| This course examines the political development, cultural ideas, and fundamental institutions of the ancient societies that form the basis of Western civilization. The course will focus on civic values that established standards regarding the role of the individual within the community, and how concepts of virtue, duty, and service evolved over time in response to internal and external challenges. It explores in detail significant historical questions such as how Athenian democracy contributed to, and was dramatically affected by, the Peloponnesian Wars, and why the Romans' victory in the Punic Wars planted the seeds for the ultimate demise of the Republic and the transition to the Empire. HI365 also serves as an introduction to historical methods of analyzing primary sources. Cadets will read extensively from histories written by ancient Greek and Roman authors and form their own interpretations of the events the writers cover, their historical methods, and their reliability. |