Rome and Her Kings: Livy I: Graded Selections

This graded reader is a wonderful introduction to reading Latin. The passages are edited to allow students with an understanding of Latin grammatical concepts to apply that knowledge. Unlike many recently published textbooks, the notes and vocabulary in *Rome and Her Kings* are not underneath each passage, but instead are grouped in sections following the passages. While this may result in considerable page flipping for students who wish to use the notes alongside the text, the separation also discourages dependence on the notes, which is all too easy when they are right below the Latin. Thus students who are stuck on a sentence can refer to the notes or glossary in the back for help, but they are encouraged to try translating on their own, which is what ‘reading’ really is. Moreover, the content of the passages makes this text an even more appealing resource. When I was taking Latin, we memorized the names of the seven Kings of Rome, and so the order of succession was all I knew. This text starts with the destruction of Troy and journey of Aeneas to Italy and goes through the early historical figures and monarchs of Rome individually, providing interesting stories to give meaning to the names. Students can also find a sense of accomplishment in knowing that they are reading the works of Livy, one of the most celebrated historians of Rome. *Rome and Her Kings* makes reading Latin interesting through a skillful blend of Roman history and Latin grammar.

Bolchazy-Carducci has issued *Rome and Her Kings — Livy 1: Graded Selections,* by W.D.Lowe and C.E. Freeman, a reprint of the 1920 Oxford edition. The text consists of 610 lines of Livian text, adapted and arranged to grow in dif.culty as the student reads on. The story starts with the fall of Troy and goes on to include some golden oldies — Romulus and Remus, the Sabine women, the Horatii and Curiatii, Ancus Martius and Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullus, Tarquinius Superbus. Since the original was published in 1920, the vocabulary and notes are at the rear and not facing, but this minor inconvenience is offset by the fact that this is a graded reader, a concept which has fallen out of favor. For example, here are the opening sentences in the book: *Graeci cum Troianis bellum gesserunt; decimo anno Troiam ceperunt. Multi Troiani ex Asia effugerunt, post multos labores in Italiam venerunt.* The long marks are there, though I do not include them in this medium and the text is arranged exactly as printed above. Here are some sentences from near the end of the book: *Itaque, viribus collectis, ex suis unum Romam ad patrem mittit, qui Superbum rogaret, quid se facere vellet. Huic nuntio, ut ferunt, Superbus nihil voce respondit. Rex velut deliberabundus in hortum transit, sequente nuntio filii: ibi ambulans tacitus, summa papaverum capita dicitur baculo decussisse.* You can see how far the students progress from the beginning to the end (about 30 pages have passed). The book also has English-to-Latin sentences, vocabulary, notes, and maps. It is suited to intermediate students and can help you introduce author-based Latin to your students.

This graded reader with connected excerpts from Livy I is recommended to students who have had the basic introductory sequence of Latin. The book features notes, vocabulary of proper names, Latin-English/English-Latin vocabulary, exercises, recapitulating exercises, and maps. Rome and Her Kings, a newly typeset reprint of an old classic by Lowe and Freeman, is an intermediate-level reader based on Livy 1. It is designed both to strengthen students' command of Latin and to introduce them to some of the most interesting stories in early Roman history. Notes, vocabularies (English and Latin) , a glossary of proper names, maps, and English-to-Latin exercises are provided to assist in achieving these objectives. The book begins with the fall of Troy and continues on to include the stories of Rome's seven kings and such episodes as the Sabine Women and the Horatii and the Curiatii. The accompanying notes are helpful, but it is unfortunate that Allen's Latin Grammar, to which frequent reference is made, is no longer in print. Some terminology, such as "prolative infinitive" and "oblique statement," may be unfamiliar to students. The composition exercises can 1further solidify a student's grasp of morphology and syntax… Rome and Her Kings suits its purposes well, as its lively stories gradually and effectively prepare students to make the transition to unadapted prose.