# De Bello Africo: difficulty level of Julius Caesar



## Minimagpro

Has anyone read the accounts of Julius Caesar in Latin? There are about 8 different pieces that he wrote, all in Latin of course.

I am really interested in learning Latin just to read these amazing books, but Im wondering on what level of Latin. Would I need years of study (I already speak Spanish and Portuguese pretty well, so I have a good understanding of Romance Languages) or could it be achieved in a shorter amount of time.


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## Whodunit

I have started reading Cornlius Nepos a week ago, and I have to tell you that it is utmost difficult to understand the text. In addition, I should tell you that I've had two years of Latin at school (three hours a week).

According to what I've heard, Caesar should be a bit more complicated, so you wouldn't be able to understand it, just because you already speak and understand Spanish and Portuguese. The Latin syntax is somewhat different from modern Romance languages, there are many inflections of nouns (cases) and verbs (more than in any other language!), let alone grammatical aspects such as the accusativus cum infinitivo, ablativus absolutus, or participium coniunctum. Even the gerund and gerundive are different from those in modern languages. 

I'm afraid you'll have to attend some Latin lessons or better a crash course before you could start reading Caesar, Cicero, and others.


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## modus.irrealis

Hi,

I've only read excerpts of Latin, but I agree with Whodunit that there's a lot you need to learn. However, I understand that Caesar was traditionally one of the first texts students would read, so it can't be the hardest Latin text. What I'd suggest is that you download D'Oooge's "Latin for Beginners" (available legally, since it's out of copyright, at http://www.textkit.com/latin_grammar.php), and work through that so you can get a feel for Latin -- the good thing about it for you is that it's an introductory grammar geared towards preparing people to read Caesar. After that, you should be able to read Caesar but my experience has been that things will go very slowly and be very frustrating at the start, but it'll all be very rewarding in the end .


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## judkinsc

Wheelock's Latin Grammar is the traditional introductory Latin text that teaches students to read Caesar.

Caesar, at least in the De Bello Gallico, is not difficult to read. His Latin is very clear and straightforward. Cicero is more complex. Tacitus is abbreviated and somewhat difficult. Ovid is not too difficult. Virgil has slightly rearranged syntax, as do most poets, but is not too difficult. Catullus is rather easy, but you need to be aware of the puns and word-play. Horace is somewhat difficult. Sallust is fairly similar to Caesar, slightly more abbreviated.

The typical pattern of Latin authors, as presented to students is:
First year culminating in a beginning study of Caesar.
Second year, first semester: De Bello Gallico, and Cicero's First Catilinariam (and perhaps the Pro Archia or other pieces).
Second year, second semester: Virgil, the Aeneid, about half of Books 1 and 2. Catullus, Carmina, about half again.
Third year: Tacitus, Annales; and Ovid, Metamorphoses.
Fourth year and beyond: nearly anything else.

There, that's a summation of the Latin authors with whom I am most familiar, from the perspective of having done a Bachelor's degree in Classical Studies with a focus on Latin.


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## WKLIZE

Hi, I study Latin at school, and I have to say that Caesar is quite easy to understand, especially in the Bello Gallico, Latin is very clear; Sallust is similar, but he had lots of archaic forms and his style is different. Somehow, regarding other authors, I based on my experience of course, Tacitus, Seneca, and Catullus are quite difficult, because Tacitus and Seneca had a difficult syntax, and the last one, Catullus, in his Carmina used a lot of colloquial expression of the Latin of that time and diminutives, so I supposed it isn't suitable for a person who started to learn a language.  That's my personal opinion, I hope that I've been clear. ^^

Sorry for my bad English.


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## virgilio

minimagpro,
               When Latin used to be taught in England, Caesar's war commentaries were the first continuous passages of Latin that we were given to read. If you already know Spanish, you should have a head start on Latin anyway, except that it's easier still the other way - from Latin to Spanish - for Spanish must be the closest of the five principal 'Roman' languages to the original.
If you're not bored by a lot of military stuff, go for it! I seem to recall that in De Bello Gallico someone or other (usually some Gaul called Vercingetorix) was constantly getting 'cut off from his corn-supply'. That must have gone against the grain!

Virgilio


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## Outsider

Minimagpro said:


> [...] I already speak Spanish and Portuguese pretty well, so I have a good understanding of Romance Languages [...]


Latin is not grouped among the Romance languages, and I suppose there are good reasons for that. Spanish and Portuguese will give you a head start with the vocabulary, but I expect that the syntax will feel very alien to you, which can be enough to make a text quite incomprehensible. (Even old Portuguese can be difficult to understand for me because of the different syntax. You may have had the same experience with old Spanish.)
I would say you will definitely need to spend some time studying Latin.


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