LATIN LITERATURE

The course of LATIN LITERATURE falls within the "Core educational activities" or the "Interdisciplinary activities" of the study plan of the Master's Degree Programmes in Ancient Civilisations: Literature, History and Archaeology and in Italian Philology, Linguistics and Literature. It aims to refine the student's knowledge of language and style, authors, genres and works of Latin literature and of their critical problems, and contributes to enrich the knowledge of western cultural history and literary traditions, of methods and tools of literary history and philology and of their specialized languages.

The outcome of this course would be the detailed knowledge of a work or of a selection of Latin literary texts in the original language, and of their historical and interpretative problems in the framework of the contemporary scientific debate. Students should be able to read, understand, translate into Italian and comment on the historical-literary and stylistic plan the texts treated during the course, to discuss the interpretation proposed by the teacher and the bibliography, to contextualize authors and works studied during the course in the cultural and literary tradition of classical antiquity. Students should then be able to repeat the same type of analysis, applying the methods learned during the course, on a further sample of texts assigned as personal readings.
Already equipped with linguistic skills at least intermediate level, students should also acquire through the course a greater familiarity with the Latin literary language, a broader set of linguistic knowledge and a more confident ability in translation from Latin into Italian; at the same time, the study of the bibliography should refine the students' knowledge of the concepts and critical vocabulary of philology and literary history, and their ability to discuss literary topics and texts.

The LATIN LITERATURE examination requires at least an intermediate level of Latin language competence.
All students intending to take the examination, regardless of their previous academic background, must certify their linguistic proficiency through the following procedures:

1) Students enrolled in a Master's degree at Ca' Foscari from the 2025–2026 academic year onwards
For these students, access to the examination is conditional on passing the TEST DI LATINO associated with the Metrica e traduzione course (https://www.unive.it/data/insegnamento/582675 ).
As part of all advanced Latin examinations at Ca' Foscari, this preliminary test is designed to assess the minimum linguistic competence required for advanced Latin studies. The test result (on a 30-point scale) will contribute to the final assessment of the Master's degree examinations, as specified in each course syllabus.

2) Students enrolled in a Master's degree at Ca' Foscari up to the 2024–2025 academic year
For these students, certification of intermediate-level Latin competence remains compulsory and must be obtained by passing the TEST DI LATINO 2. The test can be taken on multiple dates throughout the academic year (further information available at this https://www.unive.it/data/insegnamento/582675 ). However, it is strongly recommended that students take the test in the earliest available session in September, before the start of the didactic period. Students who do not pass the test will have the opportunity to attend the Metrica e traduzione course (https://www.unive.it/data/insegnamento/582675 ), which replaces the previous Laboratorio di latino 2: This course is designed to support the enhancement of students' language skills and is scheduled for the first semester. The final session of the TEST DI LATINO 2 will take place in January 2026. After this date, all students wishing to take the exam must follow the procedures outlined on this page.

NB: Course attendance is possible also for students who have not yet taken the test.

"Primus Romana Crispus in historia".
Rewarded by this judgment of Martial (XIV 191,2), placed on a par with Thucydides by Quintilian, who praises his "immortal rapidity" of style (inst. X), having become a canonical author and, together with Cicero, a model of literary prose in the culture of the late antique school, Q. Sallustius Crispus is the first Latin historiographer whose writings have been preserved and remains among the greatest of classical antiquity. A man of Caesar overwhelmed by scandals and marginalized after the death of his leader, while the new leaders of the party drag the res publica into a second triumviral season and towards the inevitable autocratic solution, Sallustius turns to look severely and thoughtfully at the events of the last century, seeking in them the causes and signs of the crisis now at its peak. The course focuses on an anthological reading of the two Sallustian monographs, which students will continue independently by reading a further selection of their own choice.

1) Notes from the lessons.
2) A. La Penna, Storiografia di senatori e storiografia di letterati, in: Id., Aspetti del pensiero storico latino, Einaudi, PBE, 1978 e ristampe, pp. 43-104.
3) R. Syme, Sallustio, trad. it. Brescia, Paideia, 1968, capp. I-V e XIII-XIV.
4) A. La Penna, Sallustio e la "rivoluzione" romana, Milano, Feltrinelli, 1968, cap. VI.
5) Personal reading: a section chosen by the student from the Bellum Catilinae or the Bellum Iugurthinum (about 15 pages of the Oxford edition of L.D. Reynolds, 1991) among the parts not covered during the course, read in the original language with the help of a bibliography agreed with the teacher.

Learning is verified through an oral interview in which the students must demonstrate to be able to read, understand, translate into Italian and comment on the stylistic and historical-literary level some passages of the work or selection of texts which has been read by the teacher or assigned as personal reading; students must also be able to discuss the bibliography and to use it in the interpretation of texts.

oral

The following skills are assessed in the interview, in progressive order of incidence: 1) the correctness of the reading of the Latin (accents included) and of the Italian translation (from 1 to 15/30), 2) the accuracy and completeness of the information in the commentary on the text and in the discussion of the bibliography (from 1 to 10/30), 3) the precision in the use of historical-literary categories and stylistic, rhetorical vocabulary, etc. (from 1 to 3/30), 4) the appropriateness, mastery and correctness of the oral presentation (from 1 to 2/30).-2)
For students enrolled in the academic year 2025-2026: if the LATIN LITERATURE exam is the first of the Master's degree Latin examinations, the evaluation obtained in the TEST DI LATINO also contributes to the final grade (see above, § Prerequisites).

Traditional lessons, mainly based on reading, translation, linguistic, stylistic and historical-literary commentary of the texts covered by the course, with illustration of the related critical problems. During the lessons students are involved in the discussion of specific topics or critical problems, of the theses supported in the bibliography and are invited to propose and explain their own opinions.