Familia Britannica — A Romano-British Reader
Capitula I–II, with the map of the whole.
Praefātiō (the only English in the book)
This is the second parked capstone: a continuous story told entirely in Latin, in the manner of Hans Ørberg's Familia Rōmāna — the reader that teaches by never translating. The rules of the road:
The story uses only grammar already on the shelf, chapter by chapter, and each chapter's Grammatica section links back to the volumes that cover what it used. New words are gathered in Glōssae reveal-blocks after each scene — try the scene cold first; most meaning is guessable from context, cognates, and repetition, which is the method working as designed. Read everything aloud, twice. The Pēnsum (assignment) at each chapter's end asks questions in Latin and wants answers in Latin, however short.
Setting: Noviomagus Reginorum — Chichester — around AD 200, under the Downs. (The tribal element of the town's name is left unmacronned deliberately: the Regni/Regini are one of the corpus's genuine spelling puzzles, and the library doesn't macron what it can't stand behind.) The household's names are of the kinds the British corpus actually yields: a Roman-named father, a British-named mother, and the mixed generation after them. The weasel is period-correct — households kept them for pest control before cats fully took over the posting — and readers of the reference shelf will recognise her as the library's presiding spirit.
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Capitulum I — Familia in Britanniā
Britannia īnsula est. Britannia īnsula magna est. Circum Britanniam Ōceanus est. In Ōceanō multae īnsulae sunt, sed Britannia magna īnsula est.
In Britanniā multa oppida sunt. Londinium oppidum magnum est. Noviomagus oppidum parvum est. Londinium et Noviomagus oppida Rōmāna sunt. Noviomagus prope mare est. In Britanniā etiam viae sunt. Viae Rōmānae longae et rēctae sunt.
Glōssae
| Vocābulum | Adnotātiō |
|---|---|
| īnsula | land with water all round — Britain is one |
| Ōceanus | the Ocean |
| oppidum | a town |
| prope (+ acc.) | near |
| circum (+ acc.) | around |
| mare | the sea |
| rēctus, -a, -um | straight (regō's family — Vol. VIII) |
Prope Noviomagum casa est. In casā familia habitat. Candidus pater est. Senovara māter est. Fēlīx fīlius est. Lūcia fīlia est. Candidus mercātor Rōmānus est. Senovara fēmina Britannica est. Fēlīx et Lūcia līberī sunt.
Ecce! In casā etiam mustela est! Mustela nōn magna sed parva est. Nōmen mustelae Fūr est. Cūr "Fūr"? Quod mustela omnia captat! Fūr ānulōs captat, nummōs captat, etiam cāseum captat.
Fēlīx et Lūcia mustelam amant. Senovara mustelam nōn amat. "Mustela mala est!" inquit Senovara. Sed Candidus rīdet.
Estne mustela mala? Fortasse. Sed familia mustelam habet, et mustela familiam habet.
Glōssae
| Vocābulum | Adnotātiō |
|---|---|
| casa | a small house |
| habitat | dwells (Vol. VII's frequentative, at home) |
| mercātor | a trader |
| līberī | children (also "free ones" — a word with history) |
| ecce! | look! |
| nōmen | name |
| fūr | a thief — the word on every curse tablet |
| quod | because |
| captat | grabs at, pinches (Vol. VII's weasel-verb) |
| nummus | a coin |
| cāseus | cheese |
| inquit | says (used with quoted speech) |
| rīdet | laughs |
| fortasse | perhaps |
Pēnsum I
Respondē Latīnē: Ubi est Noviomagus? Quis est māter? Estne Candidus mercātor an mīles? Cūr nōmen mustelae "Fūr" est? Quis mustelam nōn amat?
Grammatica I
Everything here is early-shelf: est/sunt and the third person (Vol. IV); nominatives naming and genitive possession, with in + ablative for place and prope/circum + accusative (Vol. I); adjectives agreeing across the board — multa oppida, viae longae (Vol. III); and the small words -ne, quod, etiam, sed (Vol. III.a).
Capitulum II — Ānulus abest!
Candidus ānulum aureum habēbat. Ānulus pulcher erat, et Candidus eum amābat. Herī ānulus in mēnsā erat. Hodiē ānulus abest!
"Ubi est ānulus meus?" clāmat Candidus. "Quis ānulum cēpit?"
"Ego ānulum nōn cēpī!" inquit Fēlīx.
"Ego ānulum nōn vīdī!" inquit Lūcia.
"Ego ānulum nōn cēpī," inquit Senovara. "Sed ubi est mustela?"
Glōssae
| Vocābulum | Adnotātiō |
|---|---|
| ānulus | a ring (Lectiō II's word, spelled properly) |
| aureus, -a, -um | golden (aurum = gold) |
| abest | is away, is missing (ab + est) |
| herī / hodiē | yesterday / today (Vol. VIII's time words) |
| mēnsa | a table |
| clāmat | shouts |
| cēpit / cēpī | took / I took (Vol. VIII: capiō's long-vowel perfect) |
Familia mustelam quaerit. Fēlīx sub mēnsā quaerit. Lūcia post lectum quaerit. Senovara in culīnā quaerit. Nēmō mustelam videt.
Tandem Candidus parvum forāmen in mūrō videt. In forāmine sedet Fūr! Et in forāmine sunt: ānulus aureus, trēs nummī, ūna fībula, et magnum frustum cāseī.
"Ō Fūr!" clāmat Candidus. "Tū ānulum meum cēpistī! Tū vērō fūr es!"
Senovara rīdet. "Nunc tabulam scrībe, Candide: QVĪ ĀNVLVM MEVM CĒPERIT…"
Sed Candidus mustelam nōn pūnit. Cūr? Quod Fūr mūrēs quoque captat, et mustela ūtilis est. Et Candidus mustelam amat — sed id nōn dīcit.
Glōssae
| Vocābulum | Adnotātiō |
|---|---|
| quaerit | looks for, searches |
| sub (+ abl.) | under (location — Vol. I's in/sub rule) |
| lectus | a bed, a couch |
| culīna | kitchen (→ culinary) |
| nēmō | nobody |
| tandem | at last |
| forāmen | a hole |
| mūrus | a wall |
| fībula | a brooch — the safety-pin of the ancient world, and the commonest small find on any Romano-British site |
| frustum | a piece, a lump |
| tabula | a tablet — Senovara is proposing a dēfīxiō (Vol. VI), and quoting Vol. VIII's future perfect to do it |
| pūnit | punishes |
| mūs, mūrēs | mouse, mice (Vol. VII's other party) |
| ūtilis | useful (a third-declension adjective — Vol. III) |
Pēnsum II
Respondē Latīnē: Quid Candidus habēbat? Ubi erat ānulus herī? Quis ānulum cēpit? Quid in forāmine erat? Cūr Candidus mustelam nōn pūnit? Amatne Candidus mustelam?
Grammatica II
The chapter runs on the past system: imperfect for background (habēbat, erat, amābat — Vol. VII) against perfect for events (cēpit, cēpistī, cēpī across three persons — Vol. VIII); sub + ablative for where things are looked for (Vol. I); a vocative in the wild (Candide! — Vol. I's rarest case, deployed by a wife); and one quoted future perfect, capitals and all, for readers of Vol. VI and Lectiō II to enjoy. The closing line — sed id nōn dīcit — is a small door left open for Vol. IX.
Tabula capitulōrum — the map of the whole
The reader grows chapter by chapter as the mood takes, each one unlocking with the grammar it needs. Current state:
| Cap. | Fābula | Grammatica nova | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Familia in Britanniā — the island, the town, the household | Vols I, III, III.a, IV | scrīptum |
| II | Ānulus abest! — the ring, the hole in the wall | Vols V, VII, VIII | scrīptum |
| III | Iter ad Aquās Sūlis — the family plans a journey west | futures & time words (Vol. VIII) | nōndum scrīptum |
| IV | Ad fontem sacrum — at the spring; tablets read aloud | Vols VI, VI.a | nōndum scrīptum |
| V | Mercātor Palmyrēnus — a countryman of Barates passes through, full of reported tales | Vol. IX | nōndum scrīptum |
| VI | Epistula ā mūrō — a letter arrives from the northern frontier | Vol. V's letter register, Vol. IX | nōndum scrīptum |
| VII | In oppidō veterum — up to the old hillfort above the town, older than Rome | consolidation; the Downs themselves | nōndum scrīptum |
| VIII | Nox et stēllae — a night walk; the stars get their names | Vol. VIII's time nouns; a certain parked season | nōndum scrīptum |
| IX | Dēfīxiō! — something serious goes missing; a tablet is written in earnest | Vols VI, VIII | nōndum scrīptum |
| X | Lapis in viā — the family reads a real stone by the road; graduation | Vol. V, RIB | nōndum scrīptum |
The design rule, borrowed from the Lectiōnēs strand: chapters are added when wanted, never owed. The map is a menu, and the shelf never fails to have a next thing.