Università Roma Tre

The course ‘Latin language and literature’ is aimed at giving a thorough and integral knowledge of some important Latin authors and literary works, read in original and explicated as regards both the language and the contents. It consists of:
(1) A number of lectures about the so-called ‘Literary Space’ of ancient Rome, minded in particular (a) to underline the links between literature and politics (and between men of letters and society) in Rome, (b) to illustrate tipology and development of the literary genres in Rome, (c) to understand the range of different levels and functions of the latin written texts. Problems of preservation and transmission of the corpus of the latin classics will be envisaged also, even as regards their medieval and modern heritage.
(2) Some lectures about main features of latin language.
(3) Setting, reading, italian translation and commentary of:
- (a) Lucretius, De rerum natura, book I;
- (b) Tacitus, De origine et situ Germanorum;
- (c) Virgilius, Aeneis, book VI.

As for (1):
- G.B. Conte, Letteratura latina, Firenze (ed. Le Monnier, 2002 and reprints), parts I-IV (from the Beginnings to the II sec. C.E.).
- E. Norden, La letteratura romana, Bari (Laterza, 1958): only the appendix titled «Le fonti antiche», available on line at the url of the course.
- A hand-out for the lectures (“Profilo di storia della letteratura latina. Testi di supporto (dalle Origini alla morte di Silla)”, and further bibliography and tools about the texts in the syllabus will be given during the course, and made available on line at the url of the course.

As for (2):
- R. Oniga, Latin. A Linguistic Introduction. Edited & Translated by N. Schifano (ed. Oxford University Press, 2014).

As for (3):
- Lucrezio, Le leggi dell’Universo (La natura, Libro I), a cura di L. Piazzi, con testo a fronte (ed. Marsilio, 2011).
- Tacito, La Germania, commento di S. Mariotti (ed. Loescher, 1990). – A .pdf copy of this book, currently not in print, will be made available on line at the url of the course.
- Publio Virgilio Marone, Eneide, traduzione a cura di A. Fo, note di F. Giannotti (ed. Einaudi, 2010). – In order to prepare the book VI of the Aeneid a .pdf copy of the text and commentary by R. Sabbadini & C. Marchesi [ed. Loescher, 1967] will be made available on line at the url of the course.