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How to learn Latin: ‘unum facere et aliud non omittere’ (pars altera)

2023-12-03T19:47:20+01:00

[This is the second part of the article; the first part can be read here.] The purpose of such a study is not—and I say this again so as not to be misunderstood—to go shopping in Latin or to use Latin as a living language, as one might English (which many people learn in order to take a plane or book a hotel, and not to read Shakespeare), but to reclaim for Latin its nature as a language, as described above, which has been denied to it for so long in favour of a written approach to language [...]

How to learn Latin: ‘unum facere et aliud non omittere’ (pars altera)2023-12-03T19:47:20+01:00

How to learn Latin: ‘unum facere et aliud non omittere’ (pars prior)

2023-12-03T19:48:16+01:00

If we were to ask students and teachers the question, “What is Latin?” we would hear a multitude of adjectives related to the word: alive or (almost always) dead; useful or (mostly) useless; beautiful and ugly; ancient; interesting; boring; hard; not to mention Catholic; classist; Fascist. These are only a few adjectives, but they demonstrate how hard it is to provide a firm and impartial definition of what Latin is. Moreover, any attempt to choose an appropriate adjective often draws attention away from the main point—the quid, as Cicero would say—, namely the subject itself: Latin. In short, [...]

How to learn Latin: ‘unum facere et aliud non omittere’ (pars prior)2023-12-03T19:48:16+01:00

Why learn Latin?

2023-12-03T19:49:10+01:00

In our previous article, we established that Latin is a language of history and culture, that allows us to follow man’s path across centuries and understand two fundamental perspectives: historicity and rationality. If it is true that a few reasons for studying Latin are for the most part less valid today than in previous centuries, when the knowledge of the language of Rome had obvious practical implications and was necessary to access certain careers (for example, attorneys, notaries, other legal experts, doctors, administrators, and of course the entire hierarchy of the catholic Church), it is no less true [...]

Why learn Latin?2023-12-03T19:49:10+01:00

Via directa

2023-12-03T19:49:48+01:00

Symbola quae sequitur anno 1938° in commentariis Societatis linguae latinae usui internationali adaptandae, qui Lygia appellabantur, a Villelmo Henrico Denham Rouse latine exarata apparuit. Villelmus ille (1863°-1950°) linguae latinae graecaeque illustris magister fuit, qui Cantabrigiae viam directam ad linguas docendas, quae dicitur, diu ac strenue excoluit. Plura scire volentibus de via directa hunc et hunc eiusdem Rouse librum suademus. Symbola quam hic proponimus in ipsis commentariis hic legi potest. VIA DIRECTA O praeclaram beate vivendi et apertam et simplicem et directam viam! (Cicero, De finibus, I 57). Si rogas, quonam modo latine sit discendum, praesto est responsum: disce utendo! [...]

Via directa2023-12-03T19:49:48+01:00

Hans Henning Ørberg

2023-12-03T19:51:07+01:00

A century ago Hans Henning Ørberg, the well-known Danish teacher and scholar, was born. His textbook, Lingua Latina per se illustrata, has made Latin accessible to many tens of thousands of young people, and has been used by many successive generations of students and other learners. From the 1950s to the last days of his life he tirelessly worked to improve Lingua Latina, both by writing some ancillary books and devising other teaching aids, and by reviewing and polishing the two volumes with the care and diligence of a monk. Today, on the anniversary of his birth, we present you an interview [...]

Hans Henning Ørberg2023-12-03T19:51:07+01:00

De Ara Pacis

2023-12-03T19:51:53+01:00

Vere novo, vobis monstrare cupimus imaginem lacunariorum Arae Pacis, quam curavit exstruendam Augustus, ut memoriae proderet victoriam suam de populis circa Mare Nostrum incolentibus. Constructio conscita est a. d. III Id. Iul. anno XIII ante Christum natum, et ara ipsa dedicata a. d. III Kal. Feb. anno IX ante Christum natum: qui dies Liviae natalis erat, uxoris imperatoris. Facta est ex marmore Carrariensi, neque secus atque templum minus, in quibus sacrificia rite perpetrabantur. Dividitur in lacunaria, ex quibus vobis unum ostendimus (vide imaginem I), in quo depingitur Tellus dea, id est, terra ferax et fertilis. Ornatur maeandris, qui [...]

De Ara Pacis2023-12-03T19:51:53+01:00

De sancto Valentino martyre, cur sponsorum patronus habeatur

2023-12-03T19:52:29+01:00

Hoc die, 14° mensis februarii, sanctum quendam, Valentinum nomine, coli vix est qui ignoret, qui sponsorum sponsarumque patronus esse dicatur. Unde autem orta est haec traditio? Ad hoc interrogatum non tam facile est respondere. Perpauca de sancto illo martyre scimus. Quibus studia haec hagiographa in deliciis sunt, legant ea quae anno 1658° bollandianus quidam vir scripsit (bollandiani vocantur coetus quidam jesuitarum qui ab Johanne Bollando nomen ducunt, quique inde ab anno 1643° Acta sanctorum ratione vere critica magnaque cum diligentia ediderunt). Multa ibi discetis quae de sancto Valentino presbytero, Romae anno ut videtur 269°, imperatore Claudio II Gothico, [...]

De sancto Valentino martyre, cur sponsorum patronus habeatur2023-12-03T19:52:29+01:00

What is Latin?

2023-12-03T19:53:26+01:00

How many times have you wondered ‘What is Latin’? Is it alive or dead, useful or not, a beautiful or ugly language, interesting or boring, not to mention whether it is Catholic, classist or fascist? These are but a few of the adjectives associated with Latin, which, if nothing else, show just how difficult it is to define this language in a precise and impartial way. Also because the effort spent in choosing the most appropriate adjective often detracts from the fundamental point, from the quid, as Cicero would say, which is to say from the noun, from [...]

What is Latin?2023-12-03T19:53:26+01:00

Why this blog about Latin?

2023-12-03T19:53:05+01:00

Suffice it to say that the origins of this project stem from years of our passionate work with Latin. We could obviously add that we like Latin, we are interested in it, it even fascinates us: and that alone would be reason enough to create a blog. Especially if we consider that Latin is a language which, as such, deserves its communication and sharing. We could also list a number of reasons why studying Latin is important and necessary, except that it seems to us idle to argue pro latinitate, since this language, like it or not, has [...]

Why this blog about Latin?2023-12-03T19:53:05+01:00
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