Basic Program in Latin
The first five weeks of the Latin program are spent in mastering the forms and syntax of the language while reading selections from the poetry of Catullus and the prose of Caesar. In the last five weeks, students study major authors and genres ranging from the classical period through the Renaissance. The literature segment is divided into required and elective offerings.
Latin Institute
Required of all students.
- Classical Prose: Cicero and Sallust — A close translation and comparative examination of the syntax, style and rhetoric of Cicero's complete First Oration Against Catiline and of selections from Sallust's The Conspiracy of Catiline.
- Augustan Epic: Vergil — Book IV of The Aeneid is read in its entirety with a view toward an appreciation of Vergilian style and poetic technique.
- Survey of Latin Literature — Lectures and discussions on the development of Latin prose and poetry from Livius Andronicus through the Silver Age and into the medieval period and the Renaissance. Representative passages are translated and analyzed.
- Latin Prose Composition — Simple and complex English sentences are translated into Latin with a threefold purpose: 1) to review basic rules of syntax, 2) to expand knowledge of Latin syntax by applying basic rules previously learned to more intricate constructions, and 3) to call attention to matters of word order, style and prose rhythm in order to create a sensitive response to the art of Latin prose.
- Classical Lyric Poetry — Selections from the four books of Horace's Odes are read and analyzed in terms of themes, language and metrics.
Latin Institute Electives
Each student will choose one two-week mini-course (18 class hours). A minimum of three of the following will be offered.
- Roman Historiography — Tacitus or Livy
- Pastoral Poetry — Vergil's Eclogues
- Augustan Epic — Ovid's Metamorphoses
- Philosophical Epic — Lucretius' De Rerum Natura
- Satirical Prose Fiction — Petronius' Satyricon
- Roman Elegy — Tibullus, Propertius, Ovid
