Latina Laeta – Learn Latin Through a
Living Roman World
20 books. One Roman world. A living
language.
Latina Laeta
is a twenty-book Latin reader series (A1–B2) using the Natural Method — or Comprehensible
Input approach — that lets learners live inside early Imperial Rome through
continuous, authentic Classical Latin prose, woven with original stage pieces
written in the Plautine or Terentian style.
You follow the same characters across
years and places: the senator’s household, poor families in the Subura, ports
and markets, theaters in Africa, Ephesus under Roman law, and Campania before
Vesuvius.
You see the Roman world through the eyes
of its people and grow into Latin naturally as they grow older — from the play
of children to the responsibilities of adults.
Across twenty volumes you experience
love and birth, marriage and death, crime and judgment, travel and discovery —
from fighting in Syria to mystery and intrigue in Asia, from exotic adventures
in Roman Africa to the quiet humor, laughter, and sadness of daily life. Every
emotion of the human story is present — told in living Latin.
And unlike any textbook, Latina Laeta
reads like a novel — an unfolding world where language, character, and history
come alive together. Serious Latin, real stories — and fun to read.
📘 Preview the world of Latina
Laeta — read one full chapter from each of the twenty books, followed
by the complete play Gallinae Albae Filius from Book B1.1, and
experience the progression, style, and humor for yourself.
Read the free sample collection → Click here
What makes Latina Laeta different
• A single, continuous world. Spurius
and Flaminia grow from children into adults; Blossius walks the road from
tavern boy to actor and beyond; Cornelia, Florus, and the household — Naeva,
Syrus, Crispus, Aemilia — form a living Roman microcosm.
• Pure, idiomatic Classical Latin (c. AD 70–120). Clear Silver-Age prose and
natural dialogue modeled on Terence, Suetonius, Pliny, Quintilian, and
Petronius.
• More than 419,000 words of original Latin — prose, comedy, and tragedy
— all newly written in pure Classical style. This unprecedented length provides
the sustained reading practice Latin learners have always needed but rarely
receive: enough to acquire vocabulary and grammar naturally, through context
and familiarity. Instead of decoding short, isolated passages, readers build
true fluency and enjoy Latin as a living language, not a grammatical puzzle.
This sustained immersion also allows self-learners to achieve lasting reading
fluency by repetition and context.
• Historically grounded realism. Food, furniture, gestures, law, travel,
ritual, and theatre drawn directly from Roman life — never modernized or “fantasy
Rome.”
• Wit and warmth throughout. From Plautine mischief to everyday irony, humor
arises from Roman life itself — making Latin reading not a duty, but a
pleasure.
• Classroom-safe. The entire series omits sexual vocabulary (e.g. meretrix,
leno) and is suitable for schools.
The built-in plays
Across the prose narrative, Latina
Laeta includes original Latin stage pieces — Plautine comedies, Terentian
dialogues, and later short mysteries — all fully original,
classroom-appropriate, and aligned with each level’s grammar. Each may be read,
performed, or adapted for dialogue, linking Active Latin practice with literary
Latin.
Each may also be performed under a standard non-profit academic licence.
Totals by volume:
• A1.2, A1.4, A2.2, A2.4 – one Plautine piece each
• A2.5 – one Plautine play
• B1.1 – two Plautine plays
• B1.2 – one Terentian and one Plautine play
• B1.3 – two Plautine plays
• B1.5 – two Plautine plays
• B2.2 – one Plautine play
• B2.4 – one mystery play and one Plautine play
• B2.5 – one Terentian play
A Gentle, Continuous Progression — No
Cliffs
You grow into Latin as the characters
grow up.
You begin beside them as children and end reading as equals — hearing, feeling,
and thinking in Latin while seeing their world through their eyes.
The language unfolds at the pace of
their lives: words first spoken in childhood return, enriched, in adulthood.
Difficulty rises in micro-steps, never leaps — eliminating the notorious
“cliff” between elementary readers and authentic Classical prose.
• A1 (Books 1–5): Life within the
household — short, clear sentences, high-frequency vocabulary, the warmth of
daily scenes. Present and imperfect tenses carry simple narration as readers
learn Latin from within the family’s world.
• A2 (Books 6–10): The world widens. Study, travel, and new emotions —
hope, fear, curiosity — appear naturally. Future and perfect tenses,
comparatives, participles, and ablatives of means grow from vivid context.
• B1 (Books 11–15): The characters mature; speech deepens. Subordinate
clauses (ut/ne, cum-constructions, indirect questions,
participles) express more complex thought. Paragraphs lengthen, dialogue
quickens, Latin feels alive.
• B2 (Books 16–20): The full voice of Silver-Age Latin emerges —
indirect discourse, elegant subordination, ablative absolutes in rhythmical
prose. Scenes expand — civic, domestic, and theatrical — yet remain as clear
and comprehensible as ever.
Earlier forms recur by design, so new
grammar grows from what you already know. Vocabulary expands through meaningful
reuse, not lists, allowing comprehension and confidence to rise together. Each
book flows naturally into the next, so growth feels effortless.
By the final volume, Ad Maiora,
you read at near-native fluency — ready to step seamlessly into the Gens et
Gloria novels, where the same characters continue their lives under Trajan
in full Classical Latin prose.
The bridge to Gens et Gloria
The last volume, B2.5 – Ad Maiora,
is not an end but a bridge. Its language attains full Classical Latin style
while preserving the familiar voices and world of Latina Laeta. From
here readers step seamlessly into Gens et Gloria — modern Latin novels
where the language they have acquired becomes living literature.
Latina Laeta
builds the linguistic muscle.
Gens et Gloria puts that Latin to work — in full narrative art, with
longer arcs, deeper emotion shown through Roman gesture and speech, and the
civic, legal, and domestic life of Trajan’s Empire.
Gens et Gloria
has already received enthusiastic praise from one of the foremost authorities
in spoken and written Latin:
Professor Terence Tunberg, University of
Kentucky, writes of Book I – Principatus
Novus:
“I strongly urge all students of Latin
literature and Roman civilization to read this splendidly written novel. Anyone
who begins reading this vivid and realistic story will feel not only that he is
moving among the ancient Romans, but that he is actually living in their age,
when the Roman Empire was at the height of its power.”
Of Book II – In Mauretania
Tingitana he continues:
“Take this volume in hand, O readers!
Open it! For here begins the second part of this brilliantly composed novel, Gens
et Gloria. As you read, you will seem to make a journey — not merely
speaking Latin, but conversing with the Romans themselves. You will travel to
Mauretania Tingitana, where you will meet lions and legions, huts and cities,
and learn that the Roman Empire exists wherever the Latin language holds sway.”
And of Book III – A Zygia ad
Apollonium:
“The reader, as if by a kind of
enchantment, gradually forgets our own age and is drawn back into that time
when, under Trajan’s rule, many peoples were brought under Roman power. He
travels from Baetica to the frontiers of Dacia, sees much, speaks with many in
Latin — and, astonished by new scenes, always longs to see more.”
(Professor Terence Tunberg, University
of Kentucky — reviews of Gens et Gloria I–III)
Style and Tone
• Dialogue modeled on Terence for
natural conversation; narrative clarity like Suetonius and Pliny; social
realism in the spirit of Petronius (minus obscenity).
• Humor arises from character and situation, never from faulty Latin — proof
that Classical prose can delight as well as teach.
• Emotion is revealed through gesture, silence, setting, and speech — not
modern introspection.
• The result is Latin that reads with the life, rhythm, and wit of a novel, not
the stiffness of a schoolbook.
Structure at a Glance
| CEFR | Volumes | Focus |
|:–––|:–––|:–––|
| A1 | A1.1–A1.5 | Family, household, market, simple travels |
| A2 | A2.1–A2.5 | Study, law, work, broader journeys, early theatre |
| B1 | B1.1–B1.5 | Stage life, poverty and dignity in Subura, choices and
consequences |
| B2 | B2.1–B2.5 | Vesuvius, wandering and change, Roman justice abroad, return
and renewal — then onward to Gens et Gloria |
For Teachers and Programs
• Clean, Classical Latin at every stage
• Incremental grammar design with constant recycling
• Original short plays for performance or read-alouds
• Ideal for both intensive and extensive-reading courses
• Fully suitable for secondary and university classrooms
Start reading
📗 Explore all four volumes of
Latina Laeta —
A1 • A2 • B1 • B2 — each available in print through Lulu:
View and order on Lulu →Latina Laeta A1 Latina Laeta A2 Latina Laeta B1 Latina Laeta B2
Latina Laeta — read widely, grow
steadily, and enjoy Latin as the Romans did: with wit, warmth, and wonder.
Cross the bridge to Gens et Gloria — modern Latin novels where Rome
under Trajan comes fully alive.
