Review of Archibald A. Maclardy"s Completely Parsed Cicero
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The Bottom Line
If you are teaching Cicero's First Oration Against Catiline, whether to a family, a class, or yourself, this is the perfect tool. Absolutely everything is explained and in case that's not enough, Maclardy provides a translation in the margin. Originally written in the nineteenth century, "Completely Parsed Cicero" is like a review course in Latin.
Pros
Cons
Description
Guide Review - Review of Archibald A. Maclardy's Completely Parsed Cicero
On November 8, 63 B.C., before a senate convened at the temple of Jupiter Sator, Cicero presented his first Catilinarian Oration. Cicero said that the traitor Catiline should go into voluntary exile for a conspiracy to revolt that he had been fomenting. It is this oration that Archibald A. Maclardy laboriously parses in Completely Parsed Cicero The First Oration of Cicero Against Catiline. From the first page, the reader sees impressive detail, including not only grammatical points, but etymology and word usage.
Every word in the interlinear text of the oration is completely parsed. The first page covers the first sentence, "Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?" plus three additional words. Maclary does not simply say that quo is the ablative governed by abutere, but explains that it is used adverbially, and then compares it with similar adverbs and prepositions. On the third page of the text, he explains how frequentative verbs were formed from the supine.
Completely Parsed Cicero is a thorough review of Latin grammar via the commentary and parsing, as Maclardy acknowledged when he wrote that it might be used as a beginning Latin text. Footnotes provide context and running commentary on the events of the first century B.C., but Maclardy also includes an 11-page political and historical introduction.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
The Bottom Line
If you are teaching Cicero's First Oration Against Catiline, whether to a family, a class, or yourself, this is the perfect tool. Absolutely everything is explained and in case that's not enough, Maclardy provides a translation in the margin. Originally written in the nineteenth century, "Completely Parsed Cicero" is like a review course in Latin.
Pros
- Extremely thorough.
- Helpful for any level of Latin.
- Everything is explained.
Cons
- There is so much commentary, it barely finishes a line of Latin in a page.
- No index.
Description
- It takes 250 pages for Maclardy to cover In Catilinam I, by Cicero.
- An 11-page introduction details the political and historical background.
- Grammar, syntax, etymology, and translation are provided for every word.
- Includes an interlinear text and translation.
- Maclardy's more polished translation is in the margins.
Guide Review - Review of Archibald A. Maclardy's Completely Parsed Cicero
On November 8, 63 B.C., before a senate convened at the temple of Jupiter Sator, Cicero presented his first Catilinarian Oration. Cicero said that the traitor Catiline should go into voluntary exile for a conspiracy to revolt that he had been fomenting. It is this oration that Archibald A. Maclardy laboriously parses in Completely Parsed Cicero The First Oration of Cicero Against Catiline. From the first page, the reader sees impressive detail, including not only grammatical points, but etymology and word usage.
Every word in the interlinear text of the oration is completely parsed. The first page covers the first sentence, "Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?" plus three additional words. Maclary does not simply say that quo is the ablative governed by abutere, but explains that it is used adverbially, and then compares it with similar adverbs and prepositions. On the third page of the text, he explains how frequentative verbs were formed from the supine.
Completely Parsed Cicero is a thorough review of Latin grammar via the commentary and parsing, as Maclardy acknowledged when he wrote that it might be used as a beginning Latin text. Footnotes provide context and running commentary on the events of the first century B.C., but Maclardy also includes an 11-page political and historical introduction.
See more reviews of Bolchazy-Carducci books
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
