LH2: Overview

Image: an illustration of the ceremonial tombs outside of the gates of Rome.

Overview: Latin Historians 2

Nostri coniugii memor vive, ac vale!
Live, mindful of our marriage, and be well!
Augustus, to his wife Livia, on his death bed.
Reported by Suetonius in De Vita Caesarum - Divus Augustus.

Introduction

In the previous module, we talked about two types of history: the annal and the monograph. Annals presented a general view of history, focusing on covering history from a starting point to an endpoint. Monographs, instead, focused on a single event or person (the modern biography arises from this form).

We are going to use this module as a sort of monograph on one particular figure in Roman history: Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. In doing so, we are going to read about Augustus from three different sources: Suetonius, Eutropius, and then Augustus himself. Pay attention to the different stylistic choices of each author: Suetonius was writing a monograph, Eutropius an annal (his writing on Augustus is just one brief mention in a much larger work), and Augustus an auto-biography/curriculum vitae.

Study Guide

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.

Essential Questions

  1. What is the difference between fabricated and authentic Latin?
  2. What made a Roman great?
  3. What were Augustus' major accomplishments?
  4. What was Augustus' legacy?

Key Terms

  1. Subjunctive Mood - A mood covering possibility, wishes, and various other specialized constructions.
  2. 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 that indicate five characteristics - person, number, tense, voice, and mood. It additionally has non-finite uses (infinitive, participle, gerund).
  3. Person- The point of view of the subject, 1st, 2nd or 3rd person.
  4. Number- Singular or Plural.
  5. Tense- The time of action of the verb.
  6. Conjugation- A family of verbs.
  7. Voice- Active or Passive.
  8. Mood- How the verb is used in a sentence: Indicative (used for statements and questions), Imperative (used for commands), Subjunctive (used for wishes, hopes, and potential or possible situations).
  9. Principal parts- The essential forms of a Latin verb that provide verb stems.
  10. Verb stem- The basic form of a verb on which endings will be added. There are two main stems: present and perfect. Stems are obtained from the principal parts.
  11. Present system- System of tenses formed on the present stem. Tenses are present, imperfect, and future.
  12. Perfect system- System of tenses formed on the perfect and the perfect participle stems.  Tenses are perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect.
  13. Sequence of Tenses - The method of determining what tense a subjunctive verb should use in a dependent clause.
  14. Dependent Subjunctive Use - A subjunctive verb used in a dependent clause.
  15. Indirect Question - A reported question, rather than a directly stated one.
  16. Indirect Command - A reported command, rather than a directly stated one.
  17. Fabricated Latin - Latin that is written by modern Latinists to help support the study of Latin.
  18. Authentic Latin - Latin that was written by historical figures for the purpose of creating literature or passing on information.
  19. Roman Empire - The final period of ancient Roman history (27 BCE - 476 CE) which was ruled by an Emperor. During the empire, Rome greatly expanded its borders under the leadership of powerful emperors like Augustus and Hadrian.
  20. Res Publica - Latin for republic.  Literally, it means public matter.

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