Scholae aestivae in Italia:
from the 2nd to the 18th of July, 2025
Montella, et gelidi valete fontes,
et silvae, et nemora alta castanetis.
Tunc me frigoribus tuis tenebas,
Montella, alpigenum e choro sororum
una nobiliorque laetiorque,
cum Canis rapido aestuabat ore.
Janus Anysius
(Iani Anysii Varia poemata et satyrae,
ad Pompeium Columnam cardinalem,
Naples 1531, f. 25 v. – 26 r.)
What are they, and whom are they for?
The Scholae aestivae in Italia offer an intensive Latin course at the advanced level (with one optional Greek class a day), for those who already know the essential of grammar (morphology and syntax) and the about 3000 words that constitute the core vocabulary of the language: if you learn Latin with Lingua Latina per se illustrata, you should have read all Familia Romana and the first ten chapters of Roma aeterna.
Our goal is to improve your Latin, by putting you directly in contact, as it were, with classics of every age, who will also be carefully analysed and discussed.
This will be a numerus clausus course: the maximum number of participants will be 35.
Lessons will be entirely in Latin. It is therefore desirable (though not strictly necessary) that participants should be able, at least to a certain extent, to use the language actively.
Our teachers will propose passages taken from various Latin authors – ancient, medieval and modern. We shall also do many and various exercises, both written and oral.
Participants will sometimes be divided into smaller groups, both in order to allow our teachers to better meet the needs of individual learners and in order to let you take part in our seminars.
Furthemore, we’ll offer a daily spoken Greek class at the intermediate level, which will be optional.
There will be about 85 hours of classes in total.
Here is the schedule of a typical day (but some changes are possible, of course):
8: breakfast;
9:15 – 10:15: lessons;
10:15 – 10:30: coffee break;
10:30 – 11.30: lessons;
11:30 – 11:45: coffee break;
11:45 – 12:45: lessons;
13 – 15: lunch and free time;
15 – 15:45: optional Greek class;
16 – 17: lessons;
17 – 17:15: coffee break;
17:15 – 18:15: lessons;
18:15 – 20: free time;
20: dinner.
Excursions
We shall also make four excursions to places of historical and cultural interest: two to close and two to less close places.
As for the close places: we shall visit some abbeys or other medieval monuments, of which there are many in the Montella area.
In addition to this, we shall make two day-trips: on Sunday the 6th of July, to the national archaeological museum of Naples, with its splendid Farnese collection and the many findings from Pompeii and Herculaneum, and on Sunday the 13th of July, to Paestum, with its majestic Greek temples. See some images below.
We shall read together some relevant passages from authors of various ages, in order to hear the voice of classical writers, as it were, where their echo is stronger.
Where? When?
Classes will run from the 3rd to the 17th of July. The course will take place in Montella, a town in Campania about an hour’s drive from Naples and about three hours’ drive from Rome. Montella is a peaceful and pretty mountain town, surrounded by woods and rich in history and tradition.
Participants are expected and will be welcomed on July the 2nd. Departure is set for:
– the morning of the 10th of July, if you choose option B;
– the morning of the 18th, if you choose option A or C.
How to reach us
You can get to Montella by car or by bus. Buses leave from Rome to Montella every day: some of them have no intermediate stops, some stop at Avellino, where you will have to change buses for Montella. Buses also leave daily from Naples and Salerno to Avellino: once you are at Avellino, you will have to change buses for Montella.
If you like, with a little extra charge we can send a car to Avellino to pick you up. You can get to Avellino from many other Italian cities, by bus (or by train).
If a sufficient number of participants asks for it, we shall rent a private bus, which, with a little extra charge, will take you from Naples airport, or railway station, to Montella.
Location, accommodation and meals
The course will take place in the De Marco palace, an elegant building of the beginning of the 20th century, which stands in the park of the same name – in the centre of Montella.
Participants will take their meals at the “Zia Carmela” (“Aunt Carmela”) hotel, and will sleep either at the same hotel, or at the “Irpinia bike house”, or at the “Soggiorno Boccuti”, all at a few hundred metres from the De Marco palace. Accommodation consists of a double room, with an en-suite bathroom and internet connection.
For single rooms a daily supplement of 30 euros will apply.
How to apply
Registration closes on May the 10th. However, it might be closed before, as soon as the maximum number of 35 participants is reached. So apply sooner rather than later!
To register for the Scholae aestivae in Italia, please fill out the form at the bottom of the page and send a deposit according to the option chosen. Upon receiving the application, you will be provided all details needed to make the bank transfer. Registration is only valid upon receipt of the deposit, provided the deposit is sent within ten days from the sending of the form.
– Option A: all inclusive (course, meals, coffee breaks and accommodation as described above [double room], didactic material and excursions), from the 2nd to the 18th of July: 2050 euros per person; deposit: 1000 euros.
– Option B: all inclusive (course, meals, coffee breaks and accommodation as described above [double room], didactic material and excursions), from the 2nd to the 10th of July: 1040 euros per person; deposit: 500 euros.
– Option C: all inclusive (course, meals, coffee breaks and accommodation as described above [double room], didactic material and excursions), from the 10th to the 18th of July: 1040 euros per person; deposit: 500 euros.
– Option D: lessons only (lessons, didactic material and coffee breaks): 65 euros per day; deposit: half the total amount due.
About us
The videos below contain the voices and the testimonies of some of those who took part in our courses.