CLA310 Latin I
major elective | grades: 9, 10, 11
An introduction to the Latin language and its basic forms, vocabulary and grammar, Latin I is taught through English. The course motivates students to delve into the Latin roots of English words, seeing that understanding Latin vocabulary can bring seemingly difficult English words to life. We also explore the similarities among Latin, French, and Spanish. Since students taking this course will join those students in the two-year Middle School course, there is strong emphasis on mastering grammar and forms. The reading material uses adapted, authentic works of Latin literature to increase student interest and enliven discussion of Greek and Roman culture.
CLA320 Latin II
major elective | grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
prerequisite: Latin I
This second-year course completes the study of Latin grammar and provides increasing emphasis on reading skills. Students develop the skills necessary to read Latin as the Romans wrote it, and to consider the historical and cultural implications of their language and literature in contrast to our own. Students also read longer passages of connected Latin prose.
CLA410 Latin III (History)
major elective | grade: 10
prerequisite: Latin II
co-requisite: Latin History
By combining the study of history and third-year Latin, this course affords students a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in interdisciplinary study. The centerpiece of the course concerns the immediate events that brought the Roman Republic to an end. By reading Caesar’s account of the Civil War (De bello civili) and Cicero’s letters describing the same events, students become intimately familiar with the only primary documents that have survived from this time—documents which every historian of this period must rely upon and know. The reasons for the Republic’s demise are set within the overall trajectory of Roman history, beginning with the pre-monarchic period. However, students spend most of the year studying the rise of the Roman Republic, its constitution and the ethos of its ruling class.
In Latin III, students become familiar with the rhetorical style of Cicero by translating his first oration against Catiline (In Catilinam I). From March through the end of the year, students study the Roman imperial period, the rise of Christianity, the proto-states of Western Europe and their evolution into distinct nations up to the year 1100, concentrating on England and France. While analyzing the reasons for the collapse of the empire in the West and the historical conditions that created the medieval world, students read excerpts from relevant Latin texts of Augustus Caesar, the Gospel of Matthew, Tacitus, Lactantius, Orosius, Jordanes, Gregory of Tours, Einhard, and Fulcher of Chartres. This assortment of primary Latin texts allows students to discover the evolution of the Latin language, as well as the refocusing of human concerns from a Classical to a medieval perspective.
CLA420 Latin III (Literature)
major elective | grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
prerequisite: Latin II
Students who love myths and legends will be amazed at their ability to move into the regular reading of Latin at level three. Latin III Literature focuses on Ovid’s works: The Metamorphoses, The Amores, and The Heroides, while selections from additional authors, such as Horace and Cicero, may be included, as well. Ovid appeared at an important juncture in Roman literary history, coming into his prime after Horace, Vergil and Catullus had died, and just as the Roman empire was taking form. Ovid’s magnum opus, The Metamorphoses, will lead students through Greek myths and ancient legends in the epic meter of dactylic hexameter. In Ovid’s Amores, his shorter poems written in elegiac couplets, he takes on a persona who is struggling with various aspects of love, including rivals and rejection. The Heroides is a series of letters by women characters from mythology to the men who rejected them. At each stage, students will examine the nature of language, the meaning of words, and the nuance of the poetic. Alongside learning new grammatical constructions, literary devices, and storytelling techniques, students will explore the history and social context of the period and consider how our readings live today in the world of art, music, poetry, and current events.
CLA510 Latin IV: Advanced
major elective | grades: 10, 11, 12
prerequisite: Latin III – History or Literature
In this course, we will focus on Vergil’s Aeneid as a literary, historical, and philosophical text, and will discuss such topics as the nature of epic and the use of symbolism in poetry. While continuing to refine their skills in translation, use of meter and knowledge of literary devices, the students will also consider the Aeneid in its role as heir to Greek literature—and as seminal to the literature and thought of Western Europe since the Roman period. Students will also produce a film for Classics Day.
CLA610 Latin V: Advanced
major elective | grade: 11, 12 prerequisite: Latin IV
Students will read, discuss and write on a variety of Roman authors and topics, chosen in consultation between the continuing Latin IV students and the teacher. Topics include Roman comedy or law and poetry. Roman comedy, for example, translates Plautus’ Menaechmi, the story of identical twins separated in infancy. Law and poetry explore the same cast of historic persons in both a scandalous legal case conducted by Cicero, and poetry written by Catullus. Attention will be given to social context, to its historical and cultural background and to literary interpretation. On Classics Day, Latin V students stage a Roman triumph, having first read about triumphs in ancient prose and poetry. Other projects will be developed in consultations between teacher and students.
