Reviews of Latin textbooks
G. Lawall, R. Palma, and D. Perry. Ecce Romani I. 2nd ed.
White Plains, N.Y., Longman, 1998.
G. Lawall, R. Palma, and D. Perry. Ecce Romani II. 2nd. ed. White Plains, N.Y.,
Longman, 1998.
G. Lawall, R. Palma, and D. Perry. Ecce Romani III. 3nd ed. White Plains, N.Y.,
Longman, 1998.
The Ecce Romani series is a reading based basal textbooks series that is organized into three textbooks. The first two books of the series the students follow the exploits of a Roman family as they journey from their country villa to Rome in the first book of the series and then the second book of the series the students follow the family as they encounter many different daily life scenarios, such as funerals, dinner parties, coming of age ceremonies, and education. Interspersed in the second year book are stories taken from Roman authors such as Pyramus and Thisbe. The third year book is dedicated to selections from different Roman authors. The students read selections from Caesar, Pliny, Augustus, Eutropious, Cicero and others. The selections range from the destruction of Pompeii to the battles of Caesar and Pompey and from Augustus achievements in his reign to the problem of Christians in the governship of Pliny.
The first two years of this series are dedicated to the students not only being able to read the Latin but also understanding the grammar. All six cases and five declensions and four conjugations and six tenses are introduced in the first year book. The students are also introduced to adjectives, adverbs, and demonstrative and personal adjectives. The second year book is much more grammar based where the students are introduced to the subjunctive mood and the passive voice, relative pronouns, place and time constructions, participles, the locative case, cum clauses, and the many uses of ut. The third years is appropriately based more on reading the Roman authors. However, there are sections for the students to review some of the grammar that has been taught such as relative pronouns and they are also introduced to gerunds, gerundives, fear clauses, and other grammatical aspects.
The typical chapter in the first two books is a reading section dealing with the Cornelius family followed by some questions which are used to improve the student’s oral Latin. An introduction to the grammar followed by exercises that highlight the grammar of the chapter. Almost every chapter has five English to Latin sentences. Interspersed between the chapters are sections that deal with word study, Roman mythology, history, and culture and a review section. Starting in the second year students start to read some Latin poetry in the chapters from Catullus and Marital. The third year book is set up with the readings of the Roman authors with some comprehension questions that follow each sections. Sections dealing with grammar are interspersed throughout the readings.
There are many strong points to the Ecce Romani Series. The students are able to follow a connected storyline for the first two years and then they enter the third year with Latin that they can translate thus increasing the student’s confidence. The stories in the second book are quite entertaining and keep the students interest. The chapters are designed in a similar manner so the students will be comfortable with each chapter. In the third year book the comparison between Cicero and Asconius account of the actions of Milo allow students to compare and contrast two different Latin texts and see how different people interpret the same events. After finishing the first two books the students are able to read unadulterated Latin with a dictionary . The history, culture, and mythology sections are strong and are a great springboard to topics which may interest the teacher or the students more. The stories in the second year that deal with culture allow the teacher to bring in culture almost everyday of the school year.
There are some drawbacks to this series. The stories in the first year book tend to be a bit monotony with some of the students losing interest in the family. In the first book the family is stuck in a ditch for two many chapters. Some of the exercises are a bit tedious and border on the grounds of busywork. The English to Latin sentences too often are dependent on sentences in the readings which allow the less motivated students to only parrot the readings. It would be a huge improvement if the authors used the vocabulary of the readings to compose the sentences but not to closely model the sentences on those in the readings. The grammar is a bit sparing in the first year while overloaded in the second year. It might have been wise to increase the grammar in the first year just a little bit such as introducing place and time constructions fully in the first year rather than waiting for the second year. It can make it a bit of a chore to finish the second year book on time while the first year book is always finished with weeks if not months in advance.
However, these complaints are only minor in the consideration of the whole work. It is a very strong textbook series that prepare the secondary student to be able to read unadulterated Latin before the second year is finished and quite assuredly at the end of the first two years.
Ciraolo, S. Cicero: Pro Caelio. 2nd ed. Wauconda, Illinois, Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc., 1999.
Cicero’s Pro Caelio is part of the AP syllabus and the book Cicero Pro Caelio by Stephen Ciraolo fills a need for a textbook designed for the high school student. In the 2nd edition Ciraolo provides a sketch of the history of Rome at this time and a biography of Cicero and Caelius. This is quite useful especially for students at the high school level who do not have a solid background of the late Republic. The majority of the book is dedicated to the text and commentary of the Pro Caelio. Ciraolo has provided the whole text which will prevent this book from being outdated when the AP Cicero syllabus is revamped in the year 2004. It also allows the students to read the complete work if the instructor desires and time permits. Ciraolo has glossed every word that appears in the text. For the first time a word appears he offers a complete dictionary entry and any other grammatical advice that is needed for the high school student to translate the passage. The very first word that is glossed Si not only has a definition but also an explanation of conditional sentences. The high school student will find that invaluable since many of them need a review of many grammatical aspects that they had received in the previous years. Also Ciraolo has cross referenced his commentary with Bennett’s New Latin Grammar which will be another useful aid for those students who posses a copy of Bennett. The author introduces each section of the Pro Caelio with a short summary in the commentary which will help the high school student better understand the material. There are some minor drawbacks to Ciraolo’s Pro Caelio. By glossing every word at least once the commentary becomes quite extensive. The first twenty-nine lines of the work has fifteen pages of commentary. This will require the students to consistently flip through out the book. Students will also become accustomed of finding the word in the commentary but will be sadly mistaken especially at the end where the last twenty-four lines only have four pages of commentary. The student who has not taken copious notes on the words that he does not know will need to use a dictionary extensively as he proceeds through the text. Overall it is a fine book for the high school student as long as they are aware that the commentary can not be used as a crutch.
Bender, H. and P. Forsyth. AP Catullus: Advanced Placement
Edition. Wauconda, Illinois,
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc.1996.
Bender, H. A Horace Reader for Advanced Placement.
Focus Publishing, 1999.
Henry Bender has designed two books for the AP syllabus in Catullus and Horace. They are designed essentially in the same way with the poems on the AP syllabus provided with some commentary on the facing page and a glossary at the end. Each of these works has a brief introduction to the highlighted authors, although not much information is provided for the history of Rome. Before the glossary, Bender provides a very solid introduction to figures of speeches with examples taken from Catullus or Horace in their respective editions and a fine introduction to meter. In the teacher’s edition Bender provides each poem on a separate page with no notes so that the instructor may photocopy the poems and present the students a clean copy of each poem. The teacher’s edition also provides tests that are some what based on the AP exams. The commentary in these books are far from exhaustive and pale in its completeness compared to Ciraolo’s. An instructor will need to invest in another more scholarly book to provide the type of commentary that is needed for students studying for the AP exam. However, the limited commentary also allows for most of the commentary to be on the facing page which will be less frustrating to the students. The glossary at the end of the book is far from comprehensive. Many words are not included so a dictionary needs to be required for any students who use these textbooks. These books offer the whole AP syllabus and students can use them successfully. However, the students will need a quality dictionary and the instructor will also need a better commentary to provide the students with the information that is needed to do well on the AP Exams.