Ad Alpes
A Tale of Roman LifeReading extensively is the only way to master Latin. But what to read? Ad Alpes is a forgotten gem that will make the road to Latin reading fluency much more fun.
A Roman Roadtrip
Ad Alpes follows a Roman family travelling from Ephesus via Rome to the Alps. On their journey, they tell each other stories in Latin from the rich fountain of Roman literature and the Bible.
Ad Alpes is both a novel with its over-arching narrative and Latin reader with a collection of interesting stories, fables, anecdotes and myths.
“Excellent book, excellent pronunciation, perfect for practising listening in Latin.”
—Mikel Arrieta
“Excellent audio book with a captivating story and very good recording quality. Listening to ‘Ad Alpes’ without the accompanying text is challenging, though; I’d recommend purchasing the paperback as well. (I’ll definitely do so..)”
—Matthias Volnhals
Ad Alpes
Formats
Paperback
200 pages of compelling reading in Latin with an extensive Latin-English glossary and detailed grammatical notes for each chapter.
E‑Book
Read the Ad Alpes on your tablet or computer. The contents of the e‑book is the same as the paperback. Preview the book here.
Audiobook
Listen to all the chapters of Ad Alpes on the go or in bed. This is a professional studio recording of the entire text. Preview the audiobook here.
Learn & enjoy
Learn about Roman history and life from a Roman family on the road.
- Improve your Latin: 200 pages in a classical Latin style for extensive reading.
- Read and enjoy Latin: Interesting stories from classical authors and the Bible.
- Read without the dictionary: Full Latin-English vocabulary.
- Perfect for autodidacts, students and teachers.
read Exciting stories in Latin
Ebook & Paperback
Anyone who wants to learn Latin well and truly acquire the language, will have to read an immense amount of text. This is easier said than done. Slowly working through passages from Caesar or Vergil, certainly has its place, but a learner needs to read much larger amounts of texts and enjoy the process.
Ad Alpes provides over 200-pages of classical Latin with the central stories and anecdotes of classical literature, from both myth and history.
Thus anyone who reads and listens to the book so as to internalize the language will also become familiar with the most famous passages from authors such as Livy, Horace, Suetonius, and Tacitus, to name but a few.
Ad Alpes
Preview chapters
If you want to get an idea of the level and style of the Latin, click below to dive right in to Ad Alpes.
Ad Alpes
Selection of chapters
Roman literature
Pirates in the Aegean
Crossing the Rubicon
Ghost stories
Stories from the bible
Fall of Jericho
Samson
David and Goliath
On the road
The inexperienced traveler
Adventure with brigands
A night alarm
“The book was great, but reading it only once didn’t given me the opportunity to absorb all the expressions and words I liked. Listening to the audiobook over and over in my daily Latin listening routine helped me a lot in my path to acquisition. And Daniel’s performance is stunning.”
—Alexander Veronensis
Listen to Ad alpes The Audiobook
Learning Latin well requires constant contact with the language which is not always possible with a book.
Since Ad Alpes is principally based on storytelling, it works very well as an audiobook.
With this studio recorded audiobook you can practice listening comprehension, read along to practice your pronunciation or just enjoy a long-form narrative in Latin.
Runtime: (7 hours 19 minutes)
Audiobook
Preview chapters
Click on the players below to preview three chapters from the audiobook of Ad Alpes.
“Beautifully read and at just the right reading pace.”
—Andrew Read
PAGES
CHAPTERS
JOURNEY
Historical context
Central stories, anecdotes, and poetry from classical authors.
Stories from the Bible
Easier understanding
Audiobook for listening to Latin on the go.*
Macrons on long vowels
Full Latin-English vocabulary.
*Sold separately.
Extensive reading
Over 200 pages for extensive reading in Latin.
Frequent repetition of common expressions and structures..
Discovery of a forgotten gem
I first found this almost-forgotten gem of a Latin reader in a second hand bookstore many years ago. It was the best Latin reader I had ever seen.
Right away, I started recommending it as extensive reading material to my students. Finding copies of Ad Alpes, however, was a real challenge.
That’s why together with Johan Winge, we decided to make this fantastic Latin reader—or novel— widely available again.
We’re now proud to present the new, revised edition of the 1928 gem Ad Alpes – A tale of Roman Life, written by Professor H.C. Nutting.
We have retained the beautiful original layout but have corrected several typographical errors, and updated some aspects of the English translations.
“‘Aspice!’ inquit Pūblius. ‘Iam paucī cymbā parvā effugere cōnātūrī sunt. Vidē cymbam, quam effrēnātē in flūctibus saltet! Modo in cōnspectū est, modo aspicī nusquam potest. Nunc in eā sunt trēs hominēs! Iam rēmōs agere incipiunt. Attat! Nunc venit aquae mōns!”
— Ad Alpes, p. 42
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get the book?
Ad Alpes (Paperback) is available from amazon.com. If you live in Europe you can get it from amazon.co.uk, amazon.fr, amazon.it, amazon.es or amazon.de. The E‑book version of Ad Alpes is available here.
Is it suitable for autodidacts wanting to improve their Latin?
Yes! It’s a perfect book for extensive reading: the full Latin–English vocabulary and frequent explanations on grammar make Ad Alpes very accessible for learning on your own.
The structure of the book also makes for good chunks around which to plan your studies.
Is there an audiobook version?
Yes! There is a three-part professional studio recording (7 hours and 19 minutes of Latin!). They are available as digital downloads here.
How large is the vocabulary of Ad Alpes?
The vocabulary is approximately three thousand words, of which the vast majority consists of the highest-frequency words in classical Latin.
Is the grammar sheltered?
The grammar is not sheltered. The full range of Latin grammar is used.
How much Latin do I need to know to read Ad Alpes?
That’s a tricky question. Since it contains a full Latin-English vocabulary, anyone with a good grasp of Latin grammar could read it; someone who has gone through a good larger Latin textbook such as Familia Romana (the first volume of Lingua Latina per se illustrata) carefully would be able to read Ad Alpes without too much trouble. The full vocabulary list at the end of the book as well as the footnotes will be of great help.
Can I use Ad Alpes as a textbook?
Yes. Since it contains a very wide selection of stories from ancient Rome and the Bible, you could easily select and teach the most suitable. The level of the Latin is even all through the book. The added bonus is that a good part of the stories is only slightly altered so the students will be reading 2000 year old texts.
