I got about 1/2 way through City of God, then turned to Cicero, de natura deorum, to get a different picture of things, and after finishing that have now picked up Augustine again, Confessions. The main reason for reading the Confessions is that I happened to have a copy. A secondary reason is that in about 1959, I wrote an undergrad philosophy essay on Augustine’s discussion of time in the Confessions.
Many thanks for the help I have received here; these days when I run into the ditch, I can usually get out by myself. I still follow the discussions here.
Hugh, the title of this thread has cheered me up no end, so thank you. I have another little chuckle every time I look up at it. Would you recommend the Confessions for a post-post-beginner? I’ve received some good advice about working through Nepos, Sallust and Livy to begin with, but I would love to read the Confessions in Latin at some point - I was completely seduced in translation.
These are my impressions of prose works I’ve read over several years.
I suggest trying Nepos first, then Sallust. To me, both are easier than Augustine’s Confessions.
Livy to me is more difficult than Sallust, maybe harder than Augustine’s Confessions. I have put off reading LIvy, because I find it difficult.
I find Tacitus quite difficult, but I was carried on by the intrinsic interest of his Agricola, a warm encomium to his father-in-law.
Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy is pretty hard, but James J. O’Donnell has put online a grammatical commentary. O’Donnell must have taught Boethius several times, because he has an uncanny knowledge of where the hard places are.
Hi Hugh. I’m delighted to see you’re among those of us still kicking.
I’ve really enjoyed following your progress. I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the Confessions. I’ve read all of it, in English, EXCEPT the closer on time. I saved that for a time I could concentrate on it more, but haven’t found the time yet.
Thank you for your thoughts, they’re much appreciated. I remember wondering what Augustine was like in Latin as I read the early chapters where he discusses his training as a rhetorician, so it’s very good to know that he’s not completely out of sight! Best wishes for your Latin and continued survival.
Edit: Since writing this post I’ve found Joshua Shaw’s brand new Pharr/Steadman-style commentary on Book 1 of the Confessions, available free as a pdf. I’m sure I’ll find it very useful down the line. He says the following on his site, which I thought was interesting:
“Anticipating that some might be hesitant to teach a late Latin text early in the curriculum lest the freshly acquired grammar-rules for Caesar and Cicero — short for Classical Latin prose — collapse, I have also tried, in addition to giving rudimentary explanations of grammar and syntax, to mark off those places where Augustine transgresses Classical Latin’s “rules”. This is, of course, a pedagogical convenience rather than any outmoded view of Cicero’s superiority to all that followed.”
On reflection, I want to boost Cornelius Nepos. Reading this author came at just the right time for me, in that I could almost read him fluently, the way you want to read books. This reduced the dictionary work, and the inflection-review work. C. Nepos is the easiest unadapted Latin author I’ve read.