CX 136 / CX 236 / CX 336

SUMMER VACATION: GUIDANCE FOR STUDENTS TAKING THIS MODULE IN 2024-5

I would advise all students to do the following:

• read or re-read the whole of Virgil's Aeneid in translation (it doesn't matter which translation; the standard Penguin Classics one by David West, available on Amazon for under £10, is fine), and also Sallust's Bellum Catilinae in translation, if you have time.
• Purchase the two recommended commentaries on Sallust's BC and Virgil Aeneid 12, and read their introductions (see the 'syllabus' tab).
• Get hold of, if you don't own a copy, a decent Latin grammar and syntax reference book. I recommend Moorwood's Latin Grammar and/or Kennedy's Latin Primer.
• Find ways of keeping up your Latin: you might reread your A-Level or Latin 2 texts, and/or attempt to begin reading Aeneid 12.
• If you have any questions or need further guidance, don't hesitate to contact me at any point over the summer: V.Rimell@warwick.ac.uk

The purpose of the module is to build upon Latin Language 1 and 2 (or A Level/equivalent) and to allow students both to broaden and to deepen their understanding of Latin by further reading of significant works in Latin literature. As well as developing the ability of students to translate from Latin, the module also includes discussion of literary and grammatical points, and hones wider interpretative skills in relation to up-to-date scholarship on set texts. By the end of this module students should expect to have:

• an advanced and comprehensive knowledge of Latin grammar;
• the ability to recognise and comment upon a number of different genres and stylistic registers in Latin texts;
• the ability not only to understand in detail the expressive structures of form in the set texts but also to recognise the interpretative implications of these structures;
• an awareness of how the thematic concerns of the individual works studied relate more broadly to the authors’ works/genres as a whole;
• the ability to interpret and discuss critically aspects of the set texts in relation to secondary scholarship;

• increased confidence and fluency in independent reading of Ancient Latin texts in the original language.

This module runs every year.

NB It is essential that the students bring with them to class their own copies of the set texts (or set material for the grammar class), as well as a copy of James Morwood's Latin Grammar (Oxford, 1999). Downloading the Lewis & Short smartphone app (available for around £4) or the SPQR Latin Dictionary & Reader (around £5), or to be able to consult the Lewis & Short dictionary in class on a laptop or tablet (available online on perseus.tufts.edu) is highly recommended.

* Term 1 2024-5 timetable:

Face to face 2-hour reading class: Tuesdays 9-11am

Face-to-Face 1-hour grammar class: Wednesdays 10-11am

Module convenor:

Professor Victoria Rimell

Email: V.Rimell@Warwick.ac.uk