Yes, it is true. Dulwich will no longer be using the Cambridge Latin Course for Years 7 and 8, and probably next year will be the last Year 9 to use the course. We decided to change because although the books are, with a little supplementary material, excellent for teaching key aspects of Latin grammar and vocabulary, in all other
respects they were woefully dated. For example, one has to look pretty hard to find any evidence that enslaved people were treated terribly by their masters, and given slavery was such a huge part of Roman Society, there didn't seem to be enough material explaining this completely inhumane aspect of Roman culture. Moreover, the female characters in all of the stories were either only interested in hair - dressing / shopping / complaining (and scheming in the much later books) - there really wasn't much in the way of an attempt at characterising them beyond this, which all felt rather old - fashioned. Finally, we had probably all endured enough of Caecilius basically letching after the ancilla Melissa, and for there not to be any sort of comeuppance or even comment that this isn't quite the way to behave. The new course, Suburani, combines an excellent and entertaining introduction to Latin grammar and vocabulary, combined with a captivating storyline with both male and female characters given equal consideration, and far better background material on topics such as enslavement and the role of women in Roman society.
Fran Cooke
Images researched by Jake Thurgood.
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