Learning Latin the Ancient Way: Latin Textbooks from the Ancient World

201 Pages·2016·4.26 MB·English

by  Eleanor Dickey

Learning Latin the Ancient Way
What did Greek speakers in the Roman empire do when they wanted
to learn Latin? They used Latin-learning materials containing authentic,
enjoyablevignettesaboutdailylifeintheancientworld–shopping,bank-
ing, going to the baths, having fights, being scolded, making excuses –
verymuchlikethedialoguesinsomeoftoday’sforeign-languagetextbooks.
ThesestoriesprovidepricelessinsightintodailylifeintheRomanempire,as
wellasintohowLatinwaslearnedatthatperiod,andtheywereallwrittenby
RomansinLatinthatwasdesignedtobeeasyforbeginnerstounderstand.
Learnersalsousedspecialbeginners’versionsofgreatLatinauthorsinclud-
ingVirgilandCicero,anddictionaries,grammars,textsinGreektransliter-
ation,etc.Allthesematerialsarenowavailableforthefirsttimetotoday’s
students,inabookdesignedtocomplementmoderntextbooksandenrich
theLatin-learningexperience.
eleanor dickey has taught in Canada and the United States, and is
currently Professor of Classics at the University of Reading. She is a Fel-
low of the British Academy and of the Academia Europaea and has pub-
lished widely on the Latin and Greek languages and how they were stud-
ied in antiquity, including Greek Forms of Address (1996), Latin Forms of
Address(2002),AncientGreekScholarship(2007),andTheColloquiaofthe
HermeneumataPseudodositheana(2012–15).Sheisadedicatedandpassion-
atelanguageteacherwithextensiveexperienceofteachingbothLatinand
Greekatalllevels,inFrenchaswellasinEnglish,andhasbroughtthisexpe-
riencetobearonheradaptationsoftheancientLatin-learningmaterialsfor
modernstudents.
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Frontispiece JudgementsofHadrian(seepassage2.4)intheninth-centurymanuscriptVossianusGr.
Q.7,folio18r.PrintedbykindpermissionofLeidenUniversityLibrary.
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Learning Latin
the Ancient Way
Latin textbooks from
the ancient world
eleanor dickey
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UniversityPrintingHouse,Cambridgecb28bs,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107474574
©EleanorDickey2016
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2016
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.PadstowCornwall
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Dickey,Eleanor,author.
LearningLatintheancientway:Latintextbooksfromtheancientworld/EleanorDickey.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-09360-7(hardback)
1.Latinlanguage–Termsandphrases–Earlyworksto1800. 2.Latinlanguage–Spoken
Latin–Earlyworksto1800. 3.Latinlanguage–Textbooks–Earlyworksto1800.
I.Title. II.Title:Latintextbooksfromtheancientworld.
pa2389.d53 2015
478.2421–dc23 2015012671
isbn978-1-107-09360-7Hardback
isbn978-1-107-47457-4Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracy
ofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
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Thisbookisdedicatedtoallthepeoplewhooriginallycreatedthe
ancientLatin-learningmaterials,hundredsofindividuallanguage
teachersmostofwhosenameshavelongbeenforgottenbutwhose
workhaslastedfarlongerthantheyeverexpected.
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Contents
Listoffigures pagex
Preface xi
1 Introduction 1
1.1 WholearnedLatininantiquity? 1
1.2 HowdidancientstudentslearnLatin? 4
1.3 Howdotheirtextbookssurvive? 6
1.4 Whatisinthisbook? 8
2 Texts 10
2.1 Colloquia 10
2.1.1 Thepreface 12
2.1.2 Achildgetsupinthemorning 12
2.1.3 Agoodchildgoestoschool 14
2.1.4 Thestartofschool 15
2.1.5 Doingschoolwork 16
2.1.6 Amodelschoolboyinamodelschool 18
2.1.7 Thechildrenargue 22
2.1.8 Tuitionpayments 23
2.1.9 Anaccusationoftruancy 24
2.1.10 Thechildgoeshome 25
2.1.11 Atriptothebank 27
2.1.12 Atriptotheclothesmarket 28
2.1.13 Avisittoasickfriend 29
2.1.14 Twocriminaltrials 31
2.1.15 Alawsuit 33
2.1.16 Adisputeresolutionprocedure 38
2.1.17 Anattemptatdebtrecovery 39
2.1.18 Amessagefromafriendinneed 40
2.1.19 Preparationsforhavingaguesttolunch 42
2.1.20 Avisittothebaths 45
2.1.21 Adinnerparty 49
2.1.22 Gettingascolding 52
2.1.23 Bedtime 54
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viii Contents
2.1.24 Aphrasebooksectiononinsults 54
2.1.25 Aphrasebooksectiononexcuses 57
2.1.26 Aphrasebooksectiononcomplaintsaboutabsence 57
2.1.27 Theconclusion 58
2.2 StoriesabouttheTrojanWar 58
2.3 Aesop’sfables 61
2.4 JudgementsofHadrian 64
2.5 Treatiseonmanumission 69
2.6 Virgil’sAeneid 74
2.7 Modelletters 75
2.8 AmarkedcopyofSallust 80
3 Grammaticalworks 82
3.1 Dositheus’grammar 83
3.1.1 Introductiontogrammar 84
3.1.2 Thecasesystem 88
3.2 Charisius’grammar 92
3.2.1 Introductiontotheverb 92
3.2.2 IntroductiontoLatinconjugation 93
3.3 Asetofnounparadigms 95
4 Glossaries 100
4.1 AglossarysectionforwordsbeginningwithH 101
4.2 Aglossarysectiononsacrifices 103
4.3 Glossarysectionsonentertainment 104
4.4 Aglossaryofhomonyms 109
5 Prosecomposition 116
6 Alphabets 119
6.1 Alearner’salphabetwithlineofverse 119
6.2 Alearner’salphabetwithletternames 119
7 Transliteratedtexts 121
7.1 Atransliteratedcolloquium 121
7.2 Atransliteratedlistofverbconjugations 123
7.3 Atransliteratedglossaryofmilitaryterminology 124
7.4 Atransliteratedglossaryofvegetableandfishnames 125
8 TextswiththeoriginalGreek 128
8.1 Acolloquiummorningscene 128
8.2 Acolloquiumschoolscene 129
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