Ateneo - UPO

When Love Is Born. in Rome. The Science of Falling in Love in Ancient Rome A journey through texts, myths, emotions, and physiology to discover how the ancient Romans experienced love — from heartbeats to desire, between medicine, literature, and culture.


The following texts constitute the course bibliography. To understand which texts should be studied for the exam, please refer to the "extended program" section.


Basic Level:
- Acquisition of a solid understanding of the linguistic context of Latin.
- In-depth knowledge of the Latin language, focusing on its morphological and syntactic structures from a historical perspective.
- Development of the ability to deconstruct preconceived judgments.
- Familiarity with teaching methods for conveying these concepts in secondary education.

Advanced Level:
- Acquisition of a comprehensive understanding of the linguistic context of Latin.
- Attainment of a robust knowledge of the Latin language, focusing on its morphological and syntactic structures from a historical perspective.
- Development of advanced skills in deconstructing preconceived judgments.
- In-depth knowledge of teaching methods for conveying these concepts in secondary education.

Post graduate knowledge of Latin literature and of the Latin language.

Lectures, seminars, online tutorials.

The objectives and contents of the course take into account the DM 616/2017 and its annexes to recognize the 24 cfu for area D (Educational methodologies and technologies). More information are available at the link: disum.uniupo.it/tutto-studenti/offer-formative/formazione-insegnanti/24-cfu-pre-concorso.

DISABILITIES, SEN, and SLD
Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (SLD), or Special Educational Needs (SEN) can request specific services and tools by contacting the Development and Coordination of Careers and Student Services Staff and consulting the dedicated page on the University website: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studenti-disabili-e-dsa.

Once they have contacted the University Staff (and not before), students with disabilities, SLD, or SEN can reach out to the course instructor regarding the specifics of the exam arrangements related to educational aspects.

The exam consists of a written test (worth 45% of the final grade) and an oral exam (worth 55%). Passing the written test is a prerequisite for admission to the oral exam. The written test involves a short translation, using a dictionary, of a Latin text not studied in class, but similar in style, genre, and historical period. The oral exam includes: the translation and grammatical-syntactic analysis of one of the passages read and translated during the course (60% of the oral exam), followed by contextualization within its literary, historical, philological, and cultural framework (40% of the oral exam), and a final question covering all the texts in the syllabus. To pass the exam, students must give at least a satisfactory answer to each of the exam questions. Exams will be considered insufficient if it is evident that even a single required text has not been read. The written and oral components may not be taken on the same exam date. All regular and attending students enrolled in Letteratura Latina Magistrale B are exempt from the written test if they have already passed the written exam for Letteratura Latina Magistrale A in academic years 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, or 2024–25.

To achieve the knowledge, skills, and abilities corresponding to the basic level, students are asked to demonstrate:

(Knowledge and Understanding): A fundamental understanding of the Roman environmental context and the main morpho-syntactic structures of the Latin language.
(Ability to Apply Knowledge and Understanding): The ability to adequately translate a Latin prose text and contextualize it within the framework of environmental literary history.
(Autonomy of Judgment): The acquisition of the ability to express judgments about texts and their critical interpretations, critically discussing reasons and limits, with particular attention to the historical-political perspective.
(Communication Skills): The ability to present the concepts and data learned in an orderly and clear manner, using appropriate language, avoiding rote repetition, and navigating independently among the topics covered, also from the perspective of effective communication from a didactic point of view.
(Learning Skills): The ability to use the methodological tools provided in class (for attending students) and make use of the handouts available on DIR and the essays listed in the exam bibliography (for everyone), to identify the fundamental thematic cores.
The advanced level is achieved upon satisfying the following requirements:

(Knowledge and Understanding): Advanced knowledge of the Roman environmental context and the main morpho-syntactic structures of the Latin language.
(Ability to Apply Knowledge and Understanding): The ability to translate a Latin prose text into Italian accurately, correctly, and personally, and contextualize it within the framework of environmental literary history.
(Autonomy of Judgment): The acquisition of a mature ability to express broad and articulated judgments about texts and their critical interpretations, critically discussing reasons and limits, with particular attention to the historical-political perspective.
(Communication Skills): The ability to present concepts and data learned in a brilliant, very orderly, and clearly articulated manner, using appropriate language, avoiding rote repetition, and navigating independently among the topics covered, also from the perspective of effective communication from a didactic point of view.
(Learning Skills): The ability to master the methodological tools provided in class (for attending students) and make use of the handouts available on DIR and the essays listed in the exam bibliography (for everyone), to identify the fundamental thematic cores and the various reciprocal connections.
These learning outcomes are consistent with what is provided in the SUA of the Course of Study, framework A4.b2 - literary and linguistic area.