Gallic war. Complete edition, including seven books, edition by Allen, Joseph Henry, Allen, William Francis, Judson, Harry Pratt, with notes and dissertations, fully illustrated, on Caesar's Gallic campaigns and the Roman military art, prepared by Harry Pratt Judson and a special vocabulary, by James Bradstreet Greenough.
In preparing this completed edition of Caesar's Gallic War, the notes on the earlier portion have been diligently revised and largely re-written. In general, the plan and substance, approved by wide and satisfactory use for eleven years, have been retained. Besides the grammatical references to Allen & Greenough's Grammar, which have been carefully verified, references are given to the grammars of Gildersleeve and Harkness. The map of Gaul has been corrected according to the latest investigations, and a large number of illustrations, diagrams, and battle-plans have been introduced from the most recent and trustworthy sources.
A still more important feature is the elaborate study of the Roman military art as exemplified in the campaigns of Caesar,
carefully prepared from the most recent authorities by Mr. H. P. Judson, Professor of History in the University of Minnesota,
to whom its plan and execution are solely due. The special value of these military notes is quite apparent. The Commentaries are little more than a military history, -a story of battle and siege, - and to read the book understandingly the student must have a definite notion of the Roman army and its methods. This edition aims to enable him, with each sentence, to place before his eye a picture, - the same picture it suggested to the intelligent Roman reader.
The Vocabulary, by Professor Greenough, is on the same plan as his Vocabulary to Virgil. It attempts to give, first, the
etymological meaning of each word as far as is possible; second, the general meanings of the words, representing the
conceptions as they appeared to the Romans; third, such renderings as may be 'necessary to present the thought in a
suitable English form. In the last case care is taken to indicate by the use of phrases and by notes the difference between
the Roman and the English conceptions. In giving the etymologies, the actual mode of formation in each case, so far as it is known, is shown, and all the elements which have entered into the formation are noted. It is, of course, not intended that such etymological matter is to be studied as task-work by the pupil; but both teachers and students will do well to form the habit of analyzing words in this manner rather than content themselves with vague notions about roots, and with loose connections of words.
This edition of Caesar follows, with slight change of orthography, the text of Nipper day, the more important various readings being given in the notes. It is believed to be an advantage even to the youngest learner to deal with a standard text, and to know something of those variations which make the reading of an ancient classic differ from that of a modern author. In illustration of the narrative, constant use has been made of the more recent authorities, Mommsen, Kraner, Long, Merivale, and the " History of Julius Caesar " by Napoleon III., with the excellent school edition of Moberley. Much care has been taken, with the earlier portion especially, to furnish in the notes a guide to the thorough study of syntactical construction, for which no author is, by general consent, so well adapted as Caesar.