Hands up Education, UK p. 298, 2020, 978-1912870011, £20.00
Any new course book in classics either in Latin or Greek must be always welcome. And if the book is the result of a working team, in this case Hands up, a non-profit organisation, then it must be more than welcome.
SUBURANI is made up of 16 chapters. From the very beginning the reader will be conscious that he is dealing with a Latin reading course. The book is designed to suit beginners in Latin.
All the Suburani are portrayed as people living in Subura, a densely populated district near the centre of Rome. The date when the story happens is 64 AD, when Nero, the emperor was the ruler. This is the frame covering the whole volume.
Subura, Roma, ludi, dei, aqua, servitium, Londinium, Britannia, rebellio, Aquae Sulis, mare, incendium, Arelate, artifex, villa, nuptiae are the key words to introduce every chapter. Having a quick look on them, the reader will realise that every item concerning public and private life in ancient Rome are going to be examined. And indeed they are. At the same time the authors have also paid quite a lot of attention to Roman Britain. That means after reading the book any student can get a solid knowledge of Roman civilisation. In this area the book is perfect, very seriously written including lots of sources and evidences from epigraphy, literature and artistic remains such as mosaics, inscriptions, statues, buildings and so on.
Concerning Latin Language, things are a little bit different. As usual in this kind of book, telling a fiction story is used as a way to learn language. The young girl Sabina together with her friends and relatives will move all over the ancient city facing all kinds of situations. The authors have invented every text following a pattern to learn grammar little by little…..but not vocabulary. There are such a lot of unusual words included in the book that even a classicist will be no doubt surprised by, for example on page 185 “equi siphones ad incendium trahebant”. Grammar instead follows a systematic pattern; even if you disagree to the way those patterns are presented it must be acknowledged that they are clear and easy to be learned. Learning vocabulary however is not easy at all
Stories are very well developed. They are funny, amusing and based in real situations any Roman citizen could have experienced in 64 AD. At the same time the Latin used is absolutely perfect; may I remark that long and short vowels are clearly noted in order to make distinctions between cases: nominative/ablativenauta /nautâ in first declension or between verbs following the second or the third stem, monêre/ legere. That helps to achieve a correct reading.
Culture and civilisation chapters inside every lesson are, as indicated above, exhaustive. As indicated above textual and visual sources are always present. If beginners are able to learn as much as they are taught all through the book, they will become really an expert. I mean the teachers can select what they prefer for their pupils. And, not to forget, course books are not simply for students but also for teachers. This is maybe the reason why I warmly recommend this book so suitable for any member involved into the fascinating adventure of learning at the same time Latin Language and Roman Civilisation.
José Luis Navarro
EUROCLASSICA (Spain)