Pro Archia Poeta

[Pisarello's] tiered reader for Cicero’s Pro Archia Poeta Oratio allows the intermediate Latin student to more confidently navigate the notoriously rough waters of Cicero’s complex prose while engaging with this interesting text about immigration policy in Republican Rome, the role of poetry and literature as a means for passing on moral and ethical values, as well as the concept of one finding immortality through literary commemoration. This text allows students to grapple with a relevant defence of the humanities, particularly in our contemporary academic milieu where the practical and that which is considered to give the best return on investment are often given privileged positions over the humanities. One could easily imagine this text inspiring many fruitful classroom discussions about the purpose of education as a preparation for life, rather than merely for a career.

[T]his text provides a gentle introduction to Latin prose and allows hesitant students to build their Latin reading skills at their own pace. […] Pisarello’s tiered approach makes this reader a genuinely useful resource for teachers of Comprehensible Input-based classes, classrooms with students of varying levels of Latin proficiency, or for independent learners seeking to progressively build reading fluency.