The principal objective of teaching Latin is, by means of carefully graded and attractively presented courses, to enable students both to enjoy a critical understanding of the great works of Latin literature in the original language and to develop an understanding of the relevance of ancient world to our own. A secondary aim is to provide a basic ability to handle sources in the original Latin for students in the disciplines of Ancient history, classical civilisation and other disciplines throughout the faculty. Instruction is also given in medieval Latin.
Two first-year-level sequences in classical Latin are offered: one for students with no previous knowledge of the language; the other for those with a pass in VCE (HSC Group 1) Latin (or its equivalent).
Students with a particular interest in medieval Latin may, after completing LAT1010, take the medieval Latin unit LAT1030; this is strongly recommended for students considering enrolment in medieval or Renaissance courses offered by the Department of History or the Centre for European Studies.
At second and third-year levels students are introduced to a representative selection of the most important Latin authors.
Translation from English into Latin may be used as a method of reinforcing language understanding but will not form part of the assessment.
Major sequence
A major sequence in Latin consists of:
(a) for those with no previous knowledge of Latin
First year
LAT1010 and LAT1020/LAT1030
Second year
LAT2390 and LAT2410
Third year
LAT3210/LAT3230 and LAT3220/LAT3240 and LAT3470/LAT3490.
(b) for those who have passed VCE (HSC Group 1)
First year
LAT1070 and LAT1080
Second year
LAT2210/LAT2230 and LAT2220/LAT2240
Third year
LAT3210/LAT3230 and LAT3220/LAT3240 and LAT3470/LAT3490.
Candidates for a major may substitute one second or third-year ancient history or classical civilisation unit for a Latin unit at the same level.
Minor sequence
A minor sequence consists of what is listed above for first and second year. In second year a candidate may, with the approval of the head of department, substitute a second-year ancient history or classical civilisation unit for a Latin unit.
At second and third-year levels Language and literature A and B alternate with Language and literature C and D. At third-year level Literature A is offered concurrently with Language and literature A and B, and in the alternate year Literature B is offered with Language and literature C and D.
Two additional eight-point units, LAT2470 (Literature A) and LAT2490 (Literature B), are offered in alternate years for students who wish to do additional work. Both these units are strongly recommended to intending honours students.
Honours
The honours year is LAT4300.
Combined honours courses in Latin together with ancient Greek, ancient history, French, Spanish or linguistics are available. For Latin and ancient Greek see the entry for ancient Greek.
Graduate work
The department can provide supervision in most areas of Latin studies, except archaeology.
First-year level
Coordinator: A S McDevitt
* LAT1010 Introductory Latin 1
* LAT1020 Introductory Latin 2
* LAT1030 Introductory Latin (medieval option)
* LAT1070 Language and literature 1
* LAT1080 Language and literature 2
Second-year level
Coordinator: A C Romano
* LAT2210 Language and literature A
* LAT2220 Language and literature B
* LAT2390 Intermediate Latin A
* LAT2410 Intermediate Latin B
* LAT2470 Literature A
Third-year level
Coordinator: A C Romano
* LAT3210 Language and literature A
* LAT3220 Language and literature B
* LAT3470 Literature A
Fourth-year level
Coordinator: A C Romano
Fourth-year honours
Students taking a combined fourth-year honours course in Latin and another approved discipline should, in consultation with the department, enrol for two of the following, while students who have been granted special permission to complete fourth-year honours in Latin over two years should enrol in two of the following subjects in each of the two years:
* LAT4320 Prescribed texts
* LAT4340 Language
* LAT4360 Special study
* LAT4380 Dissertation
Subjects