INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS

            Latin III is intended to complete the student’s knowledge of grammar and vocabulary with practice in reading extended Latin passages, both prose and poetry. It is our hope that students will continue in senior year with an Advanced Placement course and exam for college credit, either Vergil’s Aeneid or the more general “Latin Literature”.

At the end of this course, you will

• know the basics of the Latin language, as well as their applicability to analogous features in English and other languages.
• be able to read Latin with ease and enjoyment, which was the point of all that hard work!
• understand why Latin has served as the basis of education in the Western tradition for two millennia.

NEEDS AND RESOURCES

Required Background

To successfully complete this course, you must 

• know by memory enough vocabulary and inflections to do without tables.
• be able to read Latin of moderate difficulty at sight.
• understand the myriad strands that unite us to our linguistic and cultural past.

Required Materials

To successfully complete this course, you will need the following books:

• Wheelock’s Latin, 6^th edition revised by Richard LaFleur. HarperResource, 2005
• Freundlich, Workbook in Latin Two Years. AMSCO School Publications, 1965.
• Julius Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul. Penguin, 1983. (second semester)

COURSE SCHEDULE

Generally we will devote the first semester to reviewing and completing our study of the basics of the language, and the second term to reading passages from Roman authors, principally Julius Caesar. There will be quizzes at least weekly, and quarterly exams, along with occasional special events such as a museum trip and guest lecturers. A particular focus will be ancient warfare and politics, their nature and mutual relations, with special attention to the Persian Wars, the structure of the Roman army, the categories of oligarchy, democracy and republic, and Julius Caesar’s career. Multimedia and video aids will be used as appropriate. In the second semester, the student will research and present to the class a topic of his choice which falls within the above subjects.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

General Rules:

Students are expected to arrive to class on time, with pen, pencil, textbook(s), and paper; failure to do so will be met with an academic detention after school, as will incomplete homework. Any student arriving late will be expected to furnish a pass explaining his tardiness. There is no reason other than illness for being excused from a class. Civilized behavior is assumed at all times; gentlemen wait for each other to speak, and show respect at all times for themselves, for each other, and for the staff.

Grading Policies:

Homework will be assigned daily, and this will count significantly towards the student’s average; so will frequent short quizzes, some unannounced. The philosophy of this course is that frequent practice and testing in small units is not only an effective way to learn, but also the most accurate mode for the teacher to assay a student’s progress. The final grade will consist of the two semester averages (40% each) plus the final exam (20%).