Paper 1: Latin translation and Paper 2: Latin questions

Aims and objectives

1. To introduce students to the Latin language and to develop their knowledge, abilities and skills towards the supported reading of original Latin texts and the independent reading of short passages from a variety of Latin authors.
2. To foster and enhance students' understanding of the structure and functioning of the Latin language.
3. To support students' acquisition and understanding of Latin vocabulary.
4. To offer guidance in the reading of texts in connection with students' work for Papers 1 and 3.

Scope and structure of the examination papers 2019–20

Paper 1. Latin translation. This paper will be divided into two sections. Section (a) will contain passages in Latin for translation into English from texts prescribed from time to time by the Faculty Board. Section (b) will contain passages for critical discussion taken from the prescribed texts.

Paper 2. Latin questions. This paper will be divided into two sections. Section (a) will contain two passages of Latin for unseen translation. Each passage will account for 25% of the marks available for the paper. Section (b) will contain (i) English sentences for translation into Latin (accounting, in total, for 25% of the marks available for the paper), and (ii) a passage for linguistic comment from the texts prescribed for Paper 1 (accounting, in total, for 25% of the marks available for the paper).

Course descriptions

All those taking the four year course receive five Faculty classes a week in order to consolidate their grasp of the language and to read the set texts. The schedule breaks down as follows: Michaelmas, Latin language course material and Cicero Pro Archia; Lent, Ovid Metamorphoses 3; Easter weeks 1–7 Catullus, a selection of shorter poems and, concurrently, Caesar De Bello Gallico 4.20–36, 5.8–23. The recommended edition for Cicero is that of Gould and Whiteley. Bring a text of the recommended edition. In Easter term these classes will also include an introduction to Greek.

For Ovid, recommended resources will be circulated; for Caesar, use Caesar’s expeditions to Britain (Bristol Classical Press), and for Catullus, John Godwin, Catullus: the Shorter Poems (Aris and Phillips).