It is possible that some teachers may prefer to use this book not as a first book in the strict sense of the term, but rather after say a year’s work at some other book; and I can well imagine that it might be used to good purpose in this way, for instance as a bridge to Caesar, whose invasions of Britain are narrated in outline in my Chapters VIII.–XIV., or for practice in rapid reading side by side with an author.
My best thanks are due to Lord Avebury for permission to reproduce the photographs of Roman and British coins which appear in this volume, especially of the coin of Antoninus Pius with the figure of Britannia upon itthe prototype of our modern penny.
Birmingham,
November, 1908.
The following passages have struck me since my Preface was written as throwing light on the idea of this book.
“The real question is not whether we shall go on teaching Latin, but what we can do to teach it so as to make learners understand that it is not a dead language at all.”Sir F. Pollock, in the ‘Pilot,’ Jan. 12th, 1901.
“We must convince our pupils of the reality of the study [Latin] by introducing them at as early a period as possible to a real book.”P. A. Barnett in “Common Sense in Education and Teaching,” p. 210.
“Assimilate the system of teaching the classical languages to that which I have shadowed forth for modern language teaching.”Professor Mahaffy, Address to Modern Language Association, Dec., 1901.
