Teaching Ancient Biography
by Dr. Margaret Cotter-Lynch, Southeastern Oklahoma State University
Original text © 2005. Margaret Cotter-Lynch.
Discussion Section: Nero, Vespasian and Conclusion
For the first part of section, as a review of Suetonius and as preparation for the final exam, I ask students to get into groups of 3, and to pick one passage of 5-10 lines from our readings in Suetonius which they think is important and/or typical. Each group should prepare a presentation in which they read their passage, then explain where it is from, what’s happening, and why it is important or typical. This serves to both produce a useful study list for students, and also to get the book as a whole into their minds for the following discussion.
For the remainder of the section, I return to the question I posed earlier in an in-class writing: is it possible to be both a good leader and a bad person? I ask students to share their answers to this (I usually turn back their written answers on this day, but they could be asked to speak from memory). I move this into a discussion of what our readings about Roman leaders can teach us about the nature of power. In what ways do you think these stories are illustrative of universal truths? Do you see aspects of the people we read about repeated in today’s leaders? In what ways do you think the Roman leaders we read about are unique or particular to their time and place? What do you think has changed in the past 2000 or so years?
