21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding! Eutropius, where have you been?, December 26, 2008
This review is from: War with Hannibal: Authentic Latin Prose for the Beginning Student (Paperback)
WAR WITH HANNIBAL by BRIAN BEYER is a thorough and diligent commentary of Book III, cap. vii to the end, of Breviarium ab urbe condita by Eutropius, which covers the Second Punic War. The text is the authentic, unabridged Latin as written by Eutropius, historian for the Roman emperor Valens.
And it was written -- quite successfully in my experience -- as a bridge text between textbook and original Latin.
As I see it, two things make this book so excellent. First, Eutropius wrote in a simple and clear style that's perfect for those of us who aren't yet ready for Cicero. In fact, for centuries the Breviarium was often the first original Latin students would study.
Secondly, there's the diligent care, thought, and preparation put into this work by the author, Brian Beyer. Here's a summary of what the book contains:
* Notes on grammar and syntax on each page for the text covered on that page
* Detailed and crystal clear explanations of same, and where you can find discussions of each and every point in various textbooks such as Ecce Romani, Wheelock, et al. in a separate Commentary section
* Full and thorough vocabulary
* Macrons provided throughout
* Historical background, including a timeline, maps, battle plans, translated excerpts from works of other authors relevant to subject matter
* A second appearance of the text, unannotated (Brilliant! I could mark up the first and still have a clean text to read.)
* Appendix describing the roles of various Roman magistracies
* Clear and visually pleasing layout and spacing
* Good quality paper; highlighting doesn't bleed through
In short, WWH contains all the material needed not only to acquire a complete and thorough understanding of the Latin, but also to learn about this important period in Roman history.
I strongly recommend WAR WITH HANNIBAL as a first Latin text.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good book in a much-needed genre, September 14, 2009
This review is from: War with Hannibal: Authentic Latin Prose for the Beginning Student (Paperback)
"War with Hannibal: Authentic Latin Prose for the Beginning Student," is just what the title suggests: an edition featuring an original Roman author who writes Latin prose accessible to second-year Latin students. The notes are helpful, and the selections are short enough not to intimidate the student with "real Roman" Latin. This is the point where a lot of students give up hope: They've been reading short made-up Latin selections in their textbooks, and when they first encounter a genuine selection written by a native speaker, the experience is unpleasant. Native speakers of any language use words not on the elementary word lists, and often employ them in fresh and unexpected ways. This book helps get around that problem with its notes and the direct style of the author. I'd like to see more books like "War with Hannibal" that can help Latin students cross the bridge to "real Roman" Latin.
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