About the Latin
Tacitus wrote history in a clipped, ironic style that drops words a reader might expect and prefers the unexpected construction. His Latin is not a beginner's Latin, and the catalog's scores say so.
What makes him worth the effort is the material: murder, shipwreck and battlefield horror, told with cold precision. Short episodes let you meet the style without committing to a whole book.
How hard is it?
Difficulty 9.1 to 9.7, advanced.
Every reading in the library has a difficulty score, on a scale that runs from about 1 to 11. Beginner texts sit below 3.5 and Advanced texts above 6.8.
Most demanding here: Sentence length, Vocabulary variety, Rare vocabulary, Very rare vocabulary, Unseen vocabulary, Nonfinite constructions, Subordination.
What you can read
3 readings, each with help on every word.
Librorum Capsula currently offers three short episodes from the Annals: a visit to the battlefield where Varus's army was destroyed, Seneca's forced death, and Nero's failed attempt to drown his mother.
The Botched Shipwreck
It was an unlikely night for a shipwreck, but the Emperor Nero was determined to have one. After all, what was infamy against the prize of ridding himself of his meddling mother?
Seneca's End
Neither surprised nor moved by the Emperor Nero's death sentence, the Stoic philosopher Seneca constructs an end to rival Socrates.
Varus's Battlefield
Six years after a Roman army was slaughtered by Germans at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, the Roman general Germanicus returns to see what happened with his own eyes and put the place to rights.
Where to start
The Botched Shipwreck
It is the shortest of the three and has the most propulsive story. Open it and the reader gives you the Latin with a definition for every word, so you can read at the pace that suits you and look up only what you need.
Start reading