Goal Fulfilled:
LATN 111, Intensive Begin Language & Culture, which I satisfactorily completed during the Fall 2020 semester, fulfilled my Civitae Pillar course requirement for Global Citizenship based on language placement scores/transfer coursework. (I previously completed four years of Latin/Classical studies while in high school.)
Reflection:
My foreign language journey began long before I enrolled in Dr. Amoss’s LATN 111 course in the Fall of 2020. Back when I was an awkward eighth grader at Brunswick Academy, I began my Classical studies in Mrs. Lea Ann Grassel’s Latin I class. I continued my Latin journey at BA for four years, attending the Virginia Junior Classical League’s annual Latin conventions in Richmond, and even becoming Vice President of my school’s Latin Club. Despite my background in the subject, however, Latin at Longwood sounded daunting.
Luckily, I had my best friend, Emily, along for the ride. I had not participated in a Latin course for nearly a year-and-a-half before enrolling in Dr. Amoss’s class, so I had no idea what to expect. I knew it was going to be fast-paced, and I knew I was going to have to put in a genuine effort to pass not one but two Latin courses throughout my time at Longwood. Nevertheless, I had faith that with Emily by my side, there was nothing we could not achieve together. And thankfully I was right.
LATN 111 proved to be one of the greatest courses I have taken at Longwood University. Dr. Amoss came in every day with a fantastic attitude and encouraged us not only to translate Latin in our daily exercises but to delve deeper into Classical resources which I had never before examined. Though we spent much of our class time discussing passages written nearly 2,000 years ago, all of our materials still rang true today. From the political orations of Cicero to the wild epigrams of Martial, the works of the ancient Romans pondered the underlying human condition with which all of us are familiar.
Below you will find a comparative essay from LATN 111 in which I explored the similarities and differences between Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita and Pliny the Younger’s Epistulae in relation to their respective depictions of Roman women. Though Livy’s passage recounts a classic legend for the general public and Pliny’s is addressed directly to a close friend, the ways in which both authors refer to their passages’ respective subjects are consistent with the prevailing ideals expected of women in the ancient Roman world.