Stories from Paul the Deacon: A Latin Reader for GCSE, A-Level and University Students: Edited with an Introduction, Notes and Comprehensive Vocabulary

Authentic mediaeval Latin, made readable.
This volume offers a graded selection of short passages from Paul the Deacon’s History of the Lombards in genuine, unaltered Latin. The Latin is simpler than that of Cicero or Virgil, yet remains lucid, elegant and unmistakably that of a trained classical scholar. Each passage is supported by a near-complete vocabulary and an introduction that sets Paul and his world in their historical context, so that students can concentrate on reading rather than hunting through a dictionary.

Paul the Deacon (c. 725–799) is one of the great narrative historians of the early Middle Ages. A Lombard monk writing in Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire, he recounts invasions, plagues, miracles and court intrigues with a gift for story-telling that has earned him the title “the Herodotus of the Middle Ages”. For anyone interested in the Lombards, in early mediaeval Italy, or in the survival of Latin after Rome, he is a primary source of the first importance.

The readings in this book include:

• The importance of Germany as a “factory of humanity”;

• The story of the Seven Sleepers;

• How the Lombards came to Italy;

• Narses the eunuch and the betrayal of the Empire;

• The murder of King Alboin by his wife;

• The plague of Justinian;

• How rotten meat can be used to ward off rapists;

• The failed reconquest of Italy by Constans II;

• The Arab invasion of France.

Designed as a bridge between textbook Latin and the classical authors, this reader is ideal for:

• A-Level and advanced school students;

• First-year university students;

• Home-educated and self-taught learners;

• Classicists who wish to explore post-Imperial and ecclesiastical Latin.

The book forms part of a developing series of historical Latin readers which already includes Stories from the Life of Christ and will expand to cover Bede, Liutprand, the Gesta Francorum and other key mediaeval texts.

Sean Gabb is an historian, broadcaster and university lecturer. He has taught Latin and Greek for many years, and his historical novels have been translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek, Slovak, Hungarian, Chinese and Indonesian. He directs the Centre for Ancient Studies and lives in Kent with his wife and daughter.

This is a book of short readings that are in genuine but fairly simple Latin, that are interesting in themselves, and that are accompanied by a Vocabulary containing nearly every word used in the text. It also has an Introduction that explains the historical background. The book is directed at intermediate students of Latin—that is, those who have made some progress in the language, but who still find the Roman classics too difficult to read with any fluency.

It will help:

• A-Level students in England;
• Advanced school students elsewhere;
• University students;
• Students in home education;
• Self-learners;
• Classicists who want to know more about post-Imperial Latin;

Paul the Deacon (c.725-799) is a primary source for many of the most important and dramatic events of the early middle ages in both Italy and the wider Mediterranean World. Though simpler than that of the Roman classics, his Latin is lucid and often graceful. He knows how to tell a story, and how to weave his stories into an extended narrative. For his History of the Lombards, he is justly called the Herodotus of the Middle Ages.

Contents include:

• The Importance of Germany as a Factory of Humanity;
• The Story of the Seven Sleepers;
• How the Lombard Came to Italy;
• How Narses the Eunuch Betrayed the Empire;
• The Murder of King Alboin by His Wife;
• The Plague of Justinian;
• How Rotten Meat Can be Used to Ward off Rapists;
• How the Emperor Constans II Tried to Reconquer Italy;
• The Arab Invasion of France.

The book is part of a series that already includes Stories from the Life of Christ (in Latin), and will soon include extracts from Bede, Liutprand, the Gesta Francorum, and other key Latin texts of the middle ages.

Sean Gabb is an historian, broadcaster and university lecturer. His novels have been translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek, Slovak, Hungarian, Chinese and Indonesian. He also directs the Centre for Ancient Studies. He lives in Kent with his wife and daughter.