Caesar
- Course ID:LATIN 436
- Semesters:1
- Department:Classics
- Course Rank:Honors
- Teachers:Justin Myers
Description and Objectives
This course will include a perusal and translation of the AP selections from Commentāriī Caesaris dē Bellō Gallicō (Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War).
Textbooks
Mueller, Hans-Friedrich, Caesar: Selections from his Commentāriī dē Bellō Gallicō (ISBN 978-0-86516-752-0)
Course Requirements
- To read and translate the AP selections of Caesar’s Gallic War from Books I, IV, V and VI
- To read in English the AP English selections of Caesar’s Gallic War
Course Expectations
- The student will be expected to prepare for in-class translation about 10-15 lines of Caesar’s prose writing in Latin per class meeting.
Goals for Student Learning
- The student will sharpen his skill in thinking and communicating. This skill will be acquired, as it usually is, by reading some of the sharpest thinkers and communicators the world has ever known.
- The student will have such mastery of the grammar and syntax of the language, the most important tools, e.g., lexica, reference grammars and commentaries, and the most frequently encountered vocabulary, that he will be able to read classical Latin texts as literature.
Successful Students
The students successful in this course will:
- study Latin at least fifteen minutes every day of the week
- seek extra help at the first signs of difficulty, not only from the instructor, who is available before/after school and during Mass Study Hall, but also from classmates.
Summer Assignment
In AY 2021–2022 all Advanced Latin courses will have the same summer assignment. You will receive maximum credit if you check in at the end of each month with a very brief e-mail to the instructor indicating how much of the assignment you have done so far.
Mr. Babendreier: <gbabendreier@heights.edu>
Mr. Myers: <jmyers@heights.edu>
Dr. Yaceczko: <lyaceczko@heights.edu>
A+ due dates: June 30th, July 31st, and August 31st.
B+ due date: First day of school.
1. Review essential points about advanced Latin grammar (about 20–30 pp.) in Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar, especially the following topics:
- Allen and Greenough on Infinitives (7 pp.)
- Allen and Greenough on the Sequence of Tenses (6 pp.)
- Allen and Greenough on Indirect Discourse (5 pp.)
- Allen and Greenough on Gerunds Gerundives Supines (6 pp.)
- Allen and Greenough on the Genitive (15 pp.)
- Allen and Greenough on the Dative (16 pp.)
- Allen and Greenough on the Ablative (18 pp.)
This material should be a review of what you have already covered in previous Latin courses. You should not limit yourself to these topics, but discover new topics to bring to the attention of the class on the first day of school.
2. Make at least 100 flash cards each from the word list for Vergil’s Aeneid or for Caesar’s Gallic War (the pull-out vocabulary section at the end of the book). You will make a total of two hundred (200) flash cards. While it is up to you what words you choose, you will benefit most from this assignment if you choose words that you do not already know. In other words, if you choose words like sum or et or bonus, -a, -um simply to complete the assignment, you will not benefit as much. You should choose words that help solidify your foundation.
If you do this assignment well, you will find the course, and, eventually, the AP exam and the National Latin Exam easier. If you come to class without a strong foundation in the material that this summer assignment covers, the beginning of the year will be difficult, and the rest even more so.
We will collect your summer assignment on the first day of school and grade it based on completion and effort shown (students who show their work and choose diverse words will receive higher marks).
If you do this assignment well, you will find the course, and, eventually, the AP exam and the National Latin Exam easier. If you come to class without a strong foundation in the material that this summer assignment covers, the beginning of the year will be difficult, and the rest even more so.
We will collect your summer assignment on the first day of school and grade it based on completion and effort shown (students who show their work and choose diverse words will receive higher marks).