Selections from Viri Romae

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    [Illustration {map of Italian peninsula}]




  SELECTIONS

  from

  VIRI ROMAE


  Edited By

  ROBERT ARROWSMITH, Ph.D.

  Late Professor Of Greek And Latin, Teachers College

  and

  CHARLES KNAPP, Ph.D.

  Instructor In Latin, Barnard College


    [Decoration]


  New York ·:· Cincinnati ·:· Chicago

  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY




  Copyright, 1896, by
  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.

  VIRI ROMAE.

  W. P. 18




PREFACE

[Decoration]


Upon the reviving perception of the true scope of Latin teaching has
followed a return to some of the methods of former times, which, with
all their faults, were yet imbued with the true spirit of the Classics.
Since for many years the study of Latin lay in bondage to the spirit
which regarded the language merely as a _corpus vile_ for grammatical
dissection, and ignored the rich literature lying beyond the classical
trinity of authors, it is not surprising that it fell into disfavor as
unsuited to the requirements of the times. The revival upon which the
study has now entered is due largely to a recognition of the fact that
mental culture rather than mere mental training is its true aim, and
that, with this aim kept steadily in view, the study of Latin is not a
barren waste of time and energy, but a most potent agency in securing
that broad and sympathetic culture which must ever remain the mark of
the educated man. The results of classical study most valuable to the
character are surely not to be found in the ability, usually lost
after a few years, to recite paradigms faultlessly, to give the
principal parts of verbs, and to enumerate the various kinds of
_cum_-constructions and the subdivisions of the ablative. Of far greater
worth are the mental breadth and sympathy, the weakening of prejudice
and Philistinism, and the increased power of entering into higher forms
of enjoyment which must inevitably flow from the study of the life of a
great people as revealed in its literature and art.

This conception of the sphere of Latin study has brought with it some
modifications of the initial steps and a return to some of the texts in
use fifty years since. In the traditional sequence of authors, and
particularly in the selection of a purely military work as the means by
which to introduce the student to the language, the entrance into the
fields of Latin literature has frequently been made so distasteful as to
destroy the desire for further exploration. More attractive paths,
however, are opening to the beginner; and of these the _Viri Romae_
offers in a notable degree material of real interest to the young, and,
from the very outset, gives a foretaste of the contents of the
literature.

The history of this work is of interest, as showing an early recognition
of the correctness of the standpoint to which we are now returning. It
was compiled by a Professor of the University of Paris, Charles François
Lhomond, who lived from 1727 to 1794, and enjoyed an enviable reputation
as a successful teacher, especially of younger pupils.