Latin Studies

Latin is the language from which the Romance languages grew, and through which the classical civilisations of Rome transmitted their law, literature, philosophy, and political thought to medieval Europe and, from there, to the modern world. To study Latin is to gain direct access to writers whose influence on Western culture has been immense: Virgil, Cicero, Ovid, Livy, Tacitus, and many others. But Latin studies at degree level goes beyond reading texts in their original form: it involves understanding the culture, history, and society that produced them, and thinking about the long afterlife of the classical world in European and global culture.

At the University of Edinburgh, this four-year, full-time degree includes a year abroad, giving you the opportunity to study aspects of classical or European culture from a different institutional and national vantage point. Edinburgh's classics faculty is strong, and the programme places Latin texts in their historical, literary, and cultural contexts, developing both your linguistic competence and your ability to engage with scholarship in the field. You will read a wide range of authors, studying prose and poetry, political writing and literary fiction, and developing the philological skills to analyse language at a detailed level.

The year abroad enriches this by exposing you to how classical traditions are approached and valued in other academic cultures. A typical entry tariff of 168 UCAS points reflects Edinburgh's academic standing.

Studying Latin develops linguistic precision, close reading habits, historical awareness, and the ability to construct careful arguments from complex evidence. These capacities transfer widely.

Graduates pursue careers in education, law, the civil service, publishing, heritage, journalism, and research. The cultural literacy and disciplinary rigour that Latin studies provides is valued across many professional contexts. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in classical literature, history, or linguistics.