History of Latin Letters                                                AMDG                                               Edward J. Vodoklys, S.J.
MWF 1-1:50 p.m. Stein 212, then Fenwick 419                                              Fenwick 408 (3494) email:evodokly
Office Hours MW 2-3:Th. 3-5

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COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS:

• Introduce students to the rich epistolary tradition of Classical antiquity and the Medieval eras. We will read in Latin  a selection of letters by the Classical Roman authors: Cicero, Horace, Seneca, Pliny, as well as from representatives of the Second Sophistic including:  Symmachus & St. Ambrose,  St. Augustine & St Jerome, and Alcuin
• Examine exempla of epistolary sub-genres:consolatio, literary, theological, moral epistles.
• Investigate context of historical, political, social, economic, religious trends & institutions.
• develop translation skills by close analysis of the Latin grammar with particular attention paid to the authors? varied styles and levels of diction.
• read approximately 150 lines of Latin per week

COURSE FORMAT AND GRADING:

• Classes will include lecture on background, recitation of translation, and discussions led by students on basis of texts and outside reading for particular unit.
• Each student will also be expected to read a biography of Cicero in anticipation of a general discussion day on Monday February 2 and prior to the midterm exam on March 4and similar secondary material for successive discussion days
• Spot grammar quizzes will cover material to be translated on a given day
• Midterm exam will cover the material from Cicero?s and Pliny?s correspondence and include the translation of  3 passages (2 seen and 1 unseen) plus an essay developed on the basis of the class discussion and student?s reading of a biography.
• each student will be asked to choose one of the other authors as the focus of a research project related to the epistolary tradition which will be due at the end of the semester
• Final exam covering material from the Second Sophistic and Medieval period will follow the same basic format as the midterm with the essay in the form of a creative response to a letter from the correspondence of the author chosen for the research project

GRADING PROCEDURE:

• CLASS RECITATION AND PARTICIPATION/QUIZZES :    20%
• MIDTERM EXAMINATION:     25%
• RESEARCH PROJECT      30%
• FINAL EXAMINATION      25%

TEXTS: REQUIRED
Hooper, F. & M. Schwartz Roman Letters :History from a Personal Point of View,
Detroit: Wayne State, 1991 = RL
Shackleton-Bailey, D.R., ed.. Cicero: Select Letters: Cambridge U. Press. 1980. =C
Sherwin-White, A.N., ed. Fifty Letters of Pliny: 2nd edition, Oxford. 1969. =P
Kenney, E.J. , ed. Ovid, Heroides XVI-XXI. Cambridge U. Press. =O
Costa, C.D.N. Seneca 17 Letters, Westminster: Aris and Phillips Ltd. 1988.
Second Sophistic and Medieval texts (provided via xerox at nominal cost) History of Latin Letters