This module has two main objectives. The first is to allow you to learn some of the basics of the Latin language (taught from scratch), so that youcan begin to translate and analyse texts in Latin. The second is to enable you to explore something of the history and character of the Latin Literature of the late Republic and early Empire, the so-called Golden Age in which many especially influential works were produced.
To learn some Latin is a very great asset indeed for anyone studying English Literature. English owes much of its vocabulary to Latin, while research shows that learning Latin improves understanding of English and the quality of one's own writing. Study of Latin was the basis of school education from the Middle Ages onwards, while the great Roman writers exerted an unparalleled influence on English literature and culture of all periods.
This course however will also introduce you to some of the most influential writers in the history of mankind. We will look at a number of major writers, of both prose and verse, and a number of different genres. Cicero and Caesar established the 'classic' style for Latin prose that constituted a norm for future centuries, sometimes to be imitated, sometimes reacted against, and Sallust and Livy wrote important histories. Great poets included Catullus, Lucretius, and Horace, while the two most influential of all Latin poems, Virgil's Aeneid (surely the most profound poem about empire ever written) and Ovid's Metamorphoses, sometimes called the Bible of poets and artists, belong to this period. Texts studied may include selected passages from among the following (in the original): Cicero, Caesar, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Ovid; and texts to be read in English include selected writings of Cicero, Catullus, Complete Poems, Virgil Aeneid, Ovid Metamorphoses.
Occurrence | Teaching cycle |
---|---|
A | Spring Term 2022-23 to Summer Term 2022-23 |
The aims of this module are to enable you to explore the history and character of ‘Golden Age’ Latin literature, and to learn some of the basics of the Latin language.
On successful completion of this module you should be able to:
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Essay - 2500 words |
N/A | 70 |
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) The Golden Age of Latin Exam |
4 hours | 30 |
None
You will be given the opportunity to hand in a 1000 word formative essay in week 1 of the summer term, as preparation for the week 7 summative essay. Material from this essay may be re-visited in your summative essay and it is therefore an early chance to work through material that might be used in assessed work.
This essay will be submitted in hard copy and your tutor will annotate it and return it two weeks later (usually in your week 3 seminar). Summary feedback will be uploaded to your eVision account.
Task | Length | % of module mark |
---|---|---|
Essay/coursework Essay - 2500 words |
N/A | 70 |
Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) The Golden Age of Latin Exam |
4 hours | 30 |
Selected passages from among the following: Cicero, Caesar, Catullus, Virgil, Horace, Ovid
Texts to be read in English may include selected writings of Cicero, Catullus, Complete Poems, Virgil Aeneid, Ovid Metamorphoses
J. Morwood, A Latin Grammar