On Teaching Sallust in Latin: The Why and the How

Abstract

There exist many pedagogical methods we can use to examine, expound and explain ancient authors to our students. In this paper I propose an alternative approach to teach Sallust in an undergraduate setting, with explanatory aids, exercises, tests and quizzes. These latter result not from a quick consideration, but from daily use and application in my own classes. In addition, I give reasons why it is helpful to teach Latin in Latin and what advantages it has for students who have learnt well the grammar and have moved on to reading and analysis of the ancient texts. Students, who had had no prior exposure to this approach, completed an evaluation questionnaire at the end of the academic year; the results are provided as a conclusion of the article.