Societas Via Romana - Discussion Archives

I ran across a fun little site that would be useful as a supplement for those interested in learning Latin. It is a multi-user dungeon (MUD) game in that language. It can be found at

http://labyrinthus.latinus.imp.ch/

For those sodales who were not yet born when communicating at 300 baud was the norm, a MUD is a textual version of a "Dungeons and Dragons" type role playing game. The program describes a situation and the player types in his response, which unfortunately is limited to what the program can recognize. Not much fun in this day of Half Life and Quake, but a good way to augment your vocabulary.

Tergestus

I enjoyed it because not a lot of Latin is needed. One can type in "adiuva" and "adiuva [command]" to get a list of recognized commands and their meanings in English.

Commands do not have to be grammatically correct to be recognized. For example "Neca serpentem" (kill the snake) is correct, but "Neca serpens" will also do the job.

Reading the descriptions just demands a dictionary and the most basic grasp of grammar.

In sum, this is a fun way to build your vocabulary and to feel that you are actually using Latin interactively.

Tergestus