2024 AP Latin Exam Guide

Your Guide to the 2024 AP Latin Exam

A quick pep talk before we start

You've been (likely) prepping for months for this exam! 🤓 One three hour test can never measure everything you've learned from studying Latin for a full year. So please, don't let your AP scores define you!

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's focus a bit more on the actual exam.

We created a study plan to help you crush your AP Latin exam. This guide will continue to update with information about the 2024 exams, as well as helpful resources to help you do your best on test day. Unlock Cram Mode for access to our cram events—students who have successfully passed their AP exams will answer your questions and guide your last-minute studying LIVE! And don't miss out on unlimited access to our database of thousands of practice questions. 

Format of the 2024 AP Latin Exam

• • Section 1: Multiple Choice- - 50 questions | 1 hour | 50% of score- - 4 types of questions- - Syllabus reading: Vergil (10-12 questions)- - Syllabus reading: Caesar (10-12 questions)- - Sight reading: Poetry (13-15 questions)- - Sight reading: Prose (13-14 questions)
• • Section 2: Free Response- - 5 questions | 2 hours | 50% of score- - 2 translation questions where you will literally translate a short passage from Vergil and a short passage from Caesar.- - 1 analytical essay question where you will be asked to analyze the linguistic and literary features of two passages from required readings in comparative analysis.- - 2 short-answer questions where you will be asked to answer 5-7 questions based on one passage from Vergil and one from Caesar. The College Board has said that there is not a specific weighting by unit, rather that there will be a certain amount of questions from their so-called "syllabus reading," which are the sections mentioned in the syllabus 📜 , and "Sight Reading," which are the sections not covered in the syllabus.

When is the 2024 AP Latin Exam and How Do I Take It?

**The exam is on paper, in school, on Friday, May 17, 2024, at 12:00 PM, your local time. **

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How Should I Prepare for the Exam?

• • First, download the AP Latin Cheatsheet PDF - a single sheet that covers everything you need to know at a high level. Take note of your strengths and weaknesses!
• • We've put together the study plan found below to help you study between now and May. This will cover all of the units and essay types to prepare you for your exam. Pay special attention to the units that you need the most improvement in.
• • Study, practice, and review for test day with other students during our live cram sessions via Cram Mode. Cram live streams will teach, review, and practice important topics from AP courses, college admission tests, and college admission topics. These streams are hosted by experienced students who know what you need to succeed.

Pre-Work: Set Up Your Study Environment

Before you begin studying, take some time to get organized.

🖥 Create a study space.

Make sure you have a designated place at home to study. Somewhere you can keep all of your materials, where you can focus on learning, and where you are comfortable. Spend some time prepping the space with everything you need and you can even let others in the family know that this is your study space. 

📚 Organize your study materials.

Get your notebook, textbook, prep books, or whatever other physical materials you have. Also, create a space for you to keep track of review. Start a new section in your notebook to take notes or start a Google Doc to keep track of your notes. Get yourself set up!

📅 Plan designated times for studying.

The hardest part about studying from home is sticking to a routine. Decide on one hour every day that you can dedicate to studying. This can be any time of the day, whatever works best for you. Set a timer on your phone for that time and really try to stick to it. The routine will help you stay on track.

🏆 Decide on an accountability plan.

How will you hold yourself accountable to this study plan? You may or may not have a teacher or rules set up to help you stay on track, so you need to set some for yourself. First, set your goal. This could be studying for x number of hours or getting through a unit. Then, create a reward for yourself. If you reach your goal, then x. This will help stay focused!

AP Latin 2024 Study Plan

Review the unit guides to freshen up your knowledge on the required texts for AP Latin!

⚔️ Unit 1: Vergil, Aeneid, Book 1

To review the Latin, literal and interpretative translations, and quiz yourself on the first book of Aeneid, use the following study guides.

• • 1.0 Unit 1 Overview: Vergil, Aeneid, Book 1
• • 1.1 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 1, Lines 1-209
• • 1.2 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 1, Lines 418-440
• • 1.3 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 1, Lines 494-578

🥗 Unit 2: Caesar, Gallic War, Books 1 & 6

To review the Latin, literal and interpretative translations, and quiz yourself on the first and sixth book of Gallic War, use the following study guides.

• • 2.0 Unit 2 Overview: Caesar, Gallic War, Books 1 & 6
• • 2.1 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 1, Chapters 1-7
• • 2.2 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 6, Chapters 13-20

🔥 Unit 3: Vergil, Aeneid, Book 2

To review the Latin, literal and interpretative translations, and quiz yourself on the second book of Aeneid, use the following study guides.

• • 3.0 Unit 3 Overview: Vergil, Aeineid, Book 2
• • 3.1 Book II: The Burning of Troy
• • 3.2 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 2, Lines 201-249
• • 3.3 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 2, Lines 268-297
• • 3.4 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 2, Lines 559-620

🏇 Unit 4: Caesar, Gallic War, Book 4

To review the Latin, literal and interpretative translations, and quiz yourself on the fourth book of Gallic War, use the following study guides.

• • 4.0 Unit 4 Overview: Caesar, Gallic War, Book 4
• • 4.1 Book IV: 55 B.C. Chapters 24-25
• • 4.2 Book IV: 55 B.C. Chapters 26-28
• • 4.3 Book IV: 55 B.C. Chapters 29-31
• • 4.4 Book IV: 55 B.C. Chapters 32-35 and First Line of Chapter 36

👑 Unit 5: Vergil, Aeneid, Book 4

To review the Latin, literal and interpretative translations, and quiz yourself on the fourth book of Aeneid, use the following study guides.

• • 5.0 Unit 5 Overview: Vergil, Aeneid, Book 4
• • 5.1 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 4, Lines 160-218
• • 5.2 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 4, Lines 259-295
• • 5.3 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 4, Lines 296-361
• • 5.4 Vergil, Aeneid, Book 4, Lines 659-705

🥊 Unit 4: Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Part I

To review the Latin, literal and interpretative translations, and quiz yourself on the first part of the fifth book of Gallic War, use the following study guides.

• • 6.0 Unit 6 Overview: Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Part I
• • 6.1 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Part I, Chapters 24-26
• • 6.2 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Part I, Chapters 27-29
• • 6.3 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Part I, Chapters 30-32
• • 6.4 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Part I, Chapters 33-35
• • 6.5 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Part I, Chapters 36-37

🧄 Unit 4: Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5 Part II, Book 6, and Book 7

To review the Latin, literal and interpretative translations, and quiz yourself on the second part of the fifth, sixth, and seventh books of Gallic War, use the following study guides.

• • 7.0 Unit 7 Overview: Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5 Part II, Book 6, and Book 7
• • 7.1 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Chapters 38-40
• • 7.2 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Chapters 41-43
• • 7.3 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Chapters 44-46
• • 7.4 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 5, Chapters 47-48
• • 7.5 Caesar, Gallic War, Book 6

Exam Practice

Review the following tips and tricks and practice for the AP Latin Exam!

Section 1: Multiple Choice Questions

This section mostly consists of single passages, followed by sets of questions asking about various sections of the passage, such as literary devices 📝, translations in context, and scansion. 

Strategies For the Multiple Choice Section 💪

• Read the questions first before reading the passage.- It's especially important to avoid wasting time reading the whole passage and trying to translate it before looking at the questions. Think about it this way: Keep your end goal in mind. On the exam, your end goal is to answer as many questions correctly as you can, rather than rendering a translation of every passage provided on the exam.
• Understand that you may not be able to translate the entire passsage.- And that is absolutely alright! College Board isn't looking to see how good of a translator you are, they're looking to see how well you can pick out certain elements within a given passage.
• Make ABSOLUTELY sure that you are referring to the correct word in the text (when the question specifies.) - If a question asks you to translate a word or words in context, make sure that you are translating the right instance of that word. It's critical to double check, especially when that word is a pronoun, like a form of "qui/quae/quod."
• For sight 👓 passages, quickly scan the passage after reading the questions to see if there are any phrases that you already know from your syllabus reading.- Sight 👓 passages are meant to test your understanding of the full story behind the Aeneid and the De Bello Gallico. What they are NOT meant to do, however, is to see how fast you can translate. That is left to the syllabus readings, which you are expected to have read and translated throughout your time in class.

Sample MC Questions

Questions 1-5 refer to the following passage below:

Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs Ītaliam, fātō profugus, Lāvīniaque vēnit lītora, multum ille et terrīs iactātus et altō vī superum saevae memorem Iūnōnis ob īram; multa quoque et bellō passus, dum conderet urbem, inferretque deōs Latiō, genus unde Latīnum, Albānīque patrēs, atque altae moenia Rōmae. Mūsa, mihī causās memorā, quō nūmine laesō, quidve dolēns, rēgīna deum tot volvere cāsūs īnsīgnem pietāte virum, tot adīre labōrēs impulerit. Tantaene animīs caelestibus īrae? Aeneid*,* 1.1-11

1. • Translate vī superum of line 4.A) Of the power of the godsB) With the power of the godsC) The power of the godsD) By the power of the gods
2. • What is the scansion for Albānīque patrēs, atque altae?A) spondee-dactyl-spondee-spondeeB) dactyl-spondee-spondee-spondeeC) spondee-dactyl-dactyl-spondeeD) dactyl-dactyl-dactyl-spondee
3. • Who is the passage about?A) JupiterB) AeneasC) MarsD) Ascanius
4. • What is the case of quo in line 8?A) NominativeB) DativeC) AblativeD) Genitive
5. • What figure of speech is Arma in the first line?A) MetonymyB) ChiasmusC) EnjambmentD) Tmesis

Answers (Don't peek! 👀)

1. D
2. A
3. B
4. C
5. A

Section 2: Free-Response Questions

This section consists of: 

• 2 translation questions (1 from Caesar and 1 from Virgil), which ask you to translate a passage as literally as possible
• 1 "Long Essay Question," which asks you to compare 2 passages from the syllabus readings and compare their literary features
• 2 "Short-Answer Questions," which ask questions similar to the MCQs, but without answer choices. Since the Short Answer Questions are almost exactly the same as the MCQs, strategies for those also apply here.

Strategies for the Translation Questions 🤨

These can be tough. After answering 50 MCQs, the first 2 questions you're faced with on the FRQ section are these two. However, there are a few tricks to make these questions a bit less daunting.

• Don't be afraid to leave blanks.- It's perfectly fine if you can't translate a certain word/words in a sentence. Leave a space where you think the word/words should go, and come back to it. Sometimes the rest of the sentence will offer some clues as to what those words should be.
• Don't stress about idiomatic translations.- It's especially important, on these translation questions, to focus more on producing a translation that accurately captures the grammar and meaning of the words, rather than the idiomatic meanings of certain phrases. For example, it is totally fine to say "to hold in memory" instead of "to remember" when translating "memoria tenere."

Strategies for the Long Essay Question 🖊️

The LEQ is by far the hardest question on the exam. But don't worry! It's definitely not as hard as it looks, and it's certainly not impossible. That being said, here are some strategies to break this essay down.

• Make sure you're making connections between the passages while you're reading.- One of the most important parts of the LEQ is to not only analyze the passages separately, but to look at the two passages together.
• You MUST use the Latin to support your point in the essay. - During your essay, you must use Latin quotes(either direct quotes or line numbers) from both passages, and you MUST either translate or paraphrase the Latin to show that you understand what is being said in the selections you use.

Sample Free Response Questions

1. Translate the following passage as literally as possible.

Interea magno misceri murmure caelum incipit, insequitur commixta grandine nimbus, et Tyrii comites passim et Troiana iuventus Dardaniusque nepos Veneris diversa per agros tecta metu petiere; ruunt de montibus amnes. Aeneid 4.160-164

1. Translate the following passage as literally as possible.

Subductis navibus concilioque Gallorum Samarobrivae peracto, quod eo anno frumentum in Gallia propter siccitates angustius provenerat, coactus est aliter ac superioribus annis exercitum in hibernis collocare legionesque in plures civitates distribuere. Ex quibus unam in Morinos ducendam Gaio Favio legato dedit, Caesar 5.24 1-5

Questions 3-7 refer to the passage below.

sic fatus ualidis ingentem viribus hastam in latus inque feri curvam compagibus alvum contorsit. stetit illa tremens, uteroque recusso insonuere cavae gemitumque dedere cavernae. et, si fata deum, si mens non laeva fuisset, impulerat ferro Argolicas foedare latebras, Troiaque nunc staret, Primique arx alta maneres. Aeneid 2.50-56

1. Who is the subject of Line 50?

2. According to line 53, what is ONE and ONLY ONE quality of the spear after it hits the horse?

3. Translate "si fata deum" (Line 54) in the context of the passage.

4. What sort of grammatical construction is "uteroque recusso" (Line 52)?

5. Who else warns the Trojans against the horse, but is ignored by the crowd? 

Answers! (Don't peek) 👀

1. Laocoon
2. It trembles/the sound reverberates throughout the horse
3. If the gods' fate OR if the fate of the gods
4. Ablative Absolute
5. Cassandra

More Long Essay Questions are available at College Board's website below!

👉Past AP Latin FRQs