Authentic mediaeval Latin, made readable. This volume offers a graded selection of short passages from Paul the Deacon’s History of the Lombards in genuine, unaltered Latin. The Latin is simpler than that of Cicero or Virgil, yet remains lucid, elegant and unmistakably that of a trained classical scholar. Each passage is supported by a near-complete vocabulary and an introduction that sets Paul and his world in their historical context, so that students can concentrate on reading rather than hunting through a dictionary. Paul the Deacon (c. 725–799) is one of the great narrative historians of the early Middle Ages. A Lombard monk writing in Italy after the fall of the Roman Empire, he recounts invasions, plagues, miracles and court intrigues with a gift for story-telling that has earned him the title “the Herodotus of the Middle Ages”. For anyone interested in the Lombards, in early mediaeval Italy, or in the survival of Latin after Rome, he is a primary source of the first importance. The readings in this book include: The importance of Germany as a “factory of humanity”; - The story of the Seven Sleepers; - How the Lombards came to Italy; - Narses the eunuch and the betrayal of the Empire; - The murder of King Alboin by his wife; - The plague of Justinian; - How rotten meat can be used to ward off rapists; - The failed reconquest of Italy by Constans II; - The Arab invasion of France. Designed as a bridge between textbook Latin and the classical authors, this reader is ideal for: A-Level and advanced school students; - First-year university students; - Home-educated and self-taught learners; - Classicists who wish to explore post-Imperial and ecclesiastical Latin. The book forms part of a developing series of historical Latin readers which already includes Stories from the Life of Christ and will expand to cover Bede, Liutprand, the Gesta Francorum and other key mediaeval texts. Sean Gabb is an historian, broadcaster and university lecturer. He has taught Latin and Greek for many years, and his historical novels have been translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek, Slovak, Hungarian, Chinese and Indonesian. He directs the Centre for Ancient Studies and lives in Kent with his wife and daughter.