Learn Latin with Gens et Gloria 3½: 8

Learn Latin on the Open RoadThe wars are over-for the moment. The actors are still travelling.Learn Latin with Gens et Gloria 31/2 Via Laeta is a lighter interlude in the Gens et Gloria series, following the Margaritae Mauretaniae as they make their way along the Roman roads after their adventures in A Zygia ad Apollonium.This is not Book 4. It is Book 31/2: a journey between larger adventures, written for advanced Latin readers who are ready to stop treating every page as a lesson and simply enjoy reading in Latin.Take to the Road with the Margaritae MauretaniaeDracontius and his company have left Massilia behind. Rome lies somewhere ahead.The road, however, has ideas of its own.Travelling with a company of actors is rarely straightforward. There are performances and arguments, taverns and tombs, strangers with stories to tell, unexpected acts of generosity, philosophical disputes, practical disasters-and a goat that continues to behave very much like a goat.Along the way, Dracontius, Aemilia, Caprosa, Cacizus, Philostratus and their companions encounter the comic and serious sides of everyday Roman life. Stories are told, jokes exchanged, beliefs questioned and performances improvised as the company moves from one encounter to the next.Part road novel, part theatrical comedy, Via Laeta is a succession of encounters and stories held together by the simplest of structures: a group of travellers and the road ahead.Latin for the Pleasure of ReadingVia Laeta does not introduce a new level in the Latina Laeta progression. Instead, it gives readers more time with the advanced Latin they have already encountered in Gens et Gloria.The language is conversational, anecdotal and often playful. Dialogue, jokes, songs, arguments and stories within the story provide frequent changes of pace, while the journey gives the novel its natural rhythm.An English introduction explains the purpose of this unusual half-volume and encourages a different kind of reading. There is no need to analyse every construction or understand every word. Follow the travellers, follow the conversation, and let the Latin carry you down the road.Learn Latin with Gens et Gloria 31/2 is suitable for advanced Latin students, independent learners seeking extensive Latin reading, readers continuing the Latina Laeta and Gens et Gloria series, teachers looking for lively Latin fiction, and experienced Latinists with a taste for Roman comedy, travel and storytelling.The road is open. Rome is far away-but not too far.Eamus.