Tuesday 1 December 2009

Ora Maritima - A Latin Story for Beginners.


Ora Maritima is a story in simple Latin written by Sonnenschein during the reign of Queen Victoria. It is set near Dover during the school holidays - and the students take a day hike to a location thought to be Caesar's landing place. The books is a gentle introduction to ideas contained in Caesar's Gallic War, while providing a pleasant enough story in and of itself. Interestingly, a reference is made in the story to the 'Castle Line' - these were passenger ships that sailed between South Africa and Southampton in the days before air travel. My grandparents travelled on one of their ships, the 'Union Castle' (Airliners have names, do you remember the name of a single airliner you ever travelled on? Ships are different aren't they?)

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