Caesar's Gallic War: Latin, toys, history and how YOU teach it

[Hunter]

What are your favorite resources to supplement reading Caesar's Gallic War? Are there any coloring pages, games, costumes, toys that you know about?

 

Do you read it in English or in Latin or with a bilingual text like Loeb?

 

Do you use a retelling like the one by Olivia E. Coolidge?

 

Do you pick a Latin program designed to prepare a student to read The Gallic War?

 

How important do you think this book is to a classical education?

 

What do you know about the history of teaching this book?

 

Is there anything else you would like to discuss about this book?

[Julie Smith]

I must admit I know nothing about this book. Shall I blush now?

 

Right now my kids are grades one and two. We are studying Greek mythology, I'm assuming I haven't gotten there yet in history.

 

What grade level would you say this book is? Wild it do well as a read aloud?

[Hunter]

I must admit I know nothing about this book. Shall I blush now?

 

Right now my kids are grades one and two. We are studying Greek mythology, I'm assuming I haven't gotten there yet in history.

 

What grade level would you say this book is? Wild it do well as a read aloud?

 

It's one of the Great Books, originally written in Latin. I think most people find it boring my today's standards, and consider it a nerdy adult book. BUT, the book has a long history of being used as a children's textbook, for almost 2,000 years.

 

I have read biographies where the children would play "Gallic War" outside their one room school houses, and be very interested to work on translating the book, to get new play ideas.

 

Some Latin curricula are written specifically to prepare students to read this book, especially the free vintage texts. http://www.linneyslatinclass.com/index.php

[Ester Maria]

Selections in Latin only for analysis and translation (Caesar is typically one of the first prose authors covered) + learning that bloody opening passage by heart (because "everybody does it" LOL) + then a bilingual edition (with jumping to and fro versions, a mix of read aloud and independent reading) for reading... as far as one's patience allows.

 

Lots of tea, some chocolate, "this too shall pass" attitude, training patience, stoicism.

 

Interrupt it at some point and get refreshed with some NICE Latin, such as Ovid.

Then get back to Caesar, as much as patience allows.

 

As you can see, we do not really like Caesar here, LOL.

No play, games, nothing, we just wanted to check that box and MOVE ON. Maybe if I had boys :tongue_smilie:, but with girls, nope. It was USEFUL, but not very enjoyable. Maybe they get back to it at some point in the future. For my own self, I doubt. :tongue_smilie:

[Tress]

Ester Maria,

 

when you say 'use a bilingual edition', do you mean, use something like Loeb?

And then, do you read the Latin text, but use the English version to quickly check things when you get stuck/are not sure, or do you read the English translation?

[Heathermomster]

 

Do you use a retelling like the one by Olivia E. Coolidge?

 

The Coolidge book seems expensive. I have found the following links as an alternative:

 

http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.mb.txt

http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/caesar/maps.html

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Gallic-Wars-Book-Summary.id-305.html

 

We're on deck to use this next year. Will likely supplement with the Oxford Press books, map work, and read aloud plays about Caesar. I'm not sure yet. Nothing sexy like translating from the original language or anything.

Edited March 18, 2012 by Heathermomster

[Ester Maria]

Ester Maria,

 

when you say 'use a bilingual edition', do you mean, use something like Loeb?

And then, do you read the Latin text, but use the English version to quickly check things when you get stuck/are not sure, or do you read the English translation?

Ideally, you read Latin and check the other language as needed, or read side by side - BUT, when you have young Latin students, for whom that is one of the first readings (Caesar is usually the beginning of texts studies), it is not the most economic approach, especially not if your point is just to check the Caesar box and nobody is enjoying it all that much. The things we read together we attempted going from Latin, and I was parsing it into our language, but what they read on their own was translated text. I do not think they ever finished it, I should ask them. I let it slide.

 

I am intentionally lax on Caesar. I do think it is an important piece of the puzzle, but I see no need for as detailed familiarity with Caesar as I see with Virgil's Aeneid, or Ovid's Metamorphoses, or some Cicero's speeches. So, in the grand scheme of things, I sort of view Caesar (along with Sallust) as an author to "sacrifice" at the beginning and while still getting adjusted to the language, etc. I, personally, really do not stress Caesar in any way, so limit myself to anthology-level selections, and attempt to broaden it by trying to read a bit more than that, even if translated, to the extent we could bear it, but that is about it. YMMV.

[Hunter]

The Coolidge book seems expensive. I have found the following links as an alternative:

 

http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.mb.txt

http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/caesar/maps.html

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Gallic-Wars-Book-Summary.id-305.html

 

We're on deck to use this next year. Will likely supplement with the Oxford Press books, map work, and read aloud plays about Caesar. I'm not sure yet. Nothing sexy like translating from the original language or anything.

 

I love these links. Thanks! They are not a replacement for Coolidge though. Coolidge is a retelling for younger students, not a translation.

 

Here is a link to an online interlinear version

http://www.linneyslatinclass.com/docs/Caesar_Interlinear.pdf

 

And a downloadable Loeb

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ks0bvIN7DPMC&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r

 

I love the Loeb volume. It just feels SO good in the hands. Before my divorce I had a bookshelf full of Loebs. My youngest son loved them. And I loved using them with my young nieces and nephews. They were wide eyed to hold BOOKS authored by ancient people and they adored being able to see the Greek and Latin, but also read the English. I tried to find ways to play with the children and bring the books to life. We did actual math lessons from the Greek math books.

 

Part of my education philosophy is for all of my students to hold BOOKS written by ancient authors, and to understand that they wrote BOOKS. It is amazing how many adults don't know that there are books written my ancient authors readily available. To them Caesar isn't quite real.

 

By the time we read about children playing Gallic War, my son was too old to do that, but we always talked about play options as we read through Gallic Wars and all other ancient books.

[Hunter]

Selections in Latin only for analysis and translation (Caesar is typically one of the first prose authors covered) + learning that bloody opening passage by heart (because "everybody does it" LOL) + then a bilingual edition (with jumping to and fro versions, a mix of read aloud and independent reading) for reading... as far as one's patience allows.

 

Lots of tea, some chocolate, "this too shall pass" attitude, training patience, stoicism.

 

Interrupt it at some point and get refreshed with some NICE Latin, such as Ovid.

Then get back to Caesar, as much as patience allows.

 

As you can see, we do not really like Caesar here, LOL.

No play, games, nothing, we just wanted to check that box and MOVE ON. Maybe if I had boys :tongue_smilie:, but with girls, nope. It was USEFUL, but not very enjoyable. Maybe they get back to it at some point in the future. For my own self, I doubt. :tongue_smilie:

 

Ester, it's been awhile since I read the book, but doesn't this one include references to woading? Didn't the Gauls paint themselves blue, or is that a different book? Have you seen modern day decorative woading? Would your girls like this?

http://www.hennapage.com/henna/how/indigo/index.html

[Hunter]

Hmm..I found this free text by Coolidge, but it seems to be short bits of Latin with CONSIDERABLE help including illustrations and maps as well as translation help. This is NOT the children's retelling.

http://books.google.com/books?id=P4UXAAAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

[Gratia271]

Interrupt it at some point and get refreshed with some NICE Latin, such as Ovid.

Then get back to Caesar, as much as patience allows.

 

As you can see, we do not really like Caesar here,

 

:lol::lol::lol: Same around here with eldest daughter, who slogged through it. This is my child who does not complain...... she certainly did about this! LOL

I would be careful not to fetishize Caesar. This is the man whom our founding fathers called "The worst man who ever lived". DBG and his other books are political propaganda, written with a purpose.

[Hunter]

I would be careful not to fetishize Caesar. This is the man whom our founding fathers called "The worst man who ever lived". DBG and his other books are political propaganda, written with a purpose.

 

Good point! But I'm just trying to figure out how NOT to "slog" :-0 Cause...he is on the reading list of so many curricula. I want to bring up some of the "slog" books one by one to discuss.