In the words of its author, ‘This book, in short, is a defense of Latin and a tribute to it and to the literature that has been written in that language since antiquity, as well as an invitation to study Latin’ (p. 12).
An introduction, entitled ‘Ode to a Useless Language’ (pp. 3-13), rejects arguments made by those who consider Latin to be either ‘useless’ or ‘useful’, and offers the view that Latin should instead be seen as ‘beautiful’; the idea that Latin is a ‘dead language’ is also dismissed. In the first three chapters, the reader is introduced to the range of what has been written in Latin and familiarised with the intentions of the book; we are told that the ‘focus is on literary Latin, the Latin that helped form my character as a man and as a writer, the Latin I continue to read and that I still believe must play a central role in any serious and historically conscious pedagogy’ (p. 28).
A discussion, in the fourth chapter, on the myth and reality of Latin's origin, includes discussion of both Cato and Plautus; the following 17 chapters each take an author (or, occasionally, more than one) as their focus. Although one could read individual chapters as standalone units, in doing so one would miss the way that they work together to survey the breadth and depth of Latin literature. Furthermore, many chapters contain wider reflections not only pertinent to the author around whom each discussion is focused. The fifth chapter, for example, is overtly centred on Catullus, but also contains some thoughts about teaching and learning. Similarly, the first of two chapters centred on Virgil – which begins with the claim ‘In the event of a global catastrophe, the book to salvage would be the Aeneid’ (p. 95) – considers the significance of the placement of words and discusses the importance of ‘imitation’ within ancient literature, noting that ‘The essence of literature…is tradition. Literature is a handing-down, a reservoir of memory, a genealogical system’ (p. 103). That in itself helps to emphasise another reason why the book is best read as a whole: authors and texts relate to one another, as Gardini shows throughout. The seventh chapter, for instance, principally discusses Ennius, but in doing so makes reference also to Virgil, Silius Italicus, Lucretius, Cicero, Naevius, Catullus, Propertius – and indeed to Homer, Hesiod, Callimachus and Petrarch. Throughout the book there are also very interesting comments on the etymologies of individual words, some of which would be missed by someone choosing to read only individual chapters.
Cicero, Caesar, Lucretius, Livy, Seneca, Augustine, Juvenal and Horace each provide the focus for a chapter, whilst Catullus and Virgil each receive a second chapter in which they are the principal subject. Two pairs of authors – Tacitus and Sallust, and Apuleius and Petronius – each receive a shared chapter. The chapter on Ovid mainly discusses the Metamorphoses, with remarks on his love poetry to be found in a later, thematic chapter on love elegy (which particularly studies Propertius). Although – perhaps inevitably – this reviewer most enjoyed the chapters relating to texts and authors that he has read, each contains much that is of interest. Among the highlights of the book are the memorable ways in which Gardini encapsulates the style of an author or text. Of Tacitus, for example, he notes that ‘Every observation is worth two, because lurking behind what little he tells us is a broader discourse, a hidden commentary on the complexity and ultimate unfathomability of human reasons and purposes’ (pp. 118–119). More briefly, he notes that ‘Livy becomes an artist of episodes’ (p. 133).
An author about whom we discover much in this book is Gardini himself, as the text often reads as a very personal account of his own encounters with Latin literature. At an early stage in the book Gardini notes that ‘without Latin I would not be who I am, and I'm sure there are others who could say the same’ (p. 29). Later we read that ‘Of all the ancient authors, Seneca is the one who's taught me most how to live. Virgil moves me; Tacitus leaves me aghast at cruelty; Lucretius sends me whirling and drifting and sinking; Cicero has me dreaming of perfection in all – thought, speech, behaviour. Seneca teaches me happiness’ (p. 155). As this example shows, the autobiographical remarks often illuminate ancient literature as well as giving an insight into Gardini's own views and opinions – which as well as being interesting in their own right also help to remind the reader that Latin texts are literature to which personal responses are appropriate.
Extracts of Latin are quoted throughout the book, and are almost always translated. Whilst the book is relatively free of typographical errors, a few are apparent in the quoted Latin: tempra appears for tempora (p. 78), hic for huc (p. 149), morten for mortem (p. 161), germine for germina (p. 207) and fedelis for fidelis (p 213). The comment that Philip ‘attempts to name Antigonid as his heir’ (p. 140) should presumably have referred to Antigonus, whilst the comment that Tacitus tells us that Petronius was ‘proconsul, and later consul, in Bithynia’ (p. 176) might mislead the reader into thinking that a consul served in a particular province. None of these issues, however, really detracts from the book.
The book concludes with a ‘Conclusion as exhortation: study Latin’ (pp. 229–234), which contains arguments those of us seeking to promote the subject might use – including the useful reminder that ‘studying Latin is an extraordinarily rewarding experience in itself. To put it quite simply: Latin is fun’ (pp. 229–230). Gardini also notes that ‘I cannot make you love Latin, nor can any teacher. But I can try to impart some of my own passion, show you why I love it, and try to spark a similar interest in you’ (pp 232–233). In this book Gardini certainly shows us why he loves Latin; whilst it is likely that the interest of those who choose to read this book will already have been sparked before they read it, its contents could certainly help to re-ignite or sustain a love of the language and its literature.
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