Ancient Western Civilization

This course examines the great civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome. The first half traces the arc of Greek democracy and culture through the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars; the second picks up with the rise and fall of Roman power, from the mythic and historical accounts of Rome’s early days all the way to St. Augustine’s reflections in The City of God on Rome’s fall and the conflict between Christians and pagans in Roman society.

The influence of the personalities, events, and ideas of this era is difficult to overstate, and the study of ancient Greece and Rome is vital to any genuine understanding of the movement and progress of History in the West. This course will enable the student to observe the timelessness of human relations and the similarities of man’s responses to the conditions in which he finds himself across time periods; to discover the similarities and differences between ancient Greek and Christian ideas of virtue; to trace the cause and effect of political developments in the ancient world and, by extension, the modern; to identify the periods of ancient history and major characters of the period; to become familiar with the geography of the ancient world and the seeds of modern geopolitical conflicts; and to relate modern historical situations and documents to their ancient antecedents.

Students taking this course for Kolbe Core (K) credit will have four papers, a mid-term, and final exam each semester.  Additionally, core students should expect to have daily reading and minor weekly written assignments or quizzes.

Assignment due-dates and grades are established by the parent.  Optionally, a student may be enrolled in the Self-Paced Plus© grading assistance program to receive grading assistance from a Kolbe Academy faculty or staff member on designated assignments in the course. In this case, parents will still submit final grades to Kolbe for the course, but may choose to incorporate the graded assignments into the student’s overall grade or use the Kolbe-graded assignments to assist in arriving at the student’s final grade.

• The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives, Plutarch, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert
• The Histories, Herodotus,translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt
• The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, translated by Rex Warner
• Makers of Rome, Plutarch, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert
• The History of Rome from Its Foundations: The Early History of Rome, Livy, translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt
• The History of Rome from Its Foundations: The War with Hannibal, Livy, translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt
• The Annals of Imperial Rome, Tacitus, Tran. Michael Grant
• City of God. St. Augustine, translated by Henry Bettenson

Optional physical copies available for purchase for the following under the Ancient Western Civilization “Optional Material” section in the Kolbe Bookstore (digital copies are provided with the self-paced course):

• The Persian Expedition & Rise and Fall of Athens Study Guide, Kolbe Academy Publishing
• The Histories Study Guide, Kolbe Academy Publishing
• The History of the Peloponnesian WarStudy Guide, Kolbe Academy Publishing
• Plutarch’s Roman Lives Study Guide Student Book, Kolbe Academy Publishing
• Early History of Rome Study Guide Student Book, Kolbe Academy Publishing
• The War with Hannibal Study Guide Student Book, Kolbe Academy Publishing
• The Annals of Imperial Rome Study Guide Student Book, Kolbe Academy Publishing
• City of God Study Guide Student Book, Kolbe Academy Publishing

Note that this is the digital version of the homeschool course plan, which is found in the course’s associated Parent Group.  This course plan is built into the Schoology course for the student. 

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