PROSODY.  Sec. 360

  Quantity of Vowels and Syllables Sec. 362
  Verse-Structure Sec. 366
  The Dactylic Hexameter Sec. 368
  The Dactylic Pentameter Sec. 369
  Iambic Measures Sec. 370

SUPPLEMENTS TO THE GRAMMAR.

    I. Roman Calendar Sec. 371
   II.  Roman Names Sec. 373
  III.  Figures of Syntax and Rhetoric Sec. 374

* * * * *

  Index to the Illustrative Examples Cited in the Syntax
  Index to the Principal Parts of Latin Verbs
  General Index
  Footnotes

* * * * *

INTRODUCTION.

THE LATIN LANGUAGE.

1.  The Indo-European Family of Languages.—­Latin belongs to one group of a large family of languages, known as Indo-European.[1] This Indo-European family of languages embraces the following groups: 

ASIATIC MEMBERS OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY.

a. The Sanskrit, spoken in ancient India.  Of this there were several stages, the oldest of which is the Vedic, or language of the Vedic Hymns.  These Hymns are the oldest literary productions known to us among all the branches of the Indo-European family.  A conservative estimate places them as far back as 1500 B.C.  Some scholars have even set them more than a thousand years earlier than this, i.e. anterior to 2500 B.C.

The Sanskrit, in modified form, has always continued to be spoken in India, and is represented to-day by a large number of dialects descended from the ancient Sanskrit, and spoken by millions of people.

b. The Iranian, spoken in ancient Persia, and closely related to the Sanskrit.  There were two main branches of the Iranian group, viz. the Old Persian and the Avestan.  The Old Persian was the official language of the court, and appears in a number of so-called cuneiform[2] inscriptions, the earliest of which date from the time of Darius I (sixth century B.C.).  The other branch of the Iranian, the Avestan,[3] is the language of the Avesta or sacred books of the Parsees, the followers of Zoroaster, founder of the religion of the fire-worshippers.  Portions of these sacred books may have been composed as early as 1000 B.C.

Modern Persian is a living representative of the old Iranian speech.  It has naturally been much modified by time, particularly through the introduction of many words from the Arabic.

c. The Armenian, spoken in Armenia, the district near the Black Sea and Caucasus Mountains.  This is closely related to the Iranian, and was formerly classified under that group.  It is now recognized as entitled to independent rank.  The earliest literary productions of the Armenian language date from the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era.  To this period belong the translation of the Scriptures and the old Armenian Chronicle.  The Armenian is still a living language, though spoken in widely separated districts, owing to the scattered locations in which the Armenians are found to-day.