Latin

Course summary

The study of Latin at A Level is a challenging discipline, but one which offers a huge amount of enjoyment and intellectual experience. Latin explores a range of different disciplines - particularly linguistics, literature, and history - and it is not a surprise that Latin tends to be chosen by high academic achievers. Students will have an opportunity to develop their love of the Latin language together with reading some of history’s greatest authors, such as Virgil, Ovid and Tacitus. They will learn to understand the literary, social and historical context of the texts they are studying through wider reading. The OCR A Level in Latin will build on the knowledge, understanding and skills specified for GCSE. Students will be introduced to a greater range of vocabulary through wider reading of original material, more complex examples of syntax and accidence and the in-depth study of prose and verse literature. In studying Latin at A Level, students might acquire familiarity with Cicero’s rhetorically persuasive wit, Tacitus’ pithy accounts of Roman politics, Ovid’s advice on love and Virgil’s elegant narration of the founding of Rome. Students learn to read original Latin by studying Ovid’s poetry and Livy’s history and translate complex English passages into their own stylish Latin.