Pupils found the storyline in this year’s Higher Latin translation “unusual and unexpected” but generally felt the paper was easier than previous years, according to Geoffrey Boath, a classics teacher at Eastbank Academy in Glasgow.

The translation always features a text by Cicero, Mr Boath explained: “This year, it was about a man trying to marry a woman, who has a lot of money, after murdering her husband. She refuses, not because he is a murderer, but because he has two sons. So he kills them.”

Candidates found the story “peculiar” but there were helpful pieces of English writing introducing each section which allowed them to unscramble it, said Mr Boath. “There were no grammatical difficulties. Pupils thought the paper may have been easier than in previous years.”

The interpretation section tackled Cicero’s (pictured)Verrine V and a Roman comedy by Plautus, Rudens - “think Up Pompeii and you get an idea,” he said.