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Cambridge Latin Course #1

Cambridge Latin Course Book 1 4th Edition

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The leading Latin course worldwide Book I begins in the city of Pompeii shortly before the eruption of Vesuvius. Book I is full colour throughout, with a clear layout of stories and language notes. Featuring a glossary for quick reference and comprehension questions, the book also includes a full explanation of language points and grammar practice exercises.

204 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 1993

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Cambridge School Classics Project

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5 stars
95 (50%)
4 stars
53 (28%)
3 stars
26 (13%)
2 stars
8 (4%)
1 star
5 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Brendon.
2 reviews1 follower
January 14, 2022
talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it.
Profile Image for katie.
1 review1 follower
November 11, 2014
Apart from the fact that they all died, it was a good book, with well-developed characters and settings. The plot-twist ending had me in tears. Recommend to anyone who can speak Latin, but remember to have a box of tissues with you, as the tears will flow freely.
Profile Image for Cassidy Chellis.
42 reviews2 followers
October 15, 2020
Working through this was an incredible journey. Somehow, one grows attached to the characters in this textbook. The stories one has to translate are witty, fast-paced, and at times genuinely emotional. I understand how odd it sounds, I certainly felt the same way when I read similar reviews prior to starting. Do yourself the favour, and work through this book.

Also, you'll learn Latin which is cool I guess.
Profile Image for Tyson.
48 reviews
May 29, 2023
The Latin story that runs through each of the chapters was surprisingly entertaining, informative, and at times, rather funny. I was using this book to provide supplemental comprehensive input for LLPSI, and it served excellently for this purpose, this did mean I focused more on reading the Latin story and skimmed the grammar explanations. The story is more entertaining than that story running through Familia Romana (LLPSI). The background information provided on Roman and Pompeian culture was interesting.
1 review
November 4, 2021
FUCK YOU FOR MAKING CAECILIUS, METELLA, AND QUINTUS DIE RIP 💔💔💔
EGO EST IRATUS
ARGHHHHHHH
Profile Image for phoo.
31 reviews
May 25, 2023
Caecilius est in hortō!
(Shhh I know pompei explosion at the end happened, just let me imagine that Caecilius is still in the hortō)
Profile Image for Addie.
915 reviews
May 11, 2022
A great reader, language builder, and history book for learning Latin. I love the building of and use of new words and how they are utilized in the format Cambridge uses here. A small comic line with easy sentences that introduce the new words, followed by short stories that increase the vocabulary and reinforce the words from the comics. And those are interspersed with historical context insights that help you understand what was actually occurring to bring it all together. Definitely a great resource for my Latin library!
Profile Image for Kristian Wong.
13 reviews1 follower
Read
August 30, 2019
A tear-jerker!! RIP caecilius. Better than the Oxford one.
Profile Image for graig.
3 reviews
May 31, 2022
I initially, like many others, came to this book because of my school insisting learning a new language was necessary for a good education. Despite many saying to not judge a book by its cover, as soon as i caught sight of the picture printed on the front, of a person carved intricately in stone with elaborate patterns swirling throughout his glorious, bald head, I knew that this book would be special. But any amount of preparing could not have been enough for this completely enthralling, life changing, inspiring piece of literature I was about to experience. Mere words could not express the beautiful nature of this book. From the illustrations, each picture nothing short of a masterpiece that deserved to be displayed in the most prestigious art galleries in the world. But the words, one could tell that each sentence was carefully constructed with such care and precision to fully entice the reader, you could easily spend hours simply staring and pondering all the possible deeper meanings that the stories held. The characters were engaging and relatable, the plot truly reflects society as a whole. I implore you to read this book and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Profile Image for Anna C.
696 reviews
February 9, 2020
"Caecilius est MENDAX."

"Oooohhhh.... mendax."

RIP Caecilius, et Metella, et Cerberus. For 9th grade me, this book was the bomb.
Profile Image for Fulmen Imp..
11 reviews14 followers
July 10, 2017
I loved the characters and the stories provided. It's amazing how the texts were so touching provided that they use so simple grammar structure and basic vocabulary. I learned a lot of words and began to understand Latin with this book and that's why I love it so much. The only huge disadvantage for me was the lack of explanation of grammar and the very slow progress grammarwise. That's why I moved to another system. But still I love this book so much that I couldn't give it less than five stars.
Profile Image for Alex.
639 reviews3 followers
May 10, 2019
A great teaching resource for anyone teaching Latin to beginners. I think it could have a little more variety in the activities (eg. more on sentence manipulation and students creating their own sentences and reading passages, research activities, etc.)... of course, most would be doing that already as alternative activities to break the monotony of reading/translating and comprehension activities.
Profile Image for C Murphy.
2 reviews
January 31, 2023
“Caecilius est in horto.” Easily one of the most iconic lines in any piece of literature. I read this masterpiece in Latin class. Together, my class laughed and cried, but we all fell in love with this book. This book sparked a wide range of emotions from all of us. We got mad at Clemens when he stole his bud’s girl (we also laughed). We got mad at Caecilius when he let the best dog in the world die. Cerberus died for his master, and he died for you too. I highly recommend this inspiring book, as it is the superior Latin text book. It was a gift to the world. May Ceberus live on in our hearts. Valete omnes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
14 reviews
November 18, 2022
I mean…it was fine. It’s a vaguely fun story told in particularly pithy parts that don’t have enough repetition for a reading method language book to actually get you to learn the vocabulary or grammar very well. There is a lot of neat information about Pompeii throughout that is told in English, which again, is fine, but doesn’t much help in teaching you Latin, which is the point of the book.
Profile Image for Armin.
88 reviews33 followers
June 30, 2025
A great introduction to Latin, especially if you already speak a romance language. The stories of the Iucundii are also interesting. The tidbits about roman life are quite informative and original as well.
Profile Image for Dr_ Andrain.
100 reviews1 follower
May 3, 2026
⊰═🕀═⊱≼🪶Гостросюжетна трагедія у вигляді підручника🪶≽⊰═🕀═⊱

Класний підручник з доступними і зрозумілими текстами ... Втім, ніколи би не подумав, що фінал посібника з латини може бути настільки трагічним і зворушливим ...

💧⊱═𒍟═⊰🩸⊱ 11/12 ⊰🩸⊱═𒍟═⊰💧

Dr_Andrain

3 reviews1 follower
August 24, 2024
Caecilius in his garden with his dog was peak literature, can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel. Hard to read without the dictionary though.
36 reviews
November 17, 2025
Very good book. Stories are captivating and the characters are memorable. The ending :( Makes learning latin very entertaining
Profile Image for Judi Mckay.
1,144 reviews6 followers
August 8, 2016
This is a great way to start to learn latin as you are straight in there without having to learn any declensions etc. However, at some point, you might have to if you want to continue with Latin. But, as a fun way to learn a brilliant language, it is the best introduction you could wish for, in my view.
Profile Image for Pamela McLeod.
82 reviews6 followers
August 26, 2014
Interesting stories that made it easy and fun to start learning Latin
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews