LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
Schola domestica

A classical Latin curriculum, from first words to Vergil

The old classical schools taught Latin by reading it: easy texts first, then Caesar, Ovid and Vergil, every new word met in a sentence. This curriculum does the same with a ladder of graded readers, and gives each lesson the tools of this site: the dictionary, an annotated reader, and daily review of the words your student is learning.

See the scope and sequenceRead a first lesson
A Roman schoolroom, engraved in the style of a nineteenth-century plate
Ōrdō studiōrum

Scope and sequence

Ages and grades are a guide. Students move up when the current level reads easily, not when the calendar says so.

  1. PrōlogusGrades 2–4Ages 7–10

    Rome's heroes read aloud in English: Horatius at the bridge, Cloelia, Cincinnatus. The stories the Latin books will retell.

    Heroes of RomeEnglish

    A week Read one hero aloud; the child narrates it back.

  2. Gradus IGrades 4–6Ages 9–12

    First Latin: the same heroes in very easy Latin, and the thousand commonest words taught in Latin through pictures.

    Viri Romae FacillimiAbsolute beginnerMille VerbaAll levels

    A week One short chapter over three days; ten new words into review; one Mille Verba picture page.

  3. Gradus IIGrades 6–8Ages 11–14

    Continuous reading: Roman stratagems, Caesar's war in Gaul and the young Julian, in controlled Latin glossed in Latin.

    Strategemata IFoundationStrategemata IIIntermediateDe Bello Gallico IFoundationIVLIANVS I: GalliaPost-beginnerEvangelium secundum MarcumNo Latin requiredEvangelium secundum MatthaeumNo Latin required

    A week A chapter a week; the glosses do the dictionary's work; narration in Latin or English.

  4. Gradus IIIGrades 8–10Ages 13–16

    Real authors with support: more of Caesar, Pliny's letters, Seneca's sayings and Ovid's myths.

    De Bello Gallico IIIntermediateIVLIANVS II: ImperiumIntermediateEpistulaeIntermediateSenecaIntermediateMetamorphoses IIntermediate

    A week A chapter a week plus one passage of the original in the annotated reader.

  5. Gradus IVGrades 10–11Ages 15–17

    Toward the originals: fuller Latin, fewer supports, longer reading.

    De Bello Gallico IIIAdvancedIVLIANVS III: PersiaUpper intermediateMetamorphoses IIIntermediate to advanced

    A week Two chapters a week; original passages with notes and Allen & Greenough references.

  6. Gradus VGrades 11–12 · AP LatinAges 16–18

    Vergil: the Aeneid retold in Latin, leading into Vergil's own lines and the AP Latin syllabus passages.

    AeneisIntermediate to advanced

    A week One book of the Aeneid every three weeks; scansion and the original lines in the reader.

Diēs

What a lesson looks like

Every chapter of every reader is a lesson in four steps, and the course on each student's page always shows the next one.

  1. Verba The chapter's new words, as the book glosses them, go into the student's review, the way German schools used a Präparation.
  2. Lege Read the chapter aloud. New words are explained in the margin; any other word opens in the dictionary with a tap.
  3. Pēnsum Questions in Latin answered from the text, endings to write in, and one answer in a Latin sentence of the student's own, compared with a model. The questions and endings are marked at once.
  4. Grammatica One point of grammar the chapter uses, with its section in Allen & Greenough.
  5. Narrate and review The student retells the chapter, in English at first and in Latin later, and spends ten minutes on review. On the Familia plan, parents see each child's lessons, words, streak and hardest words.

Try the first lesson

Grātīs

What is free

The dictionaryAny Latin word in any form, with Lewis & Short, full tables and etymology.The annotated readerAny passage as a school edition: Latin glosses, notes and easier Latin.The AcademyAllen & Greenough's grammar and Smith's dictionaries of the ancient world.Every opening chapterThe first chapters of all sixteen readers, online.Lingua Latina companionIf you use Ørberg's Familia Rōmāna: every chapter's new words, defined in Latin.The picture dictionaryEngraved plates of the Roman world with a pointing game for younger children; the first is free, all are in the book.Daily gamesA Latin riddle and a five-letter word game, new every morning.Review and progressA daily review of kept words, and a ladder from Tīrō to Cēnsor.MembershipThe whole library online for a family, with progress on every device.
Quaestiōnēs

Questions parents ask

Is this a complete Latin curriculum?
It is a reading curriculum: a sequence of books that takes a student from first words to Vergil, with the dictionary, an annotated reader and spaced review alongside. Many families pair it with a grammar for explicit drill; Allen & Greenough's grammar is free in the Academy, and every note in the reader links to it.
Do I need to know Latin to teach it?
No. New words are explained in the margin of every book, any word can be looked up here in any form, and any sentence in the reader can be shown in easier Latin or in English. A parent can learn alongside the child.
Does it work for co-ops and classes?
Yes. Every family reads the same text, chapters are short enough for a week, and each passage's vocabulary can be printed as a list in reading order. The books are in print for the table and online for the screen.
How does it fit a classical education?
It follows the old method of the classical schools: read the authors early and often, learn words in context, narrate, and climb from easy texts to Caesar, Ovid and Vergil. It complements the grammar stage of programmes such as Classical Conversations; we are not affiliated with any of them.
What does it cost?
The dictionary, the annotated reader, the Academy and the opening chapters of every book are free. The full online library is part of membership, and every book can be bought in print.