Then they integrate all grammar learned to translate passages from various authors. They also learn about Roman military practices and the early cultures of Gaul and Britain. In this course students concentrate on the prose writings of some major Latin authors. They also read selections from Sallust, the historian, and Pliny, the letter writer. Readings in medieval Latin or Roman satire complete the study of Latin prose writers.
Students master the advanced grammatical structures found in the writings of Cicero.
They also focus on the use of rhythm, word placement, and rhetorical devices as tools in the lands of a Latin orator or prose writer. In the second semester, the course focuses on poetry and the lighter themes of Latin literature. Students read the lyric poems of Horace and Catullus, the elegies of Propertius and Tibullus, and the verses of Ovid. They also may read scenes from a comedy by Plautus. In connection with their readings, students learn basic metrical schemes, poetic devices, and special grammatical forms used by poets.