1. Education
About.com
Ancient / Classical History

Latin

By , About.com Guide

These Latin resources should serve as a supplement for students studying Latin and people working on translating Latin on their own, especially after a hiatus from high school or college Latin.
  1. Grammar
  2. Verbs
  3. Poetry
  4. Latin Authors
  5. Latin for Today
  1. Easy Latin to Practice on
  2. Latin Culture
  3. The Changing Latin Language
  4. AP-Latin
  5. Pop Culture

Grammar

Paradigm of puella

Grammar is a set of rules that make a language unique. Whether you choose to memorize the rules or learn them by osmosis or practice depends on your learning style. Here you will find mostly what is designed as a recap of the rules of grammar in Latin.

Verbs

The Latin word for word is 'verbum,' whence "verb" the workhorse of Latin grammar. Latin verbs have many more forms than English verbs do. The forms are listed in models called "paradigms."

Poetry

Vergil Manuscript from the Vatican Library, Vat. Lat. 3256, folio 3r

Latin poetry was modeled on Greek forms, but the Romans developed Greek genres to suit their needs. Thus, they could claim the genre of satire was a Roman invention. Not all poetry was written in dactyllic hexameters, but poetry had to have meter. Here are some of the terms you should know when reading Latin poetry. Incidentally, if you're trying to translate Latin and are wondering whether poetry is harder than prose, you may be pleasantly surprised to find clues to word meaning put directly in the meter. You don't have such clues in prose.

Latin Authors

Ovid

In the Classical period there were many Latin authors, but not very many have survived, so there is a large, but limited corpus of Latin literature. Here are some of the major authors, especially those associated with the genres of poetry and history.

Latin for Today

J.K. Rowling Books Goes To The Big Screen

Practical Latin and Latin in use in modern English or contemporary culture. Harry Potter used spells with words based on Latin, knowledge of Latin is helpful in certain tests and professions, and people interested in words often want to understand the etymology of words that come from Latin.

Easy Latin to Practice on

Sour Grapes. From The Aesop for Children, by Aesop, illustrated by Milo Winter

One of the most satisfying ways to learn Latin is to see improvement. Some of these sources for Latin use real quotations from ancient native Latin speakers, so you're not necessarily dealing with dumbed-down material. Practice on these if you think you're not yet up to the Latin masterpieces.

Latin Culture

Caesarea Pontius Pilate inscription

Elsewhere on this site you can read about all of Roman history, here you'll find those elements of Roman culture you're most likely to come upon in your reading, the numbers, abbreviations, names, and information on inscriptions.

The Changing Latin Language

Latium Map

Latin developed in the area of Latium in ancient Italy from an earlier form with influence from other neighboring related dialects. It then spread with the Roman Empire, eventually morphing into the modern Romance languages, although Latin is still spoken.

AP-Latin

Virgil or Vergil

The revised Latin AP course and exam cover not just the poetry of Vergil, but also the prose of Caesar. You need to know figures of speech, scansion, and cultural background, as well.

Pop Culture

The Tardis

Rome is a popular topic of modern popular culture. Generally, with depictions of Rome comes at least a touch of Latin.

See more newsletters

©2013 About.com. All rights reserved.