Middle and High School students who want to learn the basics of the Latin language participate in this introductory level online learning experience in preparation for reading great works of Latin literature and joining one of our upper level Reading Latin courses.

Students entering 8th through 12th grades participate in this Level 1 Latin introductory program designed for students who have no prior experience studying Latin. Students with up to one year of academic work in Latin may also join to review core vocabulary and grammar.  In this class, students learn the first two noun declensions, all active indicative verb forms, and some pronoun forms. They also are introduced to fundamental Latin syntax such as verb-noun agreement, case functions, and verb and noun characteristics, as well as core vocabulary. Students apply this grammar, syntax, and vocabulary by reading adapted Latin passages from such Roman authors as Cicero. At the end of the two weeks, students are given the chance to read short, unadapted Latin passages.

Students entering 8th through 12th grades join us for this Level 2 advanced beginner Latin program designed for students who have already studied Latin for one year but still require more core vocabulary and grammar in order to proficiently read unadapted Latin texts.  In this Level 2 course, students reinforce Latin grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Adding onto the forms learned in Level 1, students learn the last three noun declensions, passive indicative verb forms, and more pronoun forms.  Additionally, they dive further into Latin syntax and continue their memorization of core Latin vocabulary.  At the end of the two weeks, students finish this course with the necessary skills to proficiently read and discuss some adapted and unadapted Latin passages from such Roman authors as Ovid and Cicero.

Students entering 8th through 12th grades join us for this Level 3 intermediate Latin program designed for students who have already studied Latin for one to two years and are now ready to move beyond the fundamentals. Adding onto the forms learned in Level 1 and Level 2, students work on learning all forms of the Latin verb system in all tenses, voices, and moods. Emphasis is placed on the uses of the subjunctive mood, participle forms and their uses, and other key subordinate clause formations and syntax. Students continue to apply this morphology and syntax by reading and discussing unadapted Latin passages from such Roman authors as Ovid, Cicero, and Vergil. At the end of the two weeks, students are able to read authentic Latin texts with greater proficiency.

The combined coursework of Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 is dedicated to moving students beyond the basics of the Latin language. This overall Introduction to Latin program offers students an opportunity to hone their skills quickly through intensive personal attention, one-on-one help, and a high student/teacher ratio.

Throughout each session, students and their instructors read, translate and discuss Latin literature in an interactive environment. Given that participants join us from a variety of schools and academic backgrounds, we begin each class with a brief review of Latin grammar. We then analyze a selection of texts from both a grammatical and literary perspective, engaging in such topics as the significance of word choices, rhetorical devices, meter, and intertextuality. Students engage with aspects of art, literary traditions, and ancient history that relate to the themes of the Latin passages we read. Guided by our scholars who are highly trained in ancient studies, mythology, and history, we take students on virtual tours of the treasures of ancient Italy.  Group discussions focus on the historical context and broader themes of classical culture in the Mediterranean Basin and are integrated with the Latin curriculum. At least one year of reading original (or slightly adapted) Latin texts is required.

This course is designed for dedicated upper-level students in Latin (rising high school juniors and seniors, recent grads/gap year students). Modeled after our amazing residential program in Tuscany, this online course focuses on ancient texts that explore underworld narratives and prophecies: Latin students read Aeneid 6 — Aeneas’ famous landing in Italy, his meeting with the Sybil of Cumae, and his journey to the underworld; students also read Odyssey 11 in English, which tells of Odysseus’ νέκυια to hear the prophecy of Tiresias. Additional related texts may be read. The primary goal of this course is to advance students’ reading speed and comprehension of Latin syntax as well as to engage in discussions of the parallel texts. We investigate how Vergil appropriates Homer’s underworld, and how we understand Homer’s underworld, mediated through Vergil’s text.

Students entering 8th through 12th grades join us for this Level 2 advanced beginner Latin program designed for students who have already studied Latin for one year but still require more core vocabulary and grammar in order to proficiently read unadapted Latin texts.  In this Level 2 course, students reinforce Latin grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Adding onto the forms learned in Level 1, students learn the last three noun declensions, passive indicative verb forms, and more pronoun forms.  Additionally, they dive further into Latin syntax and continue their memorization of core Latin vocabulary.  At the end of the two weeks, students finish this course with the necessary skills to proficiently read and discuss some adapted and unadapted Latin passages from such Roman authors as Ovid and Cicero.

Exegi monumentum aere perennius; “I have finished a monument more lasting than bronze”, Horace writes in Ode 3.30. He suggests (and hopes) that his oeuvre will affect generations to come. What effect did voices like Horace’s have on our understanding of the eternal city? Whose voices helped shape ancient Rome? What did these voices omit? Whose voices were left out? In this course, we explore these questions through our readings of Roman poetry and prose as we delve into texts by Horace, Catullus, Vergil, Ovid, Livy, and Cornelia. We also look at Latin inscriptions, and we consider other ways the voices of antiquity have been passed down to us.

This two-week, upper-level Latin reading program is an intensive preparation for the Latin AP in which students read excerpts from Caesar’s Gallic War and Vergil’s Aeneid. Given that both Caesar and Vergil present stylized characters and events that reflect Roman preoccupations and values, we also talk and read about Roman notions of the self and identity and ways that Romans would perform and reaffirm their social identity and status through their habits, dress, gestures, and more. Brief excerpts from Quintilian, Plutarch, Seneca, and Tacitus highlight the ways in which a carefully cultivated public self-led to training in visual and verbal styles that were then presented as ‘natural’ qualities. We also look at Roman art as another way that individuals could craft and shape their public image.