OCR AS Level Latin Past Papers

The ablative absolute is among the most frequently tested Latin constructions at AS Level and the one most consistently mishandled. It consists of a noun (or pronoun) in the ablative case together with a participle (most commonly a perfect passive participle or a present active participle), both agreeing in number and gender, and functioning as an adverbial phrase modifying the main clause. The correct English rendering depends on the temporal relationship: a perfect participle ablative absolute usually translates as 'having been [verb]ed' or more naturally as 'when/since/because [subject] had been [verb]ed'. For example, 'hostibus victis, dux laetus erat' — ablative absolute: 'hostibus victis' (the enemies having been defeated) — translates naturally as 'When the enemies had been defeated, the general was happy.' For the indirect statement (accusative and infinitive) construction — the most structurally complex feature of Latin syntax — identify three components: the introductory verb of saying/thinking/knowing, the accusative subject of the indirect statement, and the infinitive (present, perfect, or future). The tense of the infinitive is relative to the introductory verb: present infinitive = same time; perfect infinitive = prior time; future infinitive = later time. 'Dicit Caesarem venire' = 'He says that Caesar is coming.' 'Dicit Caesarem venisse' = 'He says that Caesar came/has come.' For literary analysis of Virgil's Aeneid, the key terms are: epic simile (an extended comparison introduced by 'just as...so...' that slows the narrative and adds heroic gravitas), in medias res (beginning the narrative in the middle of the action — the Aeneid opens with the storm, not with the fall of Troy), ekphrasis (detailed description of a work of art within the narrative — such as the shield of Aeneas in Book 8), and anaphora (repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines for rhetorical emphasis). Identify these devices in set text passages and explain their specific effect.