04746 - Latin Language

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to present authors and genres of the literature of Rome in their historical development and the basic tools for interpreting Latin texts and documents. 
The following knowledge and skills will be requested:
1. knowledge of the literary history, which includes the ability to outline profiles of the main genres, authors (listed in the programme) and their works and set them in their historical and literary environment;
2. the ability to translate the texts in Latin listed in the programme;
3. knowledge of phonetics, morphology and basic syntax, as appearing in the mentioned texts;
4. the ablity of carrying out a literary analysis of the studied texts (both in Latin and in Italian).

Course contents

The course (1st semester) is divided into two chunks: a general one and a more specific one. A beginner's course will be hold in parallel.
1.a. Introduction to genres of the Latin literature in the age of Seneca and Nero: through selected lectures from Seneca (in Latin), Lucanus, Petronius, Suetonius, Tacitus (in italian translation) the course aims at presenting the development of the main genres in the literature of Rome, and at offering the basic tools for interpreting texts and documents in Latin.
Lessons of the course will be integrated by the International Congress "Seneca and the science" (14.11.2007).
1.b. Language: specific themes of phonetics, morphology (above all historical morphology) and syntax will be dealt with, starting from the studied texts.
1.c. Literary History: in addition to the periodization of the texts and the general knowledge of their historical background, the students are requied to know the main authors of Latin literature (Augustine of Hippo, Ammianus Marcellinus, Apuleius, Catullus, Caesar, Cicero, Cornelius Nepo, Ennius, Historia Augusta, Juvenal, Jerome, Livius, Livius Andronicus, Lucanus, Lucilius Gaius, Lucretius, Martial, Horace, Ovidius, Petronius, Plautus, Pliny the Elder, Propertius, Quintilian, Sallustius, Seneca, Suetonius, Tacitus, Terentius, Varro Marco Terentius, Virgil). Literary profiles presented in class will have to be integrated with a textbook.
2. Seneca: lecture of the dialogue De otio.

N. B. 1. The updated syllabus, the dates of the examinations and forms to enrol in the examination sessions are available at: www2.classics.unibo.it/Didattica/LatBC/latbc.htm.
2. Texts and notes from lectures and further material will be available at the same page.

Readings/Bibliography

Introduction to genres of the Latin literature in the age of Seneca and Nero: texts of Lucanus, Petronius, Suetonius and Tacitus will be supplied at lesson. Seneca: selected passages from 1) De providentia: Lucio Anneo Seneca, La provvidenza, introduzione, testo, traduzione e note a cura di A. Traina, con un saggio di I. Dionigi, Ed. corr. e aggiornata, Milano, Rizzoli BUR, 2004is suggested; 2) Troades: L. Anneo Seneca, Le Troiane, intr., trad., e note di F. Stok, Rizzoli (BUR), Milano 2001 is suggested. Texts from 3) Epistulae ad Lucilium (1, 44); 4) Quaestiones naturales (praef. lib. I) will be supplied at lesson.
1.b.) Language: for the bases of the language, students can resort to a good high school textbook (for instance: I.Dionigi - E.Riganti - L.Morisi, Verba et res. Morfosintassi e lessico del latino, Laterza, Bari, 1997).
1.c. Literary history: further to the periodization and a general historical background, students will have to know the main authors of latin literature (Augustine of Hippo, Ammianus Marcellinus, Apuleius, Catullus, Caesar, Cicero, Cornelius Nepo, Ennius, Historia Augusta, Juvenal, Jerome, Livius, Livius Andronicus, Lucanus, Lucilius Gaius, Lucretius, Martial, Horace, Ovidius, Petronius, Plautus, Pliny the Elder, Propertius, Quintilian, Sallustius, Seneca, Suetonius, Tacitus, Terentius, Varro Marco Terentius, Virgil). Literary profiles presented during lessons will have to be integrated with a manual: e.g. M. Bettini, Storia della letteratura latina. Antropologia e cultura romana, Firenze, La Nuova Italia, 1996, or V. Citti - C. Casali - C.Neri, Gli autori nella letteratura latina. Disegno storico. Dalle origini alla tarda latinità, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2005, or G.B. Conte, Letteratura latina, 2 voll., Firenze, Le Monnier, 2002.
2.a) Seneca, De otio: from Seneca, La fermezza del saggio. La vita ritirata, introduzione, traduzione e note di N.Lanzarone, Milano, Rizzoli (BUR) 2001. - Lessons of the course will be integrated by the International Seminar Seneca e le scienze naturali (14.11.2007)..
2.b. the following reading is also suggested: A.Traina-G.Bernardi Perini, Propedeutica al latino universitario, Pàtron, Bologna 1998, chapters I-VI.
N.B. Authors and texts: the complete list of the texts requested for the examination will be given out at the end of the course (see web page above)
Students of "archivistico, artistico, musicale (6cfu)", are also requested to read Seneca's Troades in translation.

Teaching methods

Lectures in class;
Seminars  (where individual research will be discussed and essays and tests corrected).

Assessment methods

Viva voce examination, which will test:
- the knowledge of the literary history,
- the ability of understanding and set the studied texts in their historical and literary environment
- the main linguistic (phonetics, morphology and syntax), trough reading and translating from the Latin texts dealt with in class and listed in the program. 

Teaching tools

1. Online teaching materials: (see site above); handouts with the same content will be distributed in class
2. Seminars devoted to the introduction to the bases of the Latin language (phonetics, morphology and syntax), for beginners;
3. Seminar devoted to Seneca and the science (14.11.2007): lessons of proff. M.Beretta, F.R. Berno, A. De Vivo, H. Hine, H. Hirai, D. Lehoux, P. Parroni, E. Romano.

Links to further information

http://www2.classics.unibo.it/Didattica/LatBC/latbc.htm

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Citti