Led by Rhetorica Ciceroniana Simulacrum
About this course
The fourth course of the series. The first three courses built Latin's morphology — the shapes words take. This course builds its syntax — how those words assemble into sentences of arbitrary complexity. Cicero is the natural host: not the historical Cicero but the Rhetorica Ciceroniana Simulacrum, a distilled intelligence of the Latin rhetorical tradition that has Cicero's prose as its bedrock exemplar.
The WJEC specification is generous and restrictive in equal measure. It asks for all the standard subordinate-clause types, indirect statement in its primary form (accusative + infinitive), indirect questions and commands, conditional sentences in their present and past-open forms only, prohibitions, and the use of participles as alternatives to subordinate clauses. It does not ask for the full conditional system, for the ablative absolute, for the gerundive, or for the supine. Within its scope, it asks for careful, confident reading.
Magister makes guest appearances when the pedagogy of sequencing matters — particularly in Module 4, where indirect statement is introduced through meaningful examples rather than through paradigms.
Led by Rhetorica Ciceroniana Simulacrum
The question
Latin can build sentences of extraordinary length and complexity. What are the tools it uses, and how do you read such a sentence without getting lost?
Outcome
The student can identify the main clause of a complex Latin sentence, recognise subordinate clauses by their conjunctions, and read a long sentence without losing the sense of which verb is the primary statement. (WJEC App B · Syntax: introductory)
Led by Rhetorica Ciceroniana Simulacrum
The question
Three clause types share the conjunction *ut* or are built around *qui*. How do you tell them apart, and why does it matter?
Outcome
The student can identify and translate relative, purpose, and result clauses correctly, distinguish purpose from result when both use *ut* + subjunctive, and use the main-clause signal words as diagnostic. (WJEC App B · Relative clauses · Purpose clauses · Result clauses)
Led by Rhetorica Ciceroniana Simulacrum
The question
How does Latin say *when*, *because*, and *although*? And why does *cum* do double duty?
Outcome
The student can identify temporal, causal, and concessive clauses in continuous Latin, translate each type idiomatically, and disambiguate the uses of *cum* by the mood of its verb and the surrounding context. (WJEC App B · Temporal clauses · Causal clauses introduced by quod and cum · Concessive clauses introduced by quamquam)
Led by Magister Simulacrum
The question
In English: *he says that the dog is running*. In Latin: *dicit canem currere*. How does that construction work?
Outcome
The student can recognise the accusative-and-infinitive construction in continuous Latin, translate it as an indirect statement in English, and distinguish the three time relations (same/earlier/later) by the tense of the infinitive. (WJEC App B · Indirect statements)
Led by Rhetorica Ciceroniana Simulacrum
The question
How does Latin report a question someone asked, and how does it report a command someone gave?
Outcome
The student can recognise indirect questions and indirect commands in continuous Latin, translate them correctly into English, apply the sequence of tenses to interpret the subjunctive's tense, and handle the *iubeo* construction distinctively. (WJEC App B · Indirect questions · Indirect commands)
Led by Rhetorica Ciceroniana Simulacrum
The question
Latin has a well-developed conditional system with several types. Which ones does the WJEC specification actually require?
Outcome
The student can identify the two conditional types on the WJEC syllabus, translate them accurately, distinguish *si non* from *nisi*, and understand why other conditional types (which exist in Latin) are not on this specification. (WJEC App B · Conditional sentences (present and past open only))
Led by Rhetorica Ciceroniana Simulacrum
The question
Three smaller syntactic territories that don't fit neatly elsewhere — how do participles function in real sentences, how are prohibitions formed, and what are the standard uses of cases that every reader of Latin must command?
Outcome
The student can translate participles idiomatically as adjectives, clauses, or phrases depending on context; form prohibitions correctly; identify the case of a noun from its function and translate accordingly; handle dative-taking verbs and the standard ablative uses; and recognise the time expressions.