Reading Livy's Rome: Selections from Books I-VI Of Livy's Ab Urbe Condita

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Review ------ I believe that the overall format of Milena's and Terry's proposed text is well conceived, and that in their own introduction/preface they articulate well their rationale. I like very much their practice of writing a Latin periphrasis for the earlier selections as a way of 'initiating' students into reading Livy's Latin--which is difficult, but (as Milena and Terry put it) very much operae pretium. I believe that, as written, the periphrases should achieve their intended purpose. I also like Milena's and Terry's practice of slightly adapting Livy's text in the beginning, but gradually phasing out both the periphrases and the adaptations of Livy's text. Although perhaps one could argue for continuing the periphrases for a couple of more of the selections, I don't see that as an absolute necessity or as being any serious defect in the overall plan of this text. In short, it is the sort of text that I myself would be happy to use with my undergraduate students..... --Dwight A. Castro, Westminister College (PA) I have been looking forward to this new text by Minkova and Tunberg. Delighted with the innovative and compelling approach which they adopted in their recent Readings and Exercises in Latin Prose Composition from Antiquity to the Renaissance (Focus Publishing, 2004), I was expecting a text with which to transport intermediate Latin students beyond grammar drills into the place where practice begins to pay off the reading of a 'real' author. I hoped for a work which would honor the intelligent student's thirst for a literary experience while still providing some lexical and syn assistance. In Reading Livy's Rome I have not been disappointed. But be prepared for something new. You will find all the features of a school reader in Reading Livy's Rome-historical and biographical discussion, grammar notes, glossary-but reformatted to facilitate the authors' goal: easing the student into reading Latin as literature. The canonic narratives from Livy's early books are here, but newly arranged: a paragraph of Livy's text on the right (in some cases very slightly adapted, the original text of Ogilvie's Oxford edition being contained in an appendix), facing a Latin paraphrase of the same material on the left. Abundant vocabulary is provided on each page and, for the genuine Livy portion, a commentary on social, cultural and historical material. The student is invited first to read through the paraphrase to grasp its content, then to assay the genuine Livy. This presentation continues for approximately two-thirds of the book. Then, at the beginning of the passages from Book IV, Minkova and Tunberg vary the pattern: the genuine Livy alone is presented, with only the more complex passages given a Latin paraphrase which now is relegated to the footnotes. The notes in turn become more detailed. Minkova and Tunberg assume that the student has worked through a primer and has acquired a basic familiarity with as much Latin morphology and syntax as have been presented in a work such as Wheelock's; in fact the glossary in Reading Livy's Rome specifically includes only those words not found in Wheelock. However, its notes provide ample references to Gildersleeve and Lodge, along with helpful stylistic discussion interspersed in a pleasant format throughout the text. You will find all the old favorites here: Romulus and Remus, Coriolanus, Lucretia and Camillus. I was a little disappointed at the absence of Virginia (although Minkova and Tunberg have included the Twelve Tables), and the heroic cackling of Juno's geese is left out of the Gaulish Sack. Were I making the selections, I think I would have omitted the Licinio-Sextian Rogations, considering the a of sociological background with which students will have to be provided to put them in an historical context. Such prejudices aside, however, let me say that I am delighted with the book's format, and I am convinced that my second-year students are fortunate in being able to begin their study of Latin literature with this text. --Diane Johnson, Wstern Washington University, The Classical Outlook I have been quite impressed with the manner in which this book on Livy's history of Rome has been constructed. Having a paraphrase before the adapted passage, followed by the original text, offers the teacher a variety of teaching strategies. Students can develop composition skills by being required to restate a passage into another grammatical instruction since the students have been exposed to the passage in three different ways. For example, students could be asked to convert a subjunctive purpose clause to a gerundive construction or to rewrite a subordinate clause as an ablative absolute. Teachers who feel comfortable using oral Latin may opt to ask comprehension questions in Latin, expecting a Latin response from the student. The teacher might ask the student to rephrase a statement in simpler Latin. An additional advantage of the construction of this book is the increase in students' vocabulary acquisition as they are exposed to words that are synonyms of more commonly used words. The paraphrases are written on a rather sophisticated level. I think this is an advantage to both the student and the teacher in that they are not overly simple. Teachers can then elicit the most simplified version from the students themselves. This should promote the students' confidence in his or her reading ability. If the paraphrases were over simplified to begin with, the students might feel they are not yet capable of handling Latin on this level. The authors' preface provides excellent background on Livy himself and his goals in the writing of his histories. I would suggest some elaboration on Livy's relationship with Augustus' and his role in promoting the emperor's agenda. I found the footnotes, whether they dealt with grammar or background material, very useful and clearly stated. The glossary was well done although I question whether it should be necessary to indicate the number of a verb conjugation for students of this level. I found the sections labeled 'Livy's Language' well-written and informative. --Donna H. Wright, Read more ( javascript:void(0) )