Instructor: Patricia Salzman-Mitchell
Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
California State University, Chico
Office: Trinity Hall 139
Telephone: 898-5481
e-mail: psalzman-mitchell@csuchico.edu

COURSE SUMMARY:
This introductory course in Latin Language and Culture contributes to the University's strong commitment to General Education, Liberal Arts and Humanities Programs, as well as a to the needs of the Department of Foreign languages. The course benefits students from a broad spectrum of disciplines, and is particularly instrumental for those interested in History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, English, Modern Languages and the Minor in Classical Civilization. This class provides both a useful philological tool and a cultural and literary introduction to the Roman World. Students of languages in general profit from the study of Latin, as it improves linguistic ability and enhances grammatical and etymological awareness.

Latin 001 is a 4.0 hours credit course and there are no pre-requisites for the class. It follows the method of the Oxford Latin Course (OLC), by James Morwood and Maurice Balme. This textbook offers a method of learning Latin based on reading from the beginning. Students are encouraged to acquire vocabulary and grammatical concepts through the reading of texts, with the aim of enabling them to acquire reading ability in Latin in a short time. Through simple passages the students are introduced to cultural and literary topics, including Horace's life, the wonderings of Aeneas and the Trojan War. Exercises comprise both translation into English and basic composition in Latin. The book is accompanied by a cassette, which will also be used in class. The pronunciation used is restituta, following the English school. This pronunciation tries to reproduce the sounds of Classical Latin as opposed to the later church pronunciation.

Latin 001 is envisioned as the first part of a series of courses, where the first semester covers the OLC 1 and part of OLC 2, while Latin 002 uses the remaining chapters from OLC 2 and OLC 3. It is expected that by the end of these two semesters the student will be well equipped with all the major points of Latin grammar and syntax and with a fairly large vocabulary. In a possible Latin 003 course, we will use the Reader of the Oxford Latin Course, which provides readings from different Latin texts. Further courses will be based on the reading of original texts. Latin 001 will be supplemented with some literary texts in translation.

OBJECTIVES:
By the end of this course the student will have accomplished the following goals.

· He/She will have been introduced to the basic principles and grammatical elements of the Latin language: the five declensions, 1st and 2nd class adjectives, adverbs, time and place expressions, numbers and numerals, comparison of adjectives, superlatives, specific uses of some cases, prepositions, personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, verbs in present, imperfect, perfect and pluperfect (indicative active), infinitives and imperatives, some irregular verbs and conjunctions.

· He/She will have acquired a basic Latin vocabulary.

· The student will be able to look up words in the dictionary. This will be particularly meaningful for those students who do not plan to go beyond the first level, as they will be able to continue learning and using Latin on their own.

· He/She will have learned about some central myths and stories of Greece and Rome.

· He/She will be acquainted with the everyday life of the ancient Romans.

· He/She will be familiar with some literary texts read in translation.

· The student will be familiar with and will have used internet resources for the study of Greek, Latin and Classics.

· The student will have improved his/her etymological and grammatical awareness and will be able to think about his/her own language in a different way. 

COURSE MATERIALS:
Required Texts:

· Oxford Latin Course (Parts1 and 2).

· A good English-Latin and Latin-English dictionary.

· Virgil's Aeneid in English. Any good translation as long as it is not abridged. The student must buy it and have it read for week 4 as part of the cultural background for OLC 1, units 9 to 12.

· Course Pack with a selection of readings in translation from Latin authors. 

 Recommended Texts:

· 501 Latin Verbs, by Richard E. Prior and Joseph Wohlberg.

· A Student's Latin Grammar, Cambridge University Press, by R.M. Griffin, E. Phinney and M.R. Griffin. 

Electronic Resources:

· Perseus Project: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu

· Diotima. Materials for the Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World: http://www.uky.edu/AS/Classics/gender.html

· Classical Myth. The Ancient Sources: http://web.uvic.ca/grs/bowman/myth/

GRADES AND ASSIGNMENTS:
There will be a full-period mid-term exam, a final and a research paper on culture of approximately 2,000 words. The student will also do four quizzes and will be evaluated for participation in class and daily homework.

Grades are calculated as follows:

Participation in class and attendance: 10%
Homework: 15%
Personal dictionary: 5%
Quizzes: 15%
Research paper: 15%
Mid-Term: 20%
Final: 20%

Mid-Term and Final: They will consist of grammar and translation exercises followed by a multiple choice section on culture. The final will be comprehensive.

Research Paper: The student will choose one of the topics studied in the course, will do further research on it and turn it into a 2,000 words essay. You should submit a draft of the paper approximately two weeks before the final submission. Drafts will be returned with comments and suggestions.

Quizzes: There will be four quizzes. They will consist of multiple choice, grammar or translation exercises.

Homework: Daily homework is a very important part of the course and will be collected on Thursdays every week.

Personal dictionary: Students should keep a personal vocabulary with words they are learning in an alphabetically organised notebook. You should write down the translation, gender and declension or conjugation or the word, plus cognates and derivatives of the word in modern English or other ancient or modern languages that you are familiar with.

TENTATIVE SYLLABUS:

Week	Class	Topic
1	1/25	Introduction. Latin pronunciation and OLC 1, Chapter 1. Horace.
	1/26	Exercises and practice, OLC 1, Chapter 1.
	1/27	OLC 1, Chapter 2. The Latin case system, 1st declension. Nominative and Accusative. Women in Ancient Rome.
2	2/1	OLC 1, Chapter 3. 2nd declension. The four conjugations. The gender. Slaves and Freedmen. Watch the film Spartacus for next class.
	2/2	Exercises and practice. Discussion of Spartacus.
	2/3	OLC 1, Chapter 4. 1st and 2nd declension plurals. The Country Town Venusia.
3	2/8	OLC 1, Chapter 5. Verbs: present tense, all persons. Interrogative pronouns. Plural persons of the present tense. The Roman farmer and market day.
	2/9	Quiz #1. Exercises and practice.
	2/10	OLC 1, Chapter 6. The Infinitive. Third conjugation -io verbs. Roman education.
4	2/15	OLC 1, Chapter 7. The Ablative case. Third declension nouns and adjectives. Possum and intro. Homer and the Iliad I. For next class: find images of Paris' judgement in the web, and bring them to class. Preferably, turn them into transparencies.
	2/16	Exercises and practice. Discussion of Paris' judgement.
	2/17	OLC 1, Chapter 8. The Imperative. Prepositions. Homer and the Iliad II. Read book 22 of the Iliad in Course Pack.
5	2/22	OLC 1, Chapter 9. The genitive. Virgil and the Aeneid.
	2/23	How to look up words in the dictionary. Exercises and Practice.
	2/24	OLC 1, Chapter 10. Prepositions and cases. Neuter nouns and adjectives. The Aeneid.
6	2/29	Quiz #2. OLC 1, Chapter 11. The dative. Dido, Queen of Carthage. Aeneid 1 and 4 and iconography. For next class: read Aeneid, book 6 with special attention.
	3/1	Guest Speaker: Dr. Eugenio Frongia (Department of Foreign Languages) "Virgil and the Aeneid in the Renaissance."
	3/2	OLC 1, Chapter 12. Review of nouns and adjectives. From Aeneas to Romulus.
7	3/7	OLC 2, Chapter 13. Subordinate clauses and relative pronouns. Psyche and Cupid. Read Apuleius' story of Psyche and Cupid in Course Pack.
	3/8	Lecture in the Lab. The Olympian Gods. Iconography in the Web.
	3/9	OLC 1, Chapter 14. Demonstrative and personal pronouns. The Roman religion.
8		SPRING BREAK
9	3/21	OLC 1, Chapter 15. Volo and Nolo. Irregular imperatives. Accusative + infinitive clauses. From Monarchy to Republic
	3/22	Exercises and practice.
	3/23	OLC 1, Chapter 16. Revision. Hannibal.
10	3/28	MID-TERM EXAM
	3/29	We read a few epigrams from Martial.
	3/30	OLC 2, Chapter 17. The perfect and the Imperfect. Comitia (Elections).
11	4/4	Quiz #3. OLC 2, Chapter 18. The perfect, numerals, expressions of time. The Roman Senate (SPQR).
	4/5	Guest speaker: Dr. Yoshio Kusaba (Department of Art): "The Roman Monuments and Architecture."
	4/6	OLC 2, Chapter 19. The pluperfect, expressions of place, the locative. The city of Rome.
12	4/11	OLC 2, Chapter 20. 4th declension. Greece and Rome.
	4/12	Exercises and practice.
	4/13	OLC 2, Chapter 21. 5th declension. Cicero.
13	4/18	DRAFT OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE. OLC 2, Chapter 22. Uses of the ablative case. The games.
	4/19	Quiz #4. Video lecture.
	4/20	OLC 2, Chapter 23. Fero, further uses of the ablative case. A day at Rome.
14	4/25	OLC 2, Chapter 24. The comparison of adjectives. The Roman triumph.
	4/26	Exercises and practice.
	4/27	OLC 2, Chapter 25. Irregular superlatives, the comparison of adverbs. Into adulthood (the toga virilis and the rhetor).
15	5/2	READING SESSIONS. We read fragments of original texts.
	5/3	READING SESSIONS. We read fragments of original texts.
	5/4	RESEARCH PAPER DUE. READING SESSIONS. We read fragments of original texts.
16	5/9	REVISION AND CONSULTATION. MORE READING PRACTICE.
	5/10	REVISION AND CONSULTATION. MORE READING PRACTICE.
	5/11	REVISION AND CONSULTATION. MORE READING PRACTICE.
17	5/18	10-11.50: FINAL EXAM. PERSONAL DICTIONARY DUE.