ONE HUNDRED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON FIRST PART OF PREPARATORY LATIN
COURSE IN ENGLISH—FROM COMMENCEMENT OF BOOK TO PAGE 167.
By A. M. MARTIN, GENERAL SECRETARY C. L. S. C.
1. Q. What is the general purpose of the series of four books, of which
the present is the second in order of preparation and publication? A.
To conduct the readers by means of the English tongue alone, through
substantially the same course of discipline in Greek and Latin Literature
as is accomplished by students who are graduates from our American
colleges.
2. Q. What does this second volume of the series seek to do? A. To go
over the ground in Latin literature usually traversed by the student in
course of preparing himself to be a college matriculate.
3. Q. What three elements may be said to be in any body of literature? A.
A substance, a spirit, and a form, somewhat separate one from another.
4. Q. Of these three elements, what two is it the hope of the author to
communicate to his readers? A. The spirit as well as the substance, so
far as they are separable one from another.
5. Q. By whom was the literature called Latin produced? A. By a people
called Roman, chiefly in a city called Rome.
6. Q. Over what does the name Roman lord it exclusively? A. Over
everything pertaining to Rome, except her language and her literature.
7. Q. What may this circumstance be taken to indicate in reference
to Rome? A. What is indeed the fact, that literature was for her a
subordinate interest.
8. Q. When was the city of Rome founded? A. An unreckoned time before the
history of the city began.
9. Q. According to the fable followed by Virgil, by whom was Rome
founded? A. By Æneas, escaping with a trusty few from the flames of Troy.
10. Q. According to a second legend, lapping on and piecing out the
first, who was the founder of Rome? A. Romulus, whose father was Mars,
the Roman god of war.
11. Q. What legendary line of rulers succeeded Romulus? A. A line of
legendary kings, followed by a Republic.
12. Q. What may be assumed as the starting-point of Roman history, worthy
to be so called? A. The war with Pyrrhus, which broke out two hundred and
eighty-one years before Christ.
13. Q. After Rome had absorbed Italy into her empire, with what African
city was a prolonged war waged? A. With Carthage.
14. Q. What three names were prominent on the Carthaginian side during
this war? A. Hamilcar, Hasdrubal and Hannibal.
15. Q. Give three prominent names on the Roman side? A. Regulus, Fabius
and Scipio.
16. Q. After the subjugation of Carthage, what is said of the dominions
of Rome? A. Her dominions were rapidly extended in every direction until
they embraced almost literally the whole of the then known world.
17. Q. When was the Augustan age of Latin literature? A. During the reign
of Augustus Cæsar.
18. Q. What is said on the whole of the fame of ancient Rome? A. It is
the most famous city of the world.
19. Q. What is stated in regard to the natural advantages of Rome? A.
Its remove from the coast secured it, in its feeble beginning, against
pirates, while the navigable stream of the Tiber made it virtually a
seaboard town.
20. Q. What was the height of the buildings that covered much of the
extent of ground within the limits of the city of ancient Rome? A. Six
and eight stories in height.
21. Q. At what has the population of Rome at its maximum been estimated?
A. From two to six million souls.
22. Q. For what was a large area reserved, inclosed between the Quirinal
hill and the river? A. Exclusively to public buildings, and here there
was an almost unparalleled accumulation of costly, solid, and magnificent
architecture.
23. Q. What is now one of the chief spectacles in modern Rome to
excite the wonder and awe of the tourist? A. The Coliseum, a roofless
amphitheater for gladiatorial exhibitions, built of stone, and capable of
seating more than eighty thousand spectators.
24. Q. From what people were the Greeks and Romans descended? A. The
Aryan or Indo-European, a people having its original home in Central Asia.
25. Q. How did the Romans conquer and govern the world? A. By being
conquerors and governors.