Hello Lydia!
Lydia wrote: Thu Jun 29, 2023 5:16 pm
I hope to deepen my understanding in the language after a long break. Previously, I have read the entire "Familia Romana" and I think it's now time to challenge myself within harder texts.
You should try going through
Rōma Aeterna, the second book in the LLPSI series. Most of it is an introduction to Roman historians (e.g., Livy, Sallust, Eutropius) but there is some poetry in there too, and a good bit of Cicero. It is much harder than
Familia Rōmāna but very little new grammar is introduced so it feels more like practice with the real Roman classics. You can treat it just like a casual reader or (as I did) like a second textbook, employing the
Companion,
Pensa, and
Exercitia. The LLPSI series has some other readers you may find interesting as well.
If you want to read things apart from the LLPSI series, I highly recommend getting dual-language editions of the classics, especially the
Loeb Classical Library books, which not only contains the Latin-English (or Greek-English) text but also gives you introductions and extra context.
I'm on Cap. LII of
Rōma Aeterna and I'm finding that I really like
Sallust. If you are looking for someone more difficult than Caesar, yet less monstrous as Livy, Sallust is great. The
Bellum Iugurthīnum is both interesting and not to difficult to read. However, if you are just moving out of
Familia Rōmāna then you are going to need something easier than Sallust, whom I would classify as more intermediate. Something gentle and post-
Familia Rōmāna level would be the
Vulgate New Testament, like one of the Gospels. These are very enriching and beautiful reads, and the Latin is very easy. Or alternatively you could start reading some
Caesar, such as his
Comentariī Dē Bellō Gallicō.
As for poetry, you can't go wrong with Ovid's
Metamorphoses.
There is a lot out there and the classics are a real journey!
Miserēre meī, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam; et secundum multitūdinem miserātiōnum tuārum, dēlē inīquitātem meam. Amplius lavā mē ab inīquitāte meā, et ā peccātō meō mundā mē.
)