AP Latin practice questions and exam guide

BG 1.1: 'Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur.' What case is 'quarum'?

1. Nominative
2. Dative plural
3. Genitive plural — partitive ('of which')
4. Ablative plural

Answer: C — Genitive plural — partitive ('of which')

'Quarum' = genitive plural feminine of relative pronoun 'qui, quae, quod,' referring to 'partes.' Partitive genitive: 'of which [parts] the Belgae inhabit one.' Note the antecedent agreement (feminine plural) but case from the relative clause's needs.

Aeneid 4.165-166: 'speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem / deveniunt.' What is the subject of 'deveniunt'?

1. 'speluncam' only
2. 'eandem'
3. 'Dido' and 'dux Troianus' (compound subject, hence plural verb)
4. Implied 'they' (gods)

Answer: C — 'Dido' and 'dux Troianus' (compound subject, hence plural verb)

Compound subject: Dido AND the Trojan leader (Aeneas). 'They come into the same cave' — the consummation of their union during the storm hunt. 'Eandem' = accusative singular feminine modifying 'speluncam'.

Roman epic poetry typically invokes:

1. The Roman Senate
2. The emperor
3. The Pope
4. The Muse (e.g., 'Musa, mihi causas memora…' in Aeneid 1.8)

Answer: D — The Muse (e.g., 'Musa, mihi causas memora…' in Aeneid 1.8)

Greek and Roman epics traditionally open with an invocation to the Muse, asking divine help to recount the story.

AENEAS's son is named:

1. Romulus
2. ASCANIUS (also called IULUS) — accompanies Aeneas from Troy; foundational ancestor of Julian gens (clan of Julius Caesar + Augustus) per Roman legend
3. Ascanius is Aeneas's father
4. Hector

Answer: B — ASCANIUS (also called IULUS) — accompanies Aeneas from Troy; foundational ancestor of Julian gens (clan of Julius Caesar + Augustus) per Roman legend

Ascanius/Iulus: links Trojan-Roman origin to Augustan house. Julian propaganda traced ancestry to Venus → Aeneas → Iulus. Aeneid commissioned by Augustus highlights this. Founded Alba Longa per legend. Romulus + Remus were eventual descendants who founded Rome itself.

Aeneid 1.343-344 (Venus tells of Dido): 'huic coniunx Sychaeus erat, ditissimus auri / Phoenicum.' What case is 'auri'?

1. Dative — reference
2. Nominative
3. Genitive — with superlative 'ditissimus' (richest IN gold)
4. Accusative — direct object

Answer: C — Genitive — with superlative 'ditissimus' (richest IN gold)

Adjectives of plenty/want take the genitive. 'Ditissimus auri' = wealthiest of/in gold. Sychaeus was Dido's first husband, murdered by her brother Pygmalion for his gold — the trauma framing Dido's tragic story.

A Roman LEGION at full strength under Caesar had approximately:

1. 50 soldiers
2. 500 soldiers
3. 5,000 infantry (organized into 10 cohorts of ~480 men), plus cavalry/auxiliaries attached
4. 50,000 soldiers

Answer: C — 5,000 infantry (organized into 10 cohorts of ~480 men), plus cavalry/auxiliaries attached

Roman legion (post-Marian reforms): ~5,000-6,000 infantry. 10 cohorts × 6 centuries × 80 men. Caesar commanded up to 11 legions in Gaul. Auxiliaries (non-citizens, cavalry, archers) added. Crucial military background for reading Caesar's tactical descriptions.

Translate: 'Caesar veritus ne Helvetii per provinciam iter facerent, pontem rescidit.' What kind of clause is 'ne...facerent'?

1. Purpose negative
2. Indirect command
3. Substantive clause of fear (after 'veritus' = fearing) — 'ne' = lest
4. Result

Answer: C — Substantive clause of fear (after 'veritus' = fearing) — 'ne' = lest

After verbs of fearing, 'ne' + subjunctive means 'lest/that' (positive fear: fear that something WILL happen). 'Ut' would mean 'fear that something will NOT happen' (counterintuitive — reversed). 'Caesar, fearing lest the Helvetii cross through the province, cut down the bridge.'

Which figure of speech occurs when 'and' is omitted between items in a list (e.g., 'veni, vidi, vici')?

1. Alliteration
2. Asyndeton
3. Polysyndeton
4. Chiasmus

Answer: B — Asyndeton

Asyndeton omits conjunctions for swift, emphatic effect. Polysyndeton is the opposite (many conjunctions). Caesar's 'veni, vidi, vici' is the classic example.

In dactylic hexameter, the FIFTH foot is conventionally:

1. Always a spondee
2. Almost always a dactyl (giving the 'da-DUM-de-de' rhythm before the final foot)
3. Always a trochee
4. Always missing

Answer: B — Almost always a dactyl (giving the 'da-DUM-de-de' rhythm before the final foot)

By convention, the 5th foot is dactylic, producing the characteristic 'shave-and-a-haircut' rhythm. Lines with spondaic 5th foot ('spondaic lines') are rare and stylistically marked. Sixth foot = spondee or trochee.

BG 6.21 (Germans on chastity): 'Intra annum vero vicesimum feminae notitiam habuisse in turpissimis habent rebus.' What construction is 'habuisse'?

1. Imperative
2. Future infinitive
3. Subjunctive
4. Perfect active infinitive — subject of 'habent in turpissimis rebus'

Answer: D — Perfect active infinitive — subject of 'habent in turpissimis rebus'

Perfect infinitive 'habuisse' (to have had) functions as subject of the matrix clause. 'Habent in turpissimis rebus' = 'they consider [it] among the most shameful things.' Caesar's ethnographic contrast: Germans value sexual abstinence before age 20.

Aeneid 2.557-558 (on Priam's death): 'iacet ingens litore truncus, / avulsumque umeris caput et sine nomine corpus.' What does 'avulsum' modify?

1. 'caput' — neuter perfect passive participle agreeing with 'caput'
2. 'umeris'
3. 'corpus'
4. 'litore'

Answer: A — 'caput' — neuter perfect passive participle agreeing with 'caput'

'Avulsum' (torn off) is perfect passive participle, neuter nominative singular, agreeing with 'caput' (head, neuter). 'A head torn from the shoulders' (umeris = ablative of separation). The decapitated Priam — image of Troy's utter ruin.

Latin NOUN CASES include:

1. Only nominative + accusative
2. None
3. 12 cases
4. Nominative (subject), genitive (possession), dative (indirect object), accusative (direct object), ablative (by/with/from), vocative (direct address); plus locative for places

Answer: D — Nominative (subject), genitive (possession), dative (indirect object), accusative (direct object), ablative (by/with/from), vocative (direct address); plus locative for places

Five regular cases plus vocative (sometimes counted as separate). Latin is highly inflected — word order more flexible than English because case shows function. AP Latin: must identify case + function in context. Common: ablative absolute, dative of possession, genitive of description.

Famous opening of De Bello Gallico?

'Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres' — 'All Gaul is divided into three parts.'

2nd declension masculine?

Servus (slave). Endings: -us, -i, -o, -um, -o, -e (voc -e is special).

Translate: 'Dico te venire'?

I say (that) you are coming.

AP Latin required readings?

Caesar's De Bello Gallico (selections from Books 1, 4, 5, 6) + Vergil's Aeneid (Books 1, 2, 4, 6 — selected passages).

Femina?

Woman.

Fatum (fate)?

Predetermined destiny. Aeneas is fated to found Rome.