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded work/ exercises must be the product of independent effort unless otherwise instructed. Students are expected to adhere to the UA Code of Academic Integrity as described in the UA General Catalog.
UA Nondiscrimination and Anti-harassment Policy: The University is committed to creating and maintaining an environment free of discrimination. See here.
Subject to Change Statement: Information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policy, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

COURSE SCHEDULE

What follows is an outline of the fall semester. Reading assignments are due on the dates specified. For a typical class you’ll do a reading and we’ll discuss it, generally after I present on a subject connected to the material. On some days I will force you to do group work, which (I know) is, like, the worst thing in the universe. But at least it will be weird group work. (Weird subject matter, that is; I can make no guarantees about the weirdness of the students in HIST 203. We won’t discuss the instructor. 😮 )

Check this page often. Readings and assignments are subject to change. I’ll try to give a heads-up in class if a major shake-up is imminent. I’ll also try to provide you with the readings at least one week in advance. But “try” does not mean “succeed in doing,” alas. 🙁

Week	Monday	Wednesday	Friday
1	8/25 (1) Introductions Read the syllabus (yes, this thing!). It counts as a reading, and questions about it will show up on the first D2L quiz! :\	8/27 (2) Superstition Theophrastus, Characters 16 (pp97–101; odd pages only); Hesiod, Works and Days 706–828 (pp145–155, odd pages only); Plutarch, On Superstition (pp455–495, odd pages only)	8/29 D2L Quiz #1 (days 1 and 2)
2	9/1 Beginning of National Chicken Month—No Class	9/3 (3) Mystery Cults Apuleius, Metamorphoses book 11 (pp239–295, odd pages only)	9/5 No D2L Quiz*
3	9/8 (4) Magic Lucian, Alexander the False Prophet (pp175–253, odd pages only)	9/10 (5) Divination Cicero, On Divination 1 (pp223–369, odd pages only)	9/12 D2L Quiz #2 (days 3, 4 and 5)
4	9/15 (6) Dream Interpretation Artemidorus, Oneirokritika (D2L, selections: 1 Preface; 1.1–12; 1.17–49; 1.78–80; 2 Preface; 2.49–65; 2.70; 3 Preface; 4 Preface; 5 Preface and read about ten dreams that came true from this book)	9/17 (7) Incubation Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.26.1–28.2 (pp385–397, odd pages only); Aristophanes, Wealth 400–748 (pp483–533, odd pages only); Philostratus, The Life of Apollonios of Tyana 1.9–12 (pp49–57, odd pages only); Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 15 (pp313–317, odd pages only) *In class: Short Writing Assignment #1*	9/19 D2L Quiz #3 (days 6 and 7)
5	9/22 (8) Student Selection #1: Weird Philosophy Selected testimonia and fragments of the Presocratic Philosophers: The Milesians (pp11–20); Parmenides (pp56–66); Zeno (pp74–80); the Pythagoreans (pp95–114)	9/24 (9) Student Selection #2: The Lost D2L: Robert Barnes, “Cloistered Bookworms in the Chicken-Coop of the Muses: The Ancient Library of Alexandria,” chapter 3 (pp61–77) of R. McLeod, ed., The Library of Alexandria: Centre of Learning in the Ancient World	9/26 D2L Quiz #4 (days 8 and 9)
6	9/29 (10) Astronomy Aratus, Phaenomena (pp207–299, odd pages only)	10/1 (11) Astrology Manilius, Astronomica 2 (pp81–159, odd pages only)	10/3 D2L Quiz #5 (days 10 and 11)
7	10/6 (12) Pirates Xenophon of Ephesus, The Story of Anthia and Habrocomes 1.1–2.10 (pp213–269, odd pages only)	10/8 (13) Bandits Apuleius, Metamorphoses 4.1–27 (pp151–195, odd pages only), 6.25–32 (pp293–307, odd pages only) and 7.1–13 (pp3–25, odd pages only)	10/10 D2L Quiz #6 (days 12 and 13)
8	10/13 (14) Fishing Oppian, Halieutica 1 (pp201–281, odd pages only)	10/15 (15) Hunting Xenophon, On Hunting (pp357–467, odd pages only) *In class: Short Writing Assignment #2*	10/17 D2L Quiz #7 (days 14 and 15)
9	10/20 (16) Student Selection #3	10/22 (17) Student Selection #4	10/24 D2L Quiz #8 (days 16 and 17)
10	10/27 (18) Ghosts Plautus, The Ghost 378– 531 (pp355–371), odd pages only); Pliny the Younger, Letter 7.27 (pp543–549, odd pages only); Lucian, The Lover of Lies (pp321–381, odd pages only)	10/29 (19) Monsters Cyclops: Homer, Odyssey 9; Scylla, Sirens and Charybdis: Homer, Odyssey 12.41–337	10/31 D2L Quiz #9 (days 18 and 19)
11	11/3 (20) Eating and Drinking Petronius, Satyricon 26.7–78 (pp109–231, odd pages only)	11/5 (21) Pooping and Barfing Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian Wars 2.47.3–2.54.5 (pp341–357, odd pages only); Pompeian scatalogical graffiti (D2L); Aelian, Characteristics of Animals 13.6 (pp85–89, odd pages only); Ancient Greek drunkenness and hangovers; poems about this; Ancient Roman hangover prevention and cures	11/7 D2L Quiz #10 (days 20 and 21)
12	11/10 (22) The Arena Martial, On the Spectacles (pp12–39, odd pages only); Tertullian, On the Spectacles (pp231–301, odd pages only)	11/12 (23) The Sitcom Herodas, Mimes (pp197–283, odd pages only); Theocritus, Idylls 2, 14 and 15 (pp39– 57 and 195–227, odd pages only) *In class: Short Writing Assignment #3*	11/14 D2L Quiz #11 (days 22 and 23)
13	11/17 (24) How to Get the Girl Ovid, Art of Love 1 and 2 (pp13–117, odd pages only)	11/19 (25) Intersex and Toxic Masculinity Hermaphroditus: Ovid, Metamorphoses IV.274–388 (pp197–205, odd pages only); Lucian, Dialogues of the Gods 3 (pp249–253, odd pages only); Priapus poems 1–86 (D2L: pp48–109, even pages only)	11/21 D2L Quiz #12 (days 24 and 25)
14	11/24 (26) Student Selection #5	11/26 National Cake Day—No Class	11/28 No D2L Quiz*
15	12/1 (27) Weird Science Hippocrates: Airs, Waters, Places (pp73–143, odd pages only) and Ancient Medicine (pp9–61, odd pages only)	12/3 (28) Science Fiction Lucian, A True Story (pp249–355, odd pages only)	12/5 D2L Quiz #13 (days 26, 27 and 28)
16	12/8 (29) Doomsday Prepping Aineias Tacticus, On the Defense of Fortified Positions (pp27–199, odd pages only)	12/10 (30) Dying and Death The Theodosian Code, Book 9, Titles 5–16 (pp230–239); Virgil, Aeneid 6 (pp533–597, odd pages only) *In class: Short Writing Assignment #4*	12/12 D2L Quiz #14 (days 29 and 30)
17	12/15 **FINAL EXAM** Final exam, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.	12/17 No class – exams 🙁	12/19 National Ugly Sweater Day: Semester Over!