AP Latin Vergil Syllabus
Texts and References
Boyd, Barbara, ed. Vergil’s Aeneid: Selections from Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, and 12.
Second edition. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 2004.
Boyd, Barbara. Vergil’s Aeneid 8 & 11: Italy & Rome. Wauconda, IL: Bolchazy-Barducci, 2006.
Virgil: The Aeneid. Translated by Robert Fagles. New York: The Penguin Group, 2006. Johnson, W.R.
Darkness Visible: A Study of Vergil’s Aeneid.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.
LaFleur, Richard & McKay, Alexander. A song of War: Readings from Vergil’s Aeneid:
Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. (MAJOR TEXT)
Lee, M. Owen. Fathers and Sons in Vergil’s Aeneid. Albany: State University of
New York, 1979.
Mandelbaum, Allen. The Aeneid of Vergil: A Verse Translation.
New York: Bantam Books, 1981.
Perkell, Christine, Ed. Reading Vergil’s Aeneid: An Interpretive Guide. Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.
Quinn, Kenneth Vergils’ Aeneid: A Critical Description. Ann Arbor:
The University of Michigan Press, 1968.
Sweet, Waldo E. Vergil’s Aeneid: Books I & II. Oak Park, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1983.
Williams, Gordon. Technique and Ideas in the Aeneid. New Haven & London:
Yale University Press, 1983.
Williams, R.D. Vergil: Aeneid I- VI. Newburyport, MA: Focus, 2004.
Williams, R.D. Vergil: Aeneid VII-XII. Newburyport, MA: Focus, 1997.
Expectations
While the instructor and students can use English translations to facilitate understanding of a
passage, the verbatim copying of a translation is prohibited as it will not prepare the students for the AP
exam. Academic honesty with regard to preparation of one’s own translations is a foundation of the
course.
The instructor requires that students enter the classroom in a timely fashion and be ready to
start the day’s lesson when the bell rings. The teacher assumes that all students will have fully and
carefully translated 15-20 lines a day. Difficulty of translation does not excuse students from coming to
class with untranslated lines. When students encounter difficulty translating their lines at home, the
instructor expects that each line’s literal definitions be expressed accurately; later, semantics will be
worked out in class. The rule to abide by for translation is as follows: “As literal as possible, as free as
necessary.” Students will read and discuss their translations with the class. Students must keep a
notebook with their translations interposed within the Latin text of Vergil. [C3- Students have frequent
opportunities to practice reading and translating as literally as possible from Latin to English the
required passages from Vergil’s Aeneid.]
Students are required to render literal translations of the following grammatical constructions:
ablatives absolute, participles, and indirect statement, independent and subordinate usages of the
subjunctive, and correct tense and voice of verbs. Students are required to render translations that
honor the case usage employed by Vergil, although impersonal verbs may be changed to personal verbs
and poetic plurals can be rendered singularly when logic dictates such singularity. Accusatives of
respects can also be translated freely. Thus, anything other than Latin idioms (e.g., accusatives of
respect, and impersonal verb constructions) should be rendered as literally as possible in order to
exhibit to the AP test grader that you, the student, have a superior knowledge of Latin grammar. [C4Students have frequent opportunities to practice written analysis and critical interpretation of Vergil’s
Aeneid, including appropriate references to the use of stylistic and metrical techniques by Vergil.]
In addition to literal translations, students must practice sight translations frequently in order to
perform well on the multiple choice questions based on three sight reading passages and the
syllabus-based passage. There are the following seven different types of questions found on the multiple
choice section: translation, comprehension, grammar, reference to a specific person, place, or event
mentioned in the text, figures of speech, metrics and background. Because macrons are not provided,
students must readily recognize syntax and word choice. Students will learn to approach their daily
reading assignments as sight readings. In time, students will do as much decision making as possible
without references. Students will have access to the types of questions on the multiple-choice section
and will hone their skills for proficiency. [C6- The course provides frequent practice in reading Latin at
sight.]
Students must scan dactylic hexameter, fully recognizing caesurae, elisions, and enjambment. In
addition, students will memorize and recite short passages exhibiting knowledge of the sonorous and
dramatic value of Vergil’s meter.
The instructor will test student’s grasp of rhetorical and poetic devices (chiasmus, zeugma,
metonymy, alliteration, word picture, etc.) by means of a test in which students define those terms.
Rhetorical and poetic devices will be emphasized in class discussions and in student journals. Finally,
students will be expected to properly identify these devices on tests.
Students are also expected to keep a weekly journal with their own reflections about the
passages read and discussed during the week. Notebook entries should be written in a style that reflects
the type of interpretive and analytical essays that AP graders want students to write on the AP exam.
Therefore, notebook essays should strictly adhere, or be grounded only in the text being discussed.
Therefore, there are to be no digressions in notebook essays that have no relationship to the text being
reflected upon. In both notebook essays and test essays, students should quote Latin lines or phrases to
support their analyses. These quotes should be accurately paraphrased or translated according to the
accepted style of citation on the AP exam. These quotes should come from the beginning, middle, and
end of the passage(s) that are being scrutinized.
Students are expected to read the Aeneid in translation during the summer. They will use David
West’s prose translation. Upon entry into AP Vergil, students will be tested on their general knowledge
of the epic. The instructor will impart Homeric heroic ideals so that students can understand Vergil’s
conception of the ideal Roman hero and Homer’s conception of the ideal Greek Hero. Students will be
expected to know the role played by specific characters of the Aeneid. Throughout the course, the
teacher will bring in passages of the Illiad and the Odyssey to facilitate students’ knowledge of the
Odyssean (books 1-6) and Iladiac books (7-12) of the Aeneid.
The instructor will help students understand the Augustan Participate and its concomitant
architecture and literature and how they reflect a Roman sense of moral superiority and the right to
rule. Students will also learn how the art, architecture, and literature of the Augustan Age helped the
Emperor Augustus foster a sense of unity and empire after a century of constant civil war in the Roman
world, i.e., the Social Wars, the civil strife perpetrated by Marius, Sulla, Caesar, Pompey, and, finally,
Augustus’ defeat of Mark Antony. [C5- The course examines the historical, social, cultural, and political
context of Vergil’s Aeneid.] It is imperative that the instructor has read the most current AP Latin course
description.
Assessment
Notebook 20% (literal translations interposed within the text of the Aeneid and short and long practice
essays)
Daily Assessment 20% (Teacher will grade daily lines, ensuring that grammatical structures are rendered
in accordance with AP guidelines. Sight translation exercises will include multiple choice questions.)
Tests 40%
Midterm 20%
Pacing for the year and a further discussion of daily class activities
Required Reading of the Aeneid in Latin:
Book I, Lines 1-519
Book II lines 1-56, 199-297, 469-566, and 735-805
Book IV lines 1-488, 642-705
Book VI lines 1-211, 450-476, and 847-901
Book X 420-509
Book XII 791-842, 887-952
[C2- The course is structured to enable students to complete the required reading list, as delineated in
the AP Latin Course Description.] Total Number of Lines 1,856. The rest of the Aeneid is read in English
translation.
The instructor of this course will strive to follow a pace whereby students translate 15 lines a
day. Students will work on these lines in class in pairs or by themselves. Most students will need to
spend 30 minutes a night (or more) to complete these lines. Since class lasts for 55 minutes, half of the
class will be devoted to discussion of the previous night’s lines. This daily discussion will focus on a literal
translation of the lines, emphasizing case usage, grammatical forms (participles, gerunds, ablatives
absolute, historical presents, accusatives of respect, syncopated forms, infinitives of exclamation, etc.),
subjunctive usage, indirect statement and other important grammatical constructions. Also, the teacher
will lead students to a better understanding during class discussions of how poetic / rhetorical devices
and meter contribute to the imagery and drama of the epic. [C4- Students have frequent opportunities
to practice written analysis and critical interpretation of Vergil’s Aeneid, including appropriate
references to the use of stylistic and metrical techniques by Vergil.]
In the beginning of the year, 10 lines a day will be translated. However, once students become
faster at translating, 15 lines a day will be the daily assignment. This pace will allow us to take a test
every 200 lines, take a mid-term, and a final. We should have 3/4 weeks to review for the exam before
AP testing starts. It is this instructor’s experience that it is best if students finish the translations for this
course by April 1st classes. The fifteen- lines- a-day pace ensures that we cross the finish line by April 1.
Students are expected to meet with the instructor and their classmates for after-school readings
in English and in Latin at least once a week. This will allow us to have in-depth discussions of the overall
composition of the Aeneid.