Spring

This course will explore the history of the manuscript book: how it was made, papyrus and parchment, the different scripts used to copy texts and how they developed from the Roman Republic to the High Middle Ages. The class will meet in the Regenstein Library and students will be able to work with manuscripts there and in the Newberry Library, as well as with digitised manuscripts. By mastering the foundational types of writing, the students will develop skills for reading all Latin-based scripts, including those used for vernacular languages. In addition to learning how to transcribe different scripts we shall consider how to date scripts, who commissioned and copied manuscripts, and how they were read. What were the features of a manuscript culture and how was it different from our own experience of reading?

One of our best sources for the political, cultural, economic, and religious history of antiquity are texts written on stone or other durable materials (inscriptions). In this course, we will study a variety of inscriptions (laws, treaties, curses, epitaphs, dedications, etc.) dating to the period between the death of Alexander the Great and the promulgation of the Constitutio Antoniniana (323 BCE – 212 CE). By examining selected examples of various types of inscriptions, we will explore a range of topics: war and international treaties; death and emotions; women, children, and enslaved people; economy and commerce.

This course is a practical introduction to the styles of classical Latin prose. After a brief and systematic review of Latin syntax, we combine regular exercises in composition with readings from a variety of prose stylists. Our goal is to increase the students' awareness of the classical artists' skill and also their own command of Latin idiom and sentence structure.  

The Practice of Carolingian Saints’ Tales. Spoken “Lingua Romana rustica” departed from canonical Ancient Latin long before the late eighth century. But at this time the renewed study of the Classics and grammar soon prompted scholars and poets to update the stories of their favorite saints and to inscribe some for the first time. We shall examine examples of ninth-century Carolingian “réécriture” and of tandem new hagiography in both prose and verse by authors such as Lupus of Ferrières, Marcward of Prüm, Wandalbert of Prüm, Hildegar of Meaux, and Heiric of Auxerre. All source readings in Classical Latin adapted to new Carolingian purposes, which we shall also explore historically in their own right.

Latin reading will focus on Book 8 of the Aeneid together with selected passages from other books (especially 1, 6, 10, and 12). The remainder of the epic will be read in translation. Topics will include the representation of Augustus, civil war, vengeance and clemency, and whether the poem envisages Rome's refoundation under the new leader as leading to a more secure future. 

This course is a reading of selections from a major monument of Roman literature, such as Vergil’s Aeneid. There will be discussion of the relationship between language and literary art, and the legacy of the work or works studied.

This course continues the study of basic Latin. Course work involves reading Latin, translating from Latin into English and vice versa, and study of grammar and vocabulary. Throughout the course, students will encounter authentic Latin text. Students who complete this course will be able to track ideas across at least a paragraph of text, and will be ready to move into the intermediate sequence (LATN 20100-20200-20300).

We read the text of the historian in Greek and contextualize his contribution to the classical period, with some discussion of his perspectives on the past, people, and artifacts he records.

This course is a close reading of selections from Homer, with an emphasis on language, meter, and literary tropes.

This course continues the study of basic Ancient Greek. Course work involves reading practice, presentational writing, and formal study of grammar and vocabulary. Throughout the course, students will encounter authentic Ancient Greek text. Students who complete this course will be able to track ideas across at least a paragraph of text, and will be ready to move into the intermediate sequence (GREK 20100-20200-20300).