Undergraduate Course: Late Latin: Autobiographical Narratives from the 4th and 5th Centuries AD (LATI10025)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course is centred on three of the best writers of Late Antiquity. It will focus on passages of first person narrative. Ammianus Marcellinus, one of the greatest Roman historians, tells with striking vividness of the astonishing dangers he experienced as a young army officer during the Persian invasion of AD 359; Augustine of Hippo, a brilliant rhetorician, recalls the events which led to his baptism in Milan cathedral by Ambrose in AD 387 and which therefore changed the history of Christian thought; and Rutilius Claudius Namatianus, a distinguished pagan courtier and ex-Prefect of Rome, interweaves an elegant poem describing his sea-journey home to Gaul in the autumn of AD 417 with musings on Rome's eternity and her recovery from Gothic attacks. The approach will be an interdisciplinary one, aiming to compensate for the neglect of these texts by literary Latinists but also looking at the wider historical context and implications.
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| Course description |
Not entered
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Latin 2A (LATI08011) AND
Latin 2B (LATI08012)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Minor printing expenses: the texts with some commentary will be included in a photocopied booklet. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 3 courses in Classics related subject matter(at least 2 of which should be in Latin) at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses but Elementary ot Intermediate Latin courses will not count. Students beyond Intermediate level but with less Latin than the prerequisite should consider taking either Latin 2a/2b. |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the course, students will be able to demonstrate in coursework and written examination, as well as in class discussion:
- that they have read Rutilius Namatianus and selections from Ammianus and Augustine in Latin, and have a thorough knowledge of the language, styles and content of the texts;
- that they are acquainted with the social, political and religious background;
- that they are aware of the particular problems with reading autobiography;
- and that they are aware of various modes of representing thoughts formulated in the context of one language and culture through the medium of another language in a different cultural context.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
In order for a student from outwith Classics to be enrolled on this course, contact must be made with a Course Secretary on 50 3580 in order for approval to be obtained. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Gavin Kelly
Tel: (0131 6)50 3581
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Elaine Hutchison
Tel: (0131 6)50 3582
Email: |
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