MATSEC AM Latin case studies
MATSEC AM Latin · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The MATSEC Advanced Level Latin is a secondary-school leaving and university-matriculation qualification awarded under the MATSEC Examinations Board of L-Università ta' Malta. It is aimed at post-16 students in Malta who have already completed the Secondary Education Certificate in Latin and who intend to use Latin towards university admission or a humanities degree, and at mature or self-taught candidates who need a recognised Advanced Level certificate. The MATSEC AM Latin case studies are 5 cases and about 2,397 words.
1Two cum-clauses in a Livian battle narrative
A candidate in a 45-minute unseen prose paper translates a 27-word passage: 'Hostes, ubi primum signa nostra conspexere, cum flumen transirent, impetu facto in ripam nostros, qui pauci aderant, dissipaverunt; quos cum fugientes vidisset dux, ipse cum equitibus supervenit.' She renders the first clause as 'since they were crossing the river' and the second as 'when he had seen them fleeing'. She also takes 'quos' in the second clause to refer to 'flumen'.
571 words, about 3 min2A simile gone wrong in an unseen hexameter passage
In the verse section of the unseen paper, a candidate translates four hexameters: 'qualis ubi primos Aurora rosavit in agros / sole novo, mater volucrum secura futuri / explicat alarum latebras, talis in hostem / dux ruit.' She renders 'mater volucrum' as 'the mother of the winds' and takes 'Aurora' as the subject of 'explicat'. Her version reads: 'As when Dawn has reddened the first fields with new sun, the mother of the winds, free from care for the future, unfolds the hiding places of her wings, so the leader rushes against the enemy.' The examiner accepts the simile structure but queries two points: the meaning of 'volucrum' and the subject of 'explicat'.
509 words, about 3 min3Two translations of Dido's wound (Aeneid 4.1–2)
A candidate preparing a prescribed passage from Aeneid 4 has to compare two translations of lines 1–2: 'at regina gravi iamdudum saucia cura / vulnus alit venis et caeco carpitur igni.' Version A: 'But the queen, long since wounded by a heavy care, feeds the wound with her veins and is consumed by a blind fire.' Version B: 'But the queen, long since wounded by a heavy care, nourishes the wound in her veins and is devoured by an unseen fire.' The candidate must write a 25-minute commentary justifying one version, but she claims the choice is arbitrary because both English versions 'say the same thing'. The teacher requires her to discuss the ablative 'venis', the force of 'alit', and the epithet 'caeco' before she can choose.
475 words, about 2 min4Tricolon or anaphora? A commentary on Cicero's first Catilinarian
A candidate writing a 20-minute commentary on Cicero, In Catilinam 1.1, describes the sentence 'nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt?' as 'a tricolon crescendo with asyndeton'. The teacher marks the comment 'partly right, partly imprecise' and asks the candidate to revise it before the mock exam.
412 words, about 2 min5Rendering an indirect command into Latin: persuadere and the negative
In the prose composition section, a candidate must turn the English sentence 'The envoys persuaded the citizens that they should not surrender the city' into Latin. She writes: 'legati persuaserunt civibus quod urbem non traderent.' Her teacher marks 'quod' wrong and asks her to choose between 'ne' and 'ut non' with the subjunctive.
430 words, about 2 min