Ateneo - UPO

Maledetti, vi amerò. Being Bad in Rome

Who were the “bad ones” for the Romans? The course starts from this apparently simple question in order to move through Latin literature in search of uncomfortable, seductive, hated, or feared figures: traitors, tyrants, conspirators, public enemies, dangerous women, men ruled by desire, infamous characters, bodies outside the norm, heroes turned into monsters and monsters made irresistible.

Through the reading, translation, and commentary of Latin texts, the course will analyse the ways in which Rome constructs its villains in literature: not only as moral examples to be condemned, but as figures through which order, fear, desire, power, and identity can be explored. A “bad” character is never just bad: often, they reveal much more about those who judge them than about themselves.

Part of the course will be devoted to gladiators, a marginal yet hugely popular category, marked by infamy but capable of exerting a powerful fascination. Despised as bodies sold to spectacle and death, admired for courage, strength, and discipline, gladiators allow us to observe one of the most striking contradictions of Roman society: loving what is officially condemned.

The course will therefore follow Rome’s bad men and bad women through texts and imagination: where they frighten, where they make people laugh, where they scandalize, where they become necessary — and where, despite ourselves, we end up liking them.

Attending studentsLecture notes.Dossier of Latin texts to be translated and analysed, uploaded to DIR during the first week of the course, in October 2026.Christian Mann, I gladiatori, Bologna: il Mulino, 2014, ISBN 9788815250582.One “bad character”, namely one volume to be chosen from the following:Francesca Cenerini, Messalina. Leggenda e storia di una donna pericolosa, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2024;Livia Capponi, Cleopatra, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2021;Luciano Canfora, Catilina. Una rivoluzione mancata, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023;Andrea Carandini, with Nicolò Squartini, Io, Nerone, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023.The following authors: Plautus, Sallust, Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Seneca, Suetonius, Juvenal, and Tacitus, to be prepared using an upper-secondary-school handbook of Latin literary history used in the final three years of school. Alternatively, students who consider their own handbook unsatisfactory or too concise may use Paolo Fedeli, Ermanno Malaspina, Luca Antonelli, Le parole di Roma. Storia della letteratura latina, Torino: UTET Università, 2023, ISBN 9788860088598.Non-attending studentsDossier of Latin texts to be translated and analysed, uploaded to DIR during the first week of the course, in October 2026.Christian Mann, I gladiatori, Bologna: il Mulino, 2014, ISBN 9788815250582.Two “bad characters”, namely two volumes to be chosen from the following:Francesca Cenerini, Messalina. Leggenda e storia di una donna pericolosa, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2024;Livia Capponi, Cleopatra, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2021;Luciano Canfora, Catilina. Una rivoluzione mancata, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023;Andrea Carandini, with Nicolò Squartini, Io, Nerone, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023.The following authors: Plautus, Sallust, Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Seneca, Suetonius, Juvenal, and Tacitus, to be prepared using an upper-secondary-school handbook of Latin literary history used in the final three years of school. Alternatively, students who consider their own handbook unsatisfactory or too concise may use Paolo Fedeli, Ermanno Malaspina, Luca Antonelli, Le parole di Roma. Storia della letteratura latina, Torino: UTET Università, 2023, ISBN 9788860088598.Francesco Berardi, Le vie del latino. Storia della lingua latina con elementi di grammatica storica. Seconda edizione riveduta e aggiornata, Galatina: Congedo Editore, 2022, ISBN 9788867662708.Federico Biddau, Il canone del ritmo. Introduzione alla prosodia e metrica del latino classico, Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2021, ISBN 9788893595742.Additional volume for students exempt from the written testMaria Chiara Scappaticcio, Voci di Pompei. Latino e cultura letteraria, Roma: Carocci, 2026, ISBN 9788829036448.Additional volume for the third iterationBiagio Santorelli, Storia della lingua latina, Roma: Carocci, 2025, ISBN 9788829032723.

The course aims to enable students to read, translate, and understand texts of Latin literature, with particular attention to the literary, moral, and cultural construction of figures perceived as “bad” in the Roman world.

Through the theme “Maledetti, vi amerò. Being Bad in Rome”, the course aims to foster knowledge of the Roman historical, social, and cultural context, showing how traitors, tyrants, conspirators, public enemies, dangerous women, infamous characters, and gladiators were represented in Latin texts and used to reflect on order, power, identity, desire, fear, and marginality.

The course also aims to consolidate students’ knowledge of the main morphological and syntactic structures of the Latin language, considered from a historical perspective and applied concretely to the reading, translation, and analysis of the texts included in the syllabus.

A further objective of the course is to develop students’ ability to recognize and discuss preconceived ideas about Roman culture and its transmission, critically questioning categories such as “bad”, “monstrous”, “infamous”, “barbarian”, “dangerous”, or “deviant”.

Finally, the course aims to introduce students to the main methodological issues involved in the transmission of Latin language and literature in upper secondary education, encouraging reflection on the ways in which texts, characters, and cultural categories from the Roman world can be presented from a teaching perspective.

The course is worth 6 ECTS credits and consists of 36 hours of in-person classes; the remaining workload consists of individual study, preparation of the texts, language revision, and critical reworking of the assigned materials.

The course is intended for students who have studied Latin for five years in upper secondary school, regardless of the type of school attended and with full awareness that school curricula may differ significantly in terms of number of hours, syllabi, and levels of depth. Basic previous knowledge of the Latin language is required, in particular of the main morphological and syntactic structures, together with a willingness to consolidate this knowledge progressively through guided work on the texts. The course does not assume a single starting background, but supports students coming from different school experiences in strengthening their linguistic skills and in approaching the reading of Latin literature. During the classes, some grammatical aspects functional to the translation and analysis of the texts included in the syllabus will be revised. Students who feel the need for more substantial revision may attend the exercises connected to the course in Latin Culture, where available, and the tutoring activities specifically devoted to the consolidation of linguistic skills. For recurring doubts and questions, students are also invited to refer to the “Dubbi e domande frequenti” section of the lecturer’s UPOBook page, which provides analytical answers to the most common questions: https://upobook.uniupo.it/alice.borgna.No formal prerequisites are required.

The course includes lectures devoted to the historical and linguistic contextualization of the texts, their analysis, and the discussion of the main interpretative, linguistic, and teaching-related issues addressed during the course, with opportunities for discussion and exchange.Activities involving the reading, translation, and linguistic analysis of Latin texts will also be included. These activities are aimed at consolidating students’ morphological and syntactic skills, developing their ability to apply the knowledge acquired to the interpretation of texts, and encouraging their active participation.The course will use the Didattica in Rete (DIR) platform for sharing teaching materials, texts, bibliographical references, and communications relating to the course.During the course, a simulation of the written exam will be offered, in order to familiarize students with the structure of the exam and with the assessment criteria. A simulation of the oral exam will also be offered as part of the tutoring activities, allowing students to practise oral presentation, translation, and commentary on the texts. Tutoring activities will also provide targeted support for the consolidation of language skills, the review of the main morphosyntactic issues, and the organization of individual study.

Disabilities, SLD and SEN. Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) or Special Educational Needs (SEN) may request specific services and support tools by contacting the Staff for Student Careers and Services Development and Coordination and by consulting the dedicated page on the University website: https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizistudenti-disabili-e-dsa.After contacting the University Staff, students with disabilities, SLD or SEN may contact the lecturer responsible for the course in order to agree on teaching-related aspects and on any necessary adaptation of the examination procedures.Single courses. Any enrolment in this course as a single course must take place no later than 15 October 2026. Access as a single-course student is reserved exclusively for students who intend to attend classes. Enrolment as a single-course student is not permitted for those who do not intend to attend. Likewise, single-course students who are simultaneously enrolled at other universities are not admitted. For further information on the policies adopted by this teaching unit regarding single courses, students are required to read carefully the instructions published on the lecturer’s UPOBook page: https://upobook.uniupo.it/alice.borgna.The objectives and contents of the course take into account the provisions of Ministerial Decree 616/2017 and its annexes for the purposes of possible recognition of the 24 CFU pre-concorso for Area D, “Teaching Methodologies and Technologies”. Further information is available on the University page dedicated to the 24 CFU pre-concorso: https://disum.uniupo.it/tutto-studenti/offerta-formativa/formazioneinsegnanti/24-cfu-pre-concorso.

Assessment consists of a written test and an oral examination. The written test and the oral examination cannot be taken on the same exam date.Written test. The written test accounts for 45% of the final grade; passing it is a necessary condition for admission to the oral examination.The written test lasts two hours and consists of the translation, with dictionary, of a Latin text not covered in class, but comparable in style, genre, and historical period to the texts addressed during the course. It assesses the ability to apply independently morphological, syntactic, and linguistic knowledge to the analysis and translation of an unseen text. The test is passed when the translation shows correct understanding of the text, recognition of the main morphological and syntactic structures, and a clear and coherent rendering in Italian. Serious or widespread errors that compromise understanding or reveal substantial linguistic gaps prevent the test from being passed. During the course, a simulation of the written test will be offered to familiarize students with its structure, timing, and criteria.Oral examination. The oral examination accounts for 55% of the final grade and consists of the translation and grammatical and syntactic analysis of one of the Latin passages included in the syllabus, which account for 60% of the oral examination grade. The passage must then be placed within its literary, historical, philological, and cultural context; this part accounts for 40%. The oral examination also includes one question on each of the essays or books included in the syllabus.In order to pass the exam, students must obtain a passing grade in the written test, except in the exemption cases indicated below, and must answer each part of the oral examination at least sufficiently. Exams in which it becomes clear that even one of the essays or books included in the syllabus has not been read will not be considered sufficient.A passing grade requires: essential understanding of the Latin texts; overall correct translation; recognition of the main morphological and syntactic structures; knowledge of the fundamental contents; ability to place the texts within their literary, historical, philological, and cultural context. A higher grade requires greater accuracy in translation and analysis, ability to connect texts and issues addressed during the course, appropriate use of disciplinary terminology, and autonomy in oral presentation. An excellent grade requires secure command of Latin, accurate grammatical and syntactic analysis, critical and in-depth contextualization, ability to connect the various aspects, and clear, rigorous, and autonomous presentation.For the written test, revision of morphology and syntax, translation activities carried out during the course, the written-test simulation, and the materials uploaded to DIR are particularly relevant. For the oral examination, students are required to study the Latin texts included in the syllabus, the materials indicated in the syllabus, and the reference bibliography. Tutoring provides support and includes the possibility of carrying out a simulation of the oral examination.Students regularly enrolled in and attending Letteratura latina B or C are exempt from the written test if they have already taken it from the academic year 2022/2023 onwards and obtained a grade of 24/30 or higher. For these students, the oral examination accounts for 100% of the final grade and includes, in addition to the syllabus, the study of an additional volume indicated in the reference texts. The exemption does not apply to non-attending students or to students taking the course as a single course.For non-attending students or students taking the course as a single course, the oral examination includes a compulsory section on Latin metre, which must be passed with a sufficient grade.

The course “Maledetti, vi amerò. Being Bad in Rome” will be devoted to the literary, moral, and cultural construction of figures perceived as “bad” in the Roman world: traitors, tyrants, conspirators, public enemies, dangerous women, infamous characters, and figures dominated by desire, ambition, violence, or excess.

A specific part of the course will be devoted to gladiators, a marginal yet extremely popular category, marked by infamy but capable of exerting a strong fascination in the Roman imagination.

The course will integrate the gender dimension through the analysis of female figures represented as dangerous, destabilizing, or morally ambiguous, with attention to the relationship between gender, power, desire, reputation, infamy, and social control.

The dossier of Latin texts to be translated and analysed will be uploaded to DIR during the first week of the course, in October 2026.

A) Attending students

Attending students must prepare:

lecture notes;
the dossier of Latin texts to be translated and analysed;
the following authors: Plautus, Sallust, Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Seneca, Suetonius, Juvenal, and Tacitus, to be prepared using an upper-secondary-school handbook of Latin literary history used in the final three years of school. Alternatively, students who consider their own handbook unsatisfactory or too concise may use Paolo Fedeli, Ermanno Malaspina, Luca Antonelli, Le parole di Roma. Storia della letteratura latina, Torino: UTET Università, 2023, ISBN 9788860088598;
Christian Mann, I gladiatori, Bologna: il Mulino, 2014, ISBN 9788815250582;
one “bad character”, namely one volume to be chosen from the following:
Francesca Cenerini, Messalina. Leggenda e storia di una donna pericolosa, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2024;
Livia Capponi, Cleopatra, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2021;
Luciano Canfora, Catilina. Una rivoluzione mancata, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023;
Andrea Carandini, with Nicolò Squartini, Io, Nerone, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023.

Attending students are not required to read the poetic texts in the dossier in Latin metre. Only attending students may take the written test as an in itinere test at the end of the course. Students are considered attending if they have taken part in at least 75% of the classes.

B) Non-attending students

Non-attending students must prepare:

the dossier of Latin texts to be translated and analysed;
Christian Mann, I gladiatori, Bologna: il Mulino, 2014, ISBN 9788815250582;
the following authors: Plautus, Sallust, Caesar, Cicero, Livy, Seneca, Suetonius, Juvenal, and Tacitus, to be prepared using an upper-secondary-school handbook of Latin literary history used in the final three years of school. Alternatively, students who consider their own handbook unsatisfactory or too concise may use Paolo Fedeli, Ermanno Malaspina, Luca Antonelli, Le parole di Roma. Storia della letteratura latina, Torino: UTET Università, 2023, ISBN 9788860088598;
Francesco Berardi, Le vie del latino. Storia della lingua latina con elementi di grammatica storica. Seconda edizione riveduta e aggiornata, Galatina: Congedo Editore, 2022, ISBN 9788867662708;
Federico Biddau, Il canone del ritmo. Introduzione alla prosodia e metrica del latino classico, Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2021, ISBN 9788893595742;
two “bad characters”, namely two volumes to be chosen from the following:
Francesca Cenerini, Messalina. Leggenda e storia di una donna pericolosa, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2024;
Livia Capponi, Cleopatra, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2021;
Luciano Canfora, Catilina. Una rivoluzione mancata, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023;
Andrea Carandini, with Nicolò Squartini, Io, Nerone, Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2023.

Unlike attending students, non-attending students are required to read all the poetic texts included in the dossier in Latin metre.

The conditions for exemption from the written test do not apply under any circumstances to non-attending students. They may not take the written test as an in itinere test, but must take it on the regular exam dates.

Non-attending students are advised to attend an oral examination session before taking the exam themselves, so as to gain a clear understanding of the level of preparation required. This recommendation is also useful for all other categories of students.

Students exempt from the written test

Regularly enrolled and attending students of Letteratura latina B or C who have passed the written test for the undergraduate course Letteratura latina A in the academic years 2022/2023, 2023/2024, 2024/2025, or 2025/2026 with a grade of 24/30 or higher are exempt from the written test and may proceed directly to the oral examination. In addition to the ordinary syllabus, they must prepare:

Maria Chiara Scappaticcio, Voci di Pompei. Latino e cultura letteraria, Roma: Carocci, 2026, ISBN 9788829036448.

In the case of a third iteration, for regularly enrolled and attending students who have already passed the written test with a grade of 24/30 or higher and have already prepared the volume required for the previous iteration, the additional volume will be:

Biagio Santorelli, Storia della lingua latina, Roma: Carocci, 2025, ISBN 9788829032723.

The exemption from the written test does not apply under any circumstances to non-attending students or to students taking the course as a single course.

Students enrolled as single-course students

Students enrolled as single-course students are required to attend classes, as indicated in the “Other information” section. In addition to the exam syllabus, they must also take a compulsory test in Latin prosody and metre. For this category of students, the exemption from the written test does not apply under any circumstances.

At the end of the course, students must demonstrate that they have achieved the following learning outcomes.

Knowledge and understanding. For the minimum passing level, students must know and illustrate the fundamental contents of the course, with particular reference to the literary, moral, and cultural construction of figures perceived as “bad” in the Roman world. They must also demonstrate adequate knowledge of the Roman historical-cultural context and of the main morphological and syntactic structures of the Latin language required for the understanding of the texts included in the syllabus. At an advanced level, students must demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the themes addressed, being able to distinguish the different figures of the “bad” character in Latin literature — traitors, tyrants, conspirators, public enemies, dangerous women, infamous characters, and gladiators — and to recognize their relationship with categories such as order, power, identity, fear, desire, marginality, and infamy.

Applying knowledge and understanding. For the minimum passing level, students must be able to translate a Latin text in an overall correct manner, recognizing its main grammatical and syntactic structures, and to place it within its relevant literary, historical, and cultural context.At an advanced level, students must be able to translate and analyse Latin texts with accuracy, autonomy, and interpretative awareness, relating language, literary form, historical-cultural context, and the function of the character or category represented in the text.

Making judgements. For the minimum passing level, students must be able to formulate critical observations on the texts studied and on their interpretations, recognizing the main issues raised by the Roman construction of the “bad”, the deviant, the infamous, and the marginal. At an advanced level, students must be able to discuss different interpretations of the texts and assess their reasons, limits, and implications, with particular attention to the relationship between literary representation, moral judgement, historical-political perspective, and the construction of Roman identity.

Communication skills. For the minimum passing level, students must be able to present the contents learned in a clear and orderly manner, using appropriate disciplinary terminology and demonstrating the ability to discuss the texts without relying on rote memorization. At an advanced level, students must be able to discuss the texts and issues addressed during the course with autonomous, precise, and effective presentation, using the language of the discipline correctly and showing attention to communicative clarity also in relation to a possible teaching context.

Learning skills. For the minimum passing level, students must be able to use the Latin texts, the materials available on the DIR platform, the methodological tools provided by the course, and the exam bibliography to identify the fundamental thematic units and organize their individual study. At an advanced level, students must demonstrate the ability to pursue autonomous study in greater depth, connecting texts, teaching materials, and critical essays, recognizing complex interpretative problems, and reworking the knowledge acquired in an argumentative form.

These learning outcomes are consistent with the provisions of the Degree Programme SUA, section A4.b2, literary and linguistic area.