An Introduction to Latin Literature and Style by Floyd L. Moreland Rita M. Fleischer revised by Andrew Keller Stephanie Russell Clement Dunbar The Latin/Greek Institute The City University ojNew York Introduction These materials have been prepared to fit the needs of the Summer Latin Institute of Brooklyn College and The City University of New York. and they are structured as an appropriate sequel to Moreland and Fleischer. Latin: An Intensive Course (University of California Press. 1974). However, students can use these materials with equal effectiveness after the completion of any basic grammar text and in any intermediate Latin course whose aim is to introduce students to a variety of authors of both prose and poetry. The materials are especially suited to an intensive or accelerated intermediate course. The authors firmly believe that, upon completion of a basic introduction to grammar. the only way to learn Latin well is to read as much as possible. A prime obstacle to reading is vocabulary: students spend much energy and time looking up the enormous number of words they do not know. Following the system used by Clyde Pharr in Vergil's Aeneid. Books I-VI (Heath. 1930), this problem is minimized by glossing unfamiliar words on each page oftext. Whether a word is familiar or not has been determined by its occurrence or omission in the formal unit vocabularies of Moreland and Fleischer, Latin: An Intensive Course. Students will need to know the words included in the vocabularies of that text and be acquainted with some of the basic principles of word formation. This system of prOViding vocabulary has obvious advantages: (a) It permits greater speed in reading and affords the opportunity of covering far more text in the same time that is allotted to dictionary work and reading in more conventional systems. (b) Since it provides students with all the basic information they need about the words in question, they can focus greater attention on the structure of the Latin, on its syntax and style. (c) It eliminates much of the fatigue and frustration which derive from constant fingering through the dictionary. At the same time, we felt that there should be some controlled way of assuring that each student will steadily increase his active vocabulary. For this reason, each word which occurs three or more times in the text is arrowed at its first occurrence and does not subsequently appear in the visual vocabularies. except in cases where it has a specialized meaning. These words are to be learned and retained as part of the student's active vocabulary. Some exceptions to this principle have been made in the case of words which we considered rare (either in fact or for this level of work), such as capella (which occurs several times in Vergil's first Eclogue) and condit6rium (in the selection from Petronius' Satyricon). Such words are arrowed and are glossed each time they occur. Since many contemporary students begin Latin very late in their college careers and Since an increasing number have very little time to devote to their experience with this language and literature. we feel it important to incorporate a survey of the major development of the literature and the style of the language into the curriculum of the intermediate level course in reading. We judge this benefiCial because: (a) it provides a backdrop or framework for the general progression of the language and literature so that major authors like Cicero, Horace. or Vergil can be seen in perspective and not just as entities unto themselves; (b) it introduces students to brief selections from a variety of authors. facilitating their ability to choose wisely which authors they may wish to i ii An Introduction to Latin Literature and Style pursue in greater depth; (c) it increases an awareness of style and linguistic structure. This affords the ability to appreciate more acutely the specific stylistic achievements of a Cicero or a Tacitus than is possible in more conventional settings where the student is thrown into such authors with no ready frame of stylistic or literary reference; (d) it makes exercises in prose composition potentially more meaningful, for at a very early stage, such exercises can focus not only on morphology and syntax but on stylistic variations as well. Notes on the Latin text are kept to a minimum to encourage students to fend for themselves, except in areas of extreme difficulty or obscurity. The book is divided into four main sections: (1) A survey of Latin literature from Livius Andronicus through Tacitus, with a brief conSideration of the transition into the medieval period. Succinct introductions precede each author and selection and are designed primarily to stress the salient features of language, style, and theme which the selections illustrate. (2) The First Catilinarian of Cicero is included to afford an opportunity to read a prose work continuously from beginning to end and also to introduce students more extensively to features of rhetoriC. For those instructors who wish to omit the survey of Latin literature·or to deal with it after providing more extensive practice in reading Cicero, the vocabularies have been structured so that either part I or part II can be introduced without the other as prerequisite. That is, if a word occurs three or more times in part I and so has been arrowed, it will nonetheless be glossed ifit reappears in part II. (3) A modest selection of odes from Horace may serve as an introduction to lyric poetry and affords an opportunity to experiment with some of the metrical schemes found in Horace. The vocabulary listing, again, does not presuppose the completion of parts I or II as prerequisite. The observations on metrics. however. do assume that students have studied the discussions of metrics that precede the selections from Ennius and Catullus in part I. (4) Selections from the prose of Saint AugUstine prOVide students with a link between the thought and language of the classical and medieval periods. The vocabulary listing, again, does not presuppose completion of parts I, II, or III. An appendix of major rhetorical figures with examples from English literature and from the selections in parts I and II (as well as from Vergil, Aeneid IV) is included for reference. In this book. i-stem nouns of the third declension are not indicated as such in the vocabularies at the foot of the page. They will be so deSignated in the final vocabulary at the end of the book. In order to prepare students for dealing with actual Latin texts, long marks (macrons) are not included in the text but do appear in the visual vocabularies so as to facilitate pronunciation and, where applicable, scansion. The authors wish to express their thanks to Professor Dennis J. Spininger of the Department of Comparative Literature at Brooklyn College for collecting the English examples in the appendix on figures of rhetoriC. Special gratitude is owed An Introduction to Latin Literature and Style iii to colleagues and students in the 1974 Summer Latin Institute who tested some of these materials in the classroom and were responsible for many positive revi­ sions. A greater number will surely follow. New York FLM February 1975 RMF Introduction to the Second Edition The second edition of this book is being issued to students of the 1992 Latin Institute of Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate School. It has been sub­ stantially corrected. revised. and re-arranged by John F. CollinS. many other staff members ofthe Institute. and most recently by Andrew Keller and Stephanie Russell. Clement Dunbar. an alumnus and former staff member of the Latin Institute. has been responsible for computer processing and production. Although the book is now in an incomplete and temporary form. it has nevertheless undergone some improvements that will remain: apprOximately twenty more Catullus poems have been included. the first fifteen chapters of Sal­ lust's Bellum Catllinae have been added, and-most important-the book has been brought into line with the Institute's current curriCulum. New York FLM May 1992 RMF Introduction to the Third Edition The third edition of this book is being issued to students of the 1993 Latin Institute of Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate School. Andrew Keller. Stephanie Russell, and Clement Dunbar have continued their efforts at correction and revision. More chapters of Sallust's Bellum Catilinae have been added, and several selections added to the Prose and Poetry Surveys appear for the first time. All these additions represent necessary parts of the Latin Institute's current curriculum. Much work has also been done to improve vocabulary acqUisition by stu­ dents as they make their way through the book. (3rd declenSion i-stem nouns are now indicated as such.) An added note explainS the system of arrowed words. Macrons have been added to the texts of Cicero, In Catilinam I, and Sallust, Bellum Catilinae. Since these texts are read immediately after the completion of Moreland and Fleischer, macrons aid students in acqUiring an appreCiation of Latin prose rhythms. It is hoped that by the summer of 1994 the book will be completed in a form that will make it useful for many future Institutes. New York FLM May 1993 RMF iv A Note on Vocabulary The vocabulary glosses provided on each page beneath the texts in this book have been prepared according to a section-by-section system designed to aid stu­ dents in continuing regular vocabulary acquisition after mastering all words pre­ sented in the eighteen unit vocabularies of Latin: An Intensive Course by Moreland and Fleischer. The vocabulary glosses in this book assume mastery of all words in the Moreland and Fleischer text.