HISTORY OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE

The course of HISTORY OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE (alone = 6 CFU or as part of LATIN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, 12 CFU) falls within the "Core educational activities" of the study plan of the Master's Degree Programmes in Ancient Civilisations: Literature, History and Archaeology and in Italian Philology and Literature. The course aims to refine the knowledge of linguistic history provided in the Bachelor's Degree both through a more comprehensive overview of the historical development of Latin language from the first documents to the early Romance, and through the analysis of a specific sample of texts examined in detail from a philological and historical-linguistic point of view. It also aims to strengthen students' knowledge of the linguistic history of Europe and of Italian language, the processes of linguistic change as a historical and social phenomenon, the relationship between linguistic history and political and socio-cultural history of a given context, and to increase their awareness of methods, concepts and language of historical linguistics.

The outcome of this training activity is the detailed knowledge of a selection of texts in the original language studied from a historical-linguistic point of view. This involves the ability to read, understand, translate into Italian and comment on the linguistic and historical-linguistic level the texts covered during the course, to argue independently on them in the light of the analyses proposed by the teacher and the general framework of the linguistic history of Latin learned above all from the accompanying bibliography.
Already equipped with linguistic skills of at least an intermediate level, the student should also acquire from the course a greater knowledge of the Latin language, now also approached from the point of view of historical grammar, a broader set of general linguistic knowledge and, also thanks to the independent reading exercise included in the exam program, a more secure ability to translate from Latin into Italian; at the same time, the study of the bibliography should refine his knowledge of the categories, concepts and vocabulary of historical-linguistic research.

The exam of History of the Latin Language sp. requires Latin language skills at least at an intermediate level.
ALL students who intend to take the exam are required, regardless of their previous path, to certify that they possess adequate language skills in the following ways:

1) for students enrolled in the academic year 2025-2026, access to the exam is subject to passing the LATIN TEST (MASTER'S LEVEL). In the event of failure, the student is strongly encouraged to fill in their gaps by taking the Metrics and Translation course (https://www.unive.it/data/insegnamento/582675 ) and then take the LATIN TEST (MASTER'S LEVEL) again. The result of the test (expressed as 30/30) will contribute to the grade obtained in the first of the Latin master's exams taken and passed, as described in the syllabus of each course.

2) for students enrolled up to the 2024-2025 academic year, the obligation remains to certify the possession of intermediate level Latin linguistic knowledge by taking the LATIN 2 TEST, which will be carried out for the last time in the January 2027 session. After that date, all students interested in accessing the Latin master's exams will take the test and the related exams according to the methods described on the Metrics and Translation course page and on the master's courses pages.

It is possible to take the tests in different sessions (information available at https://www.unive.it/data/insegnamento/582675 ); however, it is strongly recommended to take the test in the first available session in September, before the start of teaching activities. The course in Metrics and Translation (https://www.unive.it/data/insegnamento/582675 ), which will be held in the first semester, replaces the previous Latin Laboratory 2 also for those who are unable to pass the Latin Test 2 and need teaching support.
NB: attendance at the course is also possible for those who have not yet passed the test required for their year of enrollment.

The course will be dedicated to the historical-linguistic analysis of the Caesarian corpus, from the authentic ones ("Gallicum" libri 1-7, "Civile") to those of uncertain authorship ("Gallicum" libro 8, "Alexandrinum", "Africum", "Hispaniense"). With an eminently synchronic approach, a selection of Caesarian and pseudo-Caesarian texts will be read to comment on their linguistic facies: especially on the lexical and syntactic levels, Caesar's own puritas will be contrasted with the degradation of the "Bellum Hispaniense" and the eccentricities of the "Bellum Africum". This will allow us to appreciate an enormous variety of linguistic registers and to compare failed attempts to write good Latin in the manner of Caesar, or simply with works without particular pretensions, little more than diary notes that have been included in the corpus for reasons of historical completeness.

Stolz, Debrunner, W. A. ​​Schmid, Storia della lingua latina (4th revised and updated edition, Texts and manuals for university teaching of Latin 3). Bologna 1993.
Alternatively to point 2: J. Clackson (ed.), A Companion to the Latin Language, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, pp. 7-283).

J.N. Adams, The Bellum Africum, in: T. Reinhardt - J.N. Adams, Aspects of the Language of Latin prose, Oxford 2005, 73-96.
J.F. Gaertner – B.C. Hausburg, Caesar and the Bellum Alexandrinum, Göttingen 2013, pp. 53-73.
As an alternative to point 5: P. Militerni Della Morte, Some observations on the use of the diminutive in the Bellum Africum, «BSTudLat» 23, pp. 20-33.
J.F. Gaertner, The Corpus Caesarianum, in: L. Grillo-B. Krebs, The Cambridge Companion to the Writings of Julius Caesar, Cambridge 2017, 263-276.
J.F. Gaertner, The style of the Bellum Hispaniense and the evolution of Roman historiography, in: A. Chahoud-E. Dickey, Colloquial and literary Latin, Cambridge 2010, pp. 243-254.

[Personal readings and in the original language]
Chapters 22-23, 44-64, 94-98 of Bellum Africum (we recommend the use of C. Cioffi, La guerra d’Africa, Milan 2022, with related commentary notes).
For non-attending students, the complete reading of Bellum Africum in Italian is required.

Learning is verified through an individual oral interview during which the student must demonstrate that he or she is able to read, translate into Italian and comment on a linguistic and historical-linguistic level some passages - partly chosen by him or her, partly proposed by the teacher - of the selection of texts covered during the course and of those indicated as personal reading; he or she must also be able to argue with independent judgment and propriety of language on the accompanying bibliography and be able to use it as an aid in the interpretation of the texts and in their evaluation on a historical-linguistic level.

oral

The exam will be considered passed with passing grade if the student demonstrates having acquired the minimum knowledge offered by the course. A grade from 24 to 30 requires the examinee to be able to rework the knowledge acquired and to move with difficulty/good/excellent independence on Latin texts of different periods and genres.

Frontal lesson, mainly based on reading, translation, linguistic and historical-linguistic commentary of the selection of texts covered in the course, and on the illustration of the related problems, tools and methods of investigation. Once the data for discussion are provided, students are involved in the discussion of certain aspects of the problem being discussed and invited to propose and argue their opinions on the matter.