Syllabus

For 2025-6

Set texts for weekly reading and interpretation classes. Students will need a copy of the following prescribed commentaries:

• Virgil Aeneid 11 (Scott McGill [2020] Aeneid : Book XI. Cambridge; I also recommend Ingo Gildenhard and John Henderson [2018] Virgil, Aeneid 11 (Pallas and Camilla), Latin text, study aids with vocabulary, and commentary, Open Book Publishers, which is free and can be downloaded: Virgil, Aeneid 11, Pallas and Camilla, 1–224, 498–521, 532–596, 648–689, 725–835: Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary | Open Book Publishers)
• Sallust Bellum Catilinae. (J.T. Ramsey [2007] Sallust's Bellum Catilinae. Oxford. 2^nd edition).

Supplementary set text for grammar and syntax in context:

• Cicero Catilinarians. (You might consider buying or borrowing A.R. Dyck [2008] Cicero Catilinarians. Cambridge, or Gould and Whiteley's Bristol Classical Press edition of In Catilinam 1 and 2, but this is optional).

Assessment:

The module is examined by:

a) 1-hour paper in the Winter session of examinations, which counts for 25% of the final mark (one passage from Aeneid 11, translation and commentary);

b) 2-hour paper in the Summer session of examinations, which counts for 75% of the final mark (one passage from Sallust Bellum Catilinae for translation and commentary, and one passage from Cicero's In Catilinam 1 for grammar and comprehension questions).

In the Winter examination, students will be expected to translate an extract from the first set text (Virgil Aeneid 11), and to comment on points of interest in style, content, and wider interpretation in the selected passage.

In the Summer examination, students will be expected:

- to translate an extract from the second set text (Sallust Bellum Catilinae) and to comment on points of interest in style, content, and wider interpretation in the selected passage;

- to explain grammatical forms and constructions in an extract from Cicero Catilinarians 1.

Additional Materials

Recommended Dictionaries:

Charles Lewis and Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary (Oxford, various reprints) or C.T. Lewis, An Elementary Latin Dictionary, Oxford 2002.

Note that the Lewis & Short (more expensive, but much more comprehensive than the Elementary option) is also available as a smartphone app for around £4, and can also be consulted online on perseus.tufts.edu. Also try, if you can, to use the Oxford Latin Dictionary, regarded as the best Latin-English dictionary available. There are copies available for consultation in the University Library.

Recommended Grammars:

James Morwood, A Latin Grammar (Oxford, 1999) or Cambridge Latin Grammar (Cambridge, 1992). Other possible grammars to consult are B.L. Gildersleeve’s Latin Grammar (London, 1948) and Kennedy’s Revised Latin Primer (Cambridge, 2010) PDF

Online Resources:

https://logeion.uchicago.edu/about