AM: Overview

Image: an illustration of Pseudolus, surrounded by pupils.

Overview: Caedes Foedissima - pars VIII

Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.
Happy is the one who could understand the cause of things.
Vergil, Georgics II, 490

Story Notes

Pseudolus has once again escaped a powerful Roman, but did he escape with his dignity? Did Pseudolus even feel confident that what he had agreed to - leaving the imperial household out of his investigation - was possible? After all, Marcellus had been a member of the imperial household! Pseudolus interpreted Livia's command as meaning simply to leave her and Tiberius alone, which he found himself easily accepting. Livia also gave him a new path to pursue: what did Julia, Marcellus' widow, have to say about any of this? While he may not have felt as protected as before, especially with Maecenas no longer helping him, he had not lost any of his desire to understand what had happened to Marcellus. Would there be some new evidence, leading Pseudolus down a new path?

Handouts: Study Guide and Reading Help 

As you progress through the module, please download and use the Study Guide Links to an external site. to assist you in your note taking. The study guide can help guide your understanding of the module and provides important practice for the concepts covered on each page. At the end of the module, you can then use the study guide as a tool to help prepare you for the module exam.

For Latin II, there will be a story told in parts, with each module telling a part of the story by presenting Latin reading passages. To successfully complete the reading for each module, please download the Reading Help Links to an external site. handout now and use it while completing the story lessons.

Essential Questions

  1. What is passive voice?
  2. How do you create a passive voice indicative verb in the present system?
  3. How do you create a passive voice indicative verb in the perfect system?
  4. How do you translate in the passive voice?
  5. What is a deponent verb?
  6. What is a semi-deponent verb?
  7. What is an irregular verb?
  8. What are the forms for irregular verbs?
  9. What Roman authors provided insight on mythology?
  10. How is the theme of love presented in Roman literature and poetry?
  11. How is our understanding of the Roman view of love shaped by Roman mythology?

Key Terms

  1. Passive Voice - a construction in which the subject/antecedent is not the agent
  2. Agent - the actor or performer of an action.  The doer.
  3. Ablative of Agent - The way in which a passive indicative verb indicates its agent.  The ablative of agent uses the preposition ab.
  4. Verb - A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is traditionally defined as a word that conveys an action or state of being. In Latin, a verb is a word that uses endings which indicate five characteristics - person, number, tense, voice and mood. It additionally has non-finite uses (infinitive, participle, gerund).
  5. Person - The point of view of the subject. 1st, 2nd or 3rd person
  6. Number - Singular or Plural
  7. Tense - The time of action of the verb
  8. Conjugation - A family of verbs
  9. Voice - Active or Passive
  10. Mood - How the verb is used in a sentence. Indicative is used for statements and questions. Imperative is used for commands. Subjunctive is used for wishes, hopes, and potential or possible situations.
  11. Principal Parts - The essential forms of a Latin verb which provide verb stems.
  12. Verb Stem - The basic form of a verb on which endings will be added.  There are three main stems, present, perfect, and perfect participle. Stems are obtained from the principal parts.
  13. Present System - A set of tenses formed on the present stem.  The tenses are present, imperfect and future.
  14. Perfect System - A set of tenses formed on the perfect stem in the active voice and on the perfect participle in the passive voice.  The tenses are perfect, pluperfect and future perfect.
  15. Irregular Verb - a verb which does not belong to any of the regular conjugations.  The irregular verbs in Latin all have an irregular 2nd principal part.
  16. Pietas - the Roman view of duty.  Pietas, or piety, is one’s duty to the gods, their country and their family.  Romans believed that piety was the most important value that one could have.
  17. Love - the standard Roman view of love tended to focus more on duty than on romance.  The Romans practiced arranged marriages, preferring marriages that would benefit the families involved, rather than those that would make the married couple happy.  However, despite this strong sense of duty, romantic love was discussed and idealized by the poets, sharply contrasting the practical view of love.
  18. Hero - the Roman view of a hero was a character who displayed pietas.  Roman heroes were those men or women who were willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good: for gods, country and family.

ALL RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.
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