Latin Placement Exam - Forms & Deadlines - Sewanee

Enter name (last, first middle)

Enter your complete email address:

How many years of Latin?

Note: This test should take an hour or less. You may not use a dictionary. Do only the sections which are appropriate for your level of Latin.

I. ALL STUDENTS: Translate the following paragraph into good English, using the notes which accompany it.

Porsinna, rex Clusinorum, urbem Romam iam diu obsidebat. Romani igitur, quod cibum in urbem afferre non poterant, fame peribant. Tum adulescens quidam Romanus, Gaius Mucius nomine, qui cives suos servare volebat, Porsinnam necare constituit.
Itaque Mucius, ubi Curiam intravit, senatoribus, "Tiberim transire," inquit, "et castra hostium intrare volo. Ibi Porsinnam petam et, si di adiuvabunt, eum necabo."

Enter translation in the space below.

NOTES: Porsinna-ae: This is a masculine proper name // Clusini-orum = "The Clusini;"
    the people of Clusium, an Etruscan town // obsideo-ere = "besiege" // cibus-I = "food"
    affero; fero = "bring" // fame perire = "perish with hunger" // Curia-ae = "the senate-house"
    Tiberis-is = "the (river) Tiber" // transeo = "go across" // peto-petere = "seek out" // di = dei
    adiuvo-are = "be helpful"

II. STUDENTS WHO HAVE HAD 2 OR MORE YEARS OF LATIN SHOULD TRANSLATE THIS PARAGRAPH; ALL OTHERS MAY STOP NOW. Translate the following paragraph into good English, using the notes which accompany it.

Caesar, De Bello Gallico: Caesar forestalls trouble among a Gallic tribe called the Carnutes.

Erat in Carnutibus quidam rex, Tasgetius nomine. Huic regi Caesar multa beneficia dederat, quod Tasgetius auxilium ad eum miserat. Tertio anno regni sui ab inimicis Tasgetius interfectus est. Caesar certior de ea re factus, statim L. Plancum, cum illa legione cui praeerat, ex finibus Belgarum in Carnutes proficisci iubet, ne contra Romanos consilia faciant. Adventu Romanorum ei, qui regem interfecerant, capti sunt, et ad Caesarem missi sunt.

Enter translation in the space below.

NOTES: in Carnutibus = "among the Carnutes" // quidam-quaedam-quoddam = "some" or "a certain" // beneficium-i = "benefit" // miserat = “mitto-ere-misi-missum” //regnum-i = "rule," "reign"
interfectus est. from interficio = "kill" // certior factus = "after he had learned..." // cui praeerat = "that he was in command of," or "of which he was in command" // fines (pl.) = "territory"
proficiscor-proficisci-profectus sum = "set out" // consilium-i = (a) plan" // missi sunt: see "miserat" above.

III. STUDENTS WHO HAVE HAD MORE THAN TWO YEARS OF LATIN SHOULD COMPLETE THIS SECTION. ALL OTHERS MAY STOP NOW.

Advanced Translation: Give a close translation of (A) OR (B), using the notes provided. Use English derivatives if you need to guess.

(A) Cicero, First Catilinarian 1.1: Cicero laments the "good old days," when Roman consuls summarily killed dangerous citizens. He himself has not been such a consul in the face of the conspiracy of his enemy, Catiline.

"Fuit, fuit ista quondam in hac re publica virtus ut viri fortes acrioribus suppliciis civem perniciosum quam acerbissimum hostem coercerent. Habemus senatus consultum in te, Catilina, vehemens et grave. Non deest rei publicae consilium neque auctoritas huius ordinis. Nos, nos, dico aperte, consules desumus."

Enter translation in the space below.

NOTES: ista here = "such" // quondam = "once" // virtus-tutis, f. = "courage," "virtue"
supplicium-i = "punishment" // coerceo-ere-ui-itum = "restrain" // consultum-i = "decree"
desum-esse-fui (w/dative) = "fail," or "be found wanting" // consilium-i = "foresight," "planning”
ordo-ordinis = "order;" the Senate is meant // aperte = "openly"

(B) Aeneas tells how Andromache, former wife of Hector, first saw him (Aeneas) and his men as they stopped their ships at her new home in Buthrotum. Aeneid Bk. III. 306-312:

Ut me conspexit venientem et Troia circum
arma amens vidit, magnis exterrita monstris
deriguit visu in medio, calor ossa reliquit:
labitur et longo vix tandem tempore fatur;
“Verane te facies, verus mihi nuntius adfers,
nate dea? vivisne?”

Enter translation in the space below.

NOTES: Ut = "When" // amens = "mad(ly)” // monstrum-i = "marvel" // derigesco = "become stiff"
    calor-is = "heat" // ossum-i = "bone" // labor = "waver" // vix tandem = "finally, barely..."
    for-fari-fatus = "speak" // facies-ei = "face" // adfero = "bring" // nate dea = "goddess-born"
    Watch out for the tortured word-order of the 5th line.

When you complete and submit your language exam, it will be sent to Professor Doug Seiters. We will review your translations and recommend an appropriate course. Please be patient for a response.