NJCL Certamen

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The following text was provided by Thomas Reed, National Junior Classical League (NJCL) Certamen Chairman. All copyrights belong to the NJCL organization.

Contents

Competitive Certamen

There are three divisions of NJCL Competitive Certamen: Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced. Novice Division is for any student who is registered at the convention as a Latin 1/2 or Latin 1 student. Inter¬mediate Division is for any student who is registered at the convention as a Latin 2 student or any level lower than Latin 2. Advanced Division is open to any JCLer, though it is designed for those competing as Latin 3 or higher. No student may enter more than one level of Competitive Certamen.

Each state/province may enter one Novice, one Intermediate and one Advanced Level Certamen team. It is up to each State/Provincial Chair or a designated representative to organize those teams which they will be sending to compete at Nationals. It is no longer required that either the team rosters or notification be given before competition. However, ALL TEAMS (OR AT MINIMUM ONE DESIGNATED PROXY FROM EACH STATE) MUST BE PRESENT AT COMPETITIVE CERTAMEN ORIENTATION. Failure to be present at the orientation means that you do not plan on competing and will not be allowed to compete. If for some reason at least one member of your team, or a proxy for your team, will be unable to attend the orientation, advanced notice must be given, since the draw is determined at that time. In case this is necessary, or in case of an emergency related to certamen during Nationals, call Mr. Reed at 571-436-1182.

A team roster form will be provided to the teams’ State Chairs during registration at the convention. THIS FORM MUST BE SIGNED BY A STATE CHAIR OR AN ACTING STATE CHAIR AT CONVENTION. A state Certamen team may be composed of up to four members, but states may list up to four more alternates on the team roster. Alternates may be rotated in or out at the beginning of any round at the discretion of the team coach, but no changes may be made during a round. Alternates are NOT eligible to play in the Open Certa¬men Competition.

Each team will draw for position for the first three rounds of play. Every team will play at least three times. The fourth round will be a semifinal round open only to the top nine state teams in each division of play. Further questions should be directed to Mr. Reed at certamen@njcl.org

2007 NJCL Certamen Question Categories

Language Skills

  • Latin vocabulary, grammar and syntax, forms and inflections, derivatives and etymology, translation, abbreviations and phrases in current English usage, oral comprehension.

Mythology (all levels)

  • Gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, Greek pre-history (the Trojan War, city foundation legends, etc.), Roman pre-history (Aeneas and the Aeneadae through Romulus and Remus).

History of the Ancient World

  • On all levels: Roman history, 753 BC to the reign of Constantine, with only major events/leaders up to the fall of Constantinople.
  • Daily life in the Roman World: All students will be expected to be acquainted with the daily life of the average Roman in Rome; as the level of competition advances, players are also expected to be familiar with ancient architecture, art and technology and with Roman governmental and military institutions.

Literature (Advanced Level only)

  • The important Roman authors from every period and all important works of Roman literature; rhetorical and poetic terms and devices (including the most important meters: dactylic hexameter, elegiac couplets and hendecasyllabic); recognition and analysis of passages from various authors. Students should pay particular attention to passages from the Aeneid, with identification of speaker and interlocutor.

Distribution of Questions

Questions in each round are taken from the above four cardinal categories in the following proportions:

  • Novice and Intermediate Levels: 50% from I, 25% each from II and III
  • Advanced Level: 40% from I, 20% each from II, III and IV

Question Sources

Note: ALL OF THE SOURCES LISTED IN THIS BOOKLET FOR THE ACADEMIC CONTESTS ARE CONSIDERED SOURCES FOR CERTAMEN. Students and coaches should be aware, however, that no source is correct 100% of the time. Many contain small errors here and there which are known to the moderators and question writers. In the event of a discrepancy or protest, the issue will be debated among the moderators and a resolution provided. For categories III and IV below, the Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd edition remains the summa auctoritas, though some questions may be taken from the new entries of the 3rd edition.

I. Allen and Greenough is the authority on most grammar and syntax questions. In the event that the Allen & Greenough is insufficient in its explanation or fails to fully account for variations in constructions and forms, both the Lewis and Short and the Oxford Latin Dictionary will be consulted for information. Ultimately, however, syntax and grammar are drawn from actual Roman literature, and it is the ancient writings which are considered the true sources. Both the Lewis and Short and the Oxford Latin Dictionary are the authorities on spelling, vocabulary, translation into English, and the occurrence or non-occurrence of forms. Moreover, modern technology now allows us to perform simple searches through most of the ancient literature, and this is consulted quite often throughout the process. Any thorough English dictionary is an adequate source for etymology and Latin abbreviations used in English.

In addition to the Allen & Greenough, the Lewis & Short, and the Oxford Latin Dictionary, the following (though certainly not essential for every student) are also considered to be general sources:


II. There is no single source for mythology. An answer must be verifiable in one of the following dictionaries or in an original source. Questions based on a particular author’s variant version of a myth will be so stated: e.g., "according to Ovid" or "in Euripides."

  • Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology, Michael Grant and John Hazel
  • Who’s Who in Classical Mythology, Michael Grant (paperback version of previous title)
  • Classical Mythology (3rd edition or later), Mark Morford and Robert Lenardon
  • Crowell’s Handbook of Classical Mythology, Edward Tripp
  • Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology (paperback version of previous title)
  • Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Pierre Grimal


III. For Roman daily life, the two main sources are the The Oxford Classical Dictionary and Harold Johnston’s Private Life of the Romans.

For Roman history, there are five additional sources:

  • The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd and 3rd editions
  • The Penguin Dictionary of Ancient History
  • Rome, An Archaeological Guide, Amanda Claridge, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-288003-9
  • A Guide to the Ancient World, A Dictionary of Classical Place Names, Michael Grant, Wilson Company, ISBN 0-8242-0742-4
  • A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, L. Richardson, Jr., John Hopkins University Press, ISBN 0801843006


IV. The additional sources for literature are:

  • The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 2nd and 3rd editions
  • The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
  • Crowell’s Handbook of Latin Literature by Lillian Feder

Open Certamen

The purpose of Open Certamen is to provide an opportunity for students who wish to engage in FRIENDLY competition to do so. There will be no "state" teams. Each team, randomly selected, will have members from three or four states. There will be three levels of competition: Latin I, Latin II, and Advanced (Latin III, IV, V). Anyone chosen to be among the players on an official state Certamen team participating at this National Convention is ineligible for this event. Also, registered alternates for Competitive Certamen teams are ineligible for Open Certamen. The designated purpose of Open Certamen is to allow those delegates without much previous practice the chance to experience Certamen on a fun level, without the pressure of Competitive Certamen. Winners in all levels will receive certificates.

All persons wishing to play Open Certamen will be asked to reconfirm their desire to do so by registering with the chairs on Wednesday. The competition will take place on Thursday. Be sure to check this year’s convention schedule for any possible conflicts. The top three teams on each level in the preliminary round are expected to play in the finals on Friday.

The World Series of Certamen

The World Series is a new contest for the purpose of providing ACL and/or SCL members (i.e. college students, high school teachers, college professors, etc.) an opportunity to engage in certamen competition. There will be no "state" teams. Each team may be composed of up to three players who are attending the NJCL convention as either SCL or ACL members. Players MUST attend the World Series of Certamen orientation, which will be held just after the orientation meeting for Competitive Certamen. Depending on the number of competitors, there may be two levels of competition, one for those who wish to play for fun and one for those who wish to play competitively. The level of difficulty of the questions will be approximately the Advanced level, though some questions may be easier and some significantly more difficult. Encourage your sponsors and chaperones to sign up.

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