Review
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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,
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