Reading Sallust

Here you can discuss all things Latin. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Latin, and more.
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epiclesis
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Location: English-speaking world

Reading Sallust

Post by epiclesis »

On the difficulty scale, where would you place Sallust's Bellum Jugurthinum?

I am at an intermediate reading level, and thinking about taking a course on this work of Sallust's. But I don't want to be overwhelmed.

Thanks in advance!

-epiclesis

whiteoctave
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Post by whiteoctave »

Sallust's style, I feel, should be placed towards the top ofthe hierarchy of Latin prose difficulty. His vocabulary is of standard breadth but his active engagement in producing purposefully jarring, awkard and dissonant syntax deservedly earned him the title of the 'Thucydides of Latin'. Indeed, it is of no surprise that he was the key role model for Tacitus' contorted prose. All in all, it is the fantastic insight of Sallustian bitterness and his against-the-grain outlook that makes his Latin so fascinating and challenging a read. So go for it!

~dave

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