We had an old drill sergeant spinster for our teacher, she was the best. I can still read it, but alas the vocabulary gets lost over time. We studied all the campaigns of Caesar, the poets, I can’t even recall what all, lol. Being a Gaul descendent, I wasn’t real thrilled sometimes.
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One easily imagines dialogues between a scrounging legionary, perhaps a Vandal or a Parthian by origin, and a willing but benighted yokel.LEGIONARY (in vile Latin): I want water. Bring me water. Aquam.
YOKEL: Ugh?
L.: Aquam! Say aquam, you bloody fool. Go on — aquam.
Y: O? (To be spelled eau when they get to the writing stage centuries later.)
L.: Bring it to the high cliff. The high cliff. Altum.
Y.: Ugh?
L.: Altum! Say altum, you bumpkin. Go on — altum.
Y.: O? (To be spelt haut when, etc.)
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— Kingsley Amis, The King’s English.