LATINA CHRISTIANA
Rident stolidi verba Latina.—Ovid
This summer, Marcus and I will be learning Latin together.
When we discovered Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novels of Roman Britain, our lifelong interest in Classical history grew to an obsession. We read Sutcliff into the wee hours of the morning. Marcus pored over fat volumes of dry history. Civil War paper soldiers retreated before fifty Legions marching under the golden eagle.
I looked at Latin curriculum. When Marcus recently expressed a desire to learn Latin, I was ready to recommend Latina Christiana I by Cheryl Lowe of Memoria Press. We split the cost of curriculum between us, and eagerly awaited the books and CD.
They arrived this month. Already we have made the necessary copies and decorated our study notebooks. Now I am examining the teacher plans, for an idea of what the daily lessons will be like, and what other preparation may be needed. We look forward to beginning in June.
{We may not be able to wait until then. I’ve already learned ‘Dona Nobis Pacem,’ to Sebastian’s weariness.}
Latina Christiana teaches the Christian, or ecclesiastical, pronunciation. Because the ancient Romans are Marcus’ motivation, we considered learning the Classical pronunciation, developed by scholars to approximate ‘original’ Latin speech. We gave that idea over when we learned that Julius Cæsar’s immortal ‘Veni, vidi, vici’ would become ‘Weni, weedi, weeki.’ (Unam Sanctam Catholicam presents this and other excellent arguments for Christian Latin, here and here.)
An argument here for the modern value of Latin would be redundant. I will mention that I’ve been personally impressed by its usefulness since tutoring high-school vocabulary. A knowledge of word history, especially Latin roots, is almost essential when studying advanced English vocabulary; a single root is the key to unlocking the meaning of multiple English derivatives. Although I have never before pursued Latin beyond a few odd games of ‘Rummy Roots,’ I have been a regular visitor of the Online Etymology Dictionary, as well as an avid reader of Webster and Roget. Along with wide reading of classic literature, this has augmented my vocabulary (and improved my spelling) tremendously.
• detail from a painting by Giotto di Bondone •
May 14, 2013