An introduction to advanced grammar and the idiomatic language of Latin. Emphasis is given to the development of translation skills by reading extended passages of Latin prose and poetry. Readings from ancient and medieval Latin. Selections range from Cicero's philosophical works to the Gesta Romanorum and some attention is given to the literature's relationship to cultural milieu. Selections from the orations and rhetorical treatises of Cicero.
Consideration is given to the influence of rhetoric in politics and education.
Selected works of the comic playwrights Plautus and Terence. Colloquial Latin, the definition of humor, and the influences of Greek comedy are important topics. Emphasis will be given to the work of one author in matters of style, content, and bias. Selections from the Odes of Horace, the elegies of Propertius, and Ovid's Amores. Attention is directed to poetry as a vehicle of personal expression and social commentary.