Unit 7 Overview: Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5 Part II, Book 6, and Book 7

3 min read•june 18, 2024

hunter_borg

AP Latin 🏛

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Unit 7 Overview

Salvete! Welcome to AP Latin Unit 7, and back to Julius Caesar. This unit covers Book 5 (chapters 38-48) and books 6 and 7 of the Comentarii de Bello Gallico.

In order to prepare for the exam, you'll be reading chapters 38-48 of Book 5 in Latin and books 6 and 7 in English. Reading over the unit 7 checklist is important in making sure you understand the correct skill categories each guide tackles.

Unit 7 Guide: At a Glance

In AP Latin and other languages, there are no key concepts like there are in other AP subjects. Instead, we will practice skill categories in the form of different style questions to help you prepare for the exam. Then, we will break down the lines within that particular section of the book.

Also, there are 7 different themes within the course catalog that students should be able to know, as well as understand the focus of each theme and its relevance to the text.

Themes of Unit 7

War and Empire (WAE)	1) Why do wars happen? What questions do these works raise about the consequences of war? 2) What questions do the works raise about diplomacy, negotiation, and peacemaking? 3) What are the perspectives of Vergil and Caesar concerning Roman imperialism? What are the perceived purposes, benefits, and costs of the empire? 4) What are the effects of war on women and non-combatants? 5) How do the texts portray enemy groups?
Leadership (LDR)	1) What different types of leaders (both male and female) and leadership styles do we see in these works? 2) How do leaders deal with setbacks and failures? 3) How does a leader inspire others to follow?
History and Memory (HIS)	1) How do these works reflect the conflicts of the era in which they were written, both explicitly and implicitly? 2) In what ways do the works reflect the impact of an individual on historical events? 3) Within these works, how does shared experience build and sustain communities? 4) How do the authors use historical exempla (heroic ancestors, critical events), and for what purposes? 5) How do individuals in these works use their understanding of the past to create their present and future? 6) How do the authors see the importance of historical events for the Roman people?

Contextualization for the Comentarii de Bello Gallico

Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, or Commentaries on the Gallic War, is a set of seven books written by Julius Caesar, detailing his military campaigns in Gaul (modern-day France) between 58 and 52 BC. The work covers Caesar's conquest of Gaul, which was a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman Republic against several Gallic tribes. The wars were fought primarily in what is now France and Belgium, but also in other parts of Gaul, such as modern-day Switzerland, and parts of Germany. The Commentaries provides a first-hand account of Caesar's military strategies, battles, and interactions with the Gauls, as well as the political and social context of the time.

The works are written in Latin prose, which is essentially for Julius Caesar just his normal writing. Some of the more important tribes Julius Caesar fought against were the Helvetii, the Aquitani, the Nervii, and the Veneti. You will learn more about them within the texts.