Lingua Latina per se Illustratanote is a series of Latin textbooks by Hans Ørberg. Aside from the copyright pages and the author's name, every word in Exercitia Latina, Familia Romana, Colloquia Personarum, Fabellae Latinae,note Fabulae Syrae, and Roma Aeterna is in Latin. There is no English text at all in the main books (the series does include a few English supplements). The first few chapters are written very, very simply, with plenty of pictures to illustrate various words. Students are expected to learn Latin by reading Latin.
The main textbook of Pars I, Familia Romana, tells the story of a Roman family living in Italy in the early second century CE. The series also contains the books Colloquia Personarum and Fabellae Latinae, which contain extra stories about the same characters.
The main textbook of Pars II, Roma Aeterna, consists mainly of excerpts from Virgil, Livy, Ovid, and other classical authors, with supporting marginal notes and illustrations.
Familia Romana, Colloquia Personarum, and Fabellae Latinae provide examples of:
- All There in the Manual: Colloquia Personarum and Fabellae Latinae are strictly supplemental works, but they do tell us such things as:
- The shepherd's and doctor's names.
- Why Marcus and Sextus fought on the way home from school.
- How Davus was Made a Slave.
- When Aemilia tells Iulius that she's expecting, he's overjoyed at the prospect of another son. When Aemilia complains that men only want boys, Iulius insists that she misunderstood him and that of course he'd be just as happy with another daughter. In Fabellae Latinae, we find out that Aemilia was right.
- Arcadia: Iulius enjoys his time at his villa in the countryside very, very much. Subverted by his coloni (tenant farmers), who work hard, pay rent, and are afraid of being thrown off their land.
- Call-Back: Medus runs away in Chapter 6; Cornelius mentions having seen him in Chapter 31. The shepherd is the protagonist of Chapter 9, and reappears briefly in Chapter 27.
- Emergency Cargo Dump: A merchant is quite distressed when his goods are thrown overboard during a storm. Later the merchant squabbles with the helmsman who gave the order, with the helmsman arguing that the lives of those aboard, including the merchant, are more valuable than the merchandise, and the merchant feeling that, without his fortune, his life is no longer worth living.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": We never find out the name of the ianitor (doorkeeper). The pastor (shepherd) and medicus (doctor) have names given in Colloquiua Personarum, but in Familia Romana are just pastor and medicus.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The story takes two days, from the characters' point of view. This can produce a very Webcomic Time-like effect, since someone learning Latin from the book probably spends months reading it.
- Happiness in Slavery: Syra's job is to help Aemilia take care of her kids. Syra loves those children very, very much.
- Made a Slave: Medus tells Lydia and the helmsman how he was sold into slavery because he couldn't repay a debt.
- Say Your Prayers: Lydia and Medus, while traveling to Greece, find themselves on a ship in a storm. Lydia, who is Christian, spends the whole storm praying for safety. Later, she has the same reaction to an approaching pirate ship.
- Show Within a Show: Various characters tell various stories from Greek and Roman mythology at appropriate times. Two entire chapters are devoted, respectively, to Theseus and the Minotaur and to Daedalus and Icarus, but shorter stories (Arion, Polycrates, Midas) appear here and there. Lydia also reads excerpts from the Bible.
- Spin-Off: At least one author is working on a Greek textbook (Lingua Graeca per se Illustrata
) in the same style. - Too Important to Walk: Iulius does not walk home from Tusculum. Davus and Ursus carry him home in a lectica (litter).
- Unreliable Narrator: Marcus comes home from school having fought with his classmate Sextus. Why did he fight with Sextus, asks Iulius? No reason! Sextus just started hitting him! note
- Worst Aid: When Quintus falls out of a tree and sprains his ankle, the doctor Iulius summons treats him by bloodletting.
