This Latin reader is one in a series of readers (Latin and Greek) compiled and self-published by Hadavas. Its texts are taken from Charles H. Beeson’s 1925 compilation, A Primer of Medieval Latin: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose. Hadavas intends this book for the sort of “beginning–intermediate” students one might find in the first or second year of an undergraduate Latin program, i.e. students who have been given a semester or two of foundational instruction through a text like Wheelock’s Latin, and who are then expected to graduate to read unadapted Latin texts.
After some brief introductory material (v–xiv) explaining the purpose and scope of the collection, a series of brief accounts of the Latin texts presented follows (xv–xxxii). Each Latin text (or group of texts) has between one and three pages describing and explaining the text, its author, its cultural and historical context, and any unique features of the Latin, along with selected bibliography. The Latin texts themselves (2–97) are as follows: Alcuin’s dialogue with Pippin (Disputatio regalis et nobilissimi iuvenis Pippini cum Albino scholastico); two stories from the Gesta Romanorum; four of Odo of Cheriton’s Fables; four of Jaques de Vitry’s “exempla” (moralized stories for the use of popular preachers); an excerpt from Petrus Alfonsi’s Disciplina clericalis; the story of Ganelon’s betrayal of Charlemagne in Pseudo-Turpin’s Historia Caroli Magni et Rothlandi; William of Tyre’s account of the siege of Jerusalem; the story of Arthur killing a giant from the Historia Regum Britanniae; and two lyrics from the Carmina Burana.
The supporting notes and vocabulary for each excerpt are very user-friendly for intermediate Latin students. The Latin is exclusively printed on the left-hand page and vocabulary is printed on the right-hand page. The vocabulary is quite extensive and thorough. The third text presented in the book, “De versutia diaboli et quomodo dei iudicia sunt occulta” (Gesta Romanorum 80), for instance, contains 113 Latin words and 76 vocabulary entries. Many of the entries explain obscure medieval Latin vocabulary, to be sure, but others define common words that students “should” know, like habeo (29); hic, haec, hoc (37); and res (89). The notes, printed underneath the main text and the vocabulary, explain grammar, syntax, and cultural and historical context (when necessary for comprehension). Like the vocabulary aids, these notes not only clarify the quirks of Medieval Latin; they also point out constructions that a student rushed through the rudiments of Latin often struggles to identify, such as future less vivid conditions (24), the jussive subjunctive (31), and the ablative of comparison (34). Hadavas helpfully includes explanatory references to the venerable Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar. The cultural/historical notes are similarly geared for beginning students. Melancholia, for instance, is explained as “roughly = some modern concepts of depression” (5).
One might ask whether the glosses are excessive. It is certainly worth wondering just how much hand-holding an intermediate Latin Reader ought to provide. The reality is that the sort of students for whom this reader is intended often fail to recognize basic structures and forms and that limited vocabulary often stands as a major impediment to actually enjoying Latin. I field tested this book with the sort of Latin student for whom the author purports to have edited the book at hand –– one who can “fairly consistently, if not infallibly––recognize, parse, and understand the functions of indicative and subjunctive verbs, participles, infinitives, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and conjunctions.” The ample aids were helpful and allowed for a less halting experience and the text we read was fun and interesting and sparked a delightful digression or two. Thus, I am happy to report that the book lived up to its stated purpose and provided an engaging, lively and (dare I say) empowering experience.
This simple volume fulfills its stated purpose and it will serve its intended audience of budding Latinists and their teacher very well.