The Master Codebook — 10 Rules
| # | Element | Tag | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indicative mood verb | RED | vocat — "calls" |
| 2 | Subjunctive mood verb | WHITE ON BLACK | fluat — "(that) it flow" |
| 3 | Connective word | YELLOW HIGHLIGHT | et |
| 4 | Infinitive verb | GREEN | iūdicārī — "to be judged" |
| 5 | Participle | ORANGE | dīvīsa — "divided" (PPP) |
| 6 | Subject (phrase) | PURPLE | Caesar |
| 7 | Noun-adjective phrase | UNDERLINED | magna gallia |
| 8 | Ablative absolute | BRACKETED | [Caesare duce] |
| 9 | Noun case for attention | STAR MARK | ★cōpiās — "forces (acc. pl.)" |
| 10 | Set phrase / lexical item | SHADING | proelium committere |
Two rules deserve special note: Rule #2 (subjunctive) is taught formally in Wheelock Ch. 28 — beyond the 28-hour Year-1 sequence. When a subjunctive form appears in a real Caesar passage before Hour 28, it is still tagged so students can recognize it; full treatment waits for Year 2. Rule #10 (set-phrase shading) is at instructor discretion across all hours — recurring military or rhetorical phrases (proelium committere, certior factus est, poenās persolvere, bellum gerere, sub iugum mittere) may be shaded whenever they consolidate phraseology.
Activation Table — All 28 Hours
| Hour | Battle / Source | Wh. | Grammar | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Battle of the Arar · DBG 1.12 | 1 | 1st & 2nd Conj. Pres. | NEW | passive | — | NEW | passive (trap) | — | — | — | — | opt. |
| 2 | Battle of Bibracte · DBG 1.24–25 | 2 | 1st Declension | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | NEW (1st) | opt. |
| 3 | Battle of Vosges (Ochsenfeld) | 3 | 2nd Declension | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | — | EXT (+2nd) | opt. |
| 4 | Battle of the Axona (Aisne) | 4 | Type 1 Adj. + Sum | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | NEW | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 5 | Battle of the Sabis (Sambre) | 5 | Future & Imperfect | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 6 | Siege of the Atuatuci ⚔ SIEGE | 6 | Sum, Possum, compl. Inf. | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 7 | Battle of Octodurus | 7 | 3rd Declension | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | EXT (+3rd) | opt. |
| 8 | Battle of Quiberon Bay | 8 | 3rd Conjugation | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 9 | Crassus's Aquitanian Campaign | 9 | Demonstratives | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | EXT (dem.) | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 10 | Massacre of Usipetes & Tencteri | 10 | 3rd Conj. -iō | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 11 | First Crossing of the Rhine | 11 | Personal Pronouns | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | NEW | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 12 | First Invasion of Britain | 12 | Perfect Stem | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 13 | Ambush at Atuatuca | 13 | Reflexive | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 14 | Second Invasion of Britain | 14 | Ablatives (1) | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ (abl. focus) | opt. |
| 15 | Ethnography of Britain · Tac. Agr. 10–11 | 15 | Numerals | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | EXT (num.) | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 16 | Ethnography of Britain · Tac. Agr. 12–13 | 16 | Type 2 Adjectives | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | EXT (Type 2) | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 17 | Siege of Q. Cicero's Camp ⚔ | 17 | Relative Pronoun | ✓ | ✓ | NEW (rel.) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 18 | Punitive Expeditions | 18 | Passive Voice | ✓ act.+pass. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 19 | Second Crossing of the Rhine | 19 | Perfect Passive | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | EXT (PPP) | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 20 | Attack on the Atuatuca Garrison | 19 | Ablatives (2) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ (abl. focus) | opt. |
| 21 | Ethnography DBG — Galli people | 20 | 4th Declension | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | EXT (+4th) | opt. |
| 22 | Ethnography DBG — Germanic people | 21 | 3rd Conj. -iō (review) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 23 | Siege of Avaricum ⚔ | 21 | 4th Conjugation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ | opt. |
| 24 | Battle of Gergovia | 22 | 5th Declension | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | EXT (+5th) | opt. |
| 25 | Battle of the Vingeanne | 22 | Ablatives (3) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ (abl. focus) | opt. |
| 26 | Siege of Alesia ⚔ | 23 | Participles (1) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | EXT (all 4) | ✓ | ✓ | NEW | ✓ | opt. |
| 27 | Campaign against the Bellovaci | 23 | Participles (2) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | opt. |
| 28 | Siege of Uxellodunum ⚔ | Review | All Year-1 forms | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Per-Hour Notes
Hour 1 — Battle of the Arar (Saône) · DBG 1.12 · Wheelock Ch. 1
Task focus. Identify all the verbs.
Tags newly active. #1 indicative verbs (red); #4 infinitives (green).
Tags passively present. #2 subjunctive (fluat in an indirect question — tagged for recognition; full treatment in Year 2). #5 participles (orange): dīvīsa, factus, impedītōs, inopīnantēs, reliqua, prīnceps — explicit traps in the verb-identification task.
Suppressed. #6 subject phrases, #7 noun-adj phrases, #8 ablative absolutes, #9 noun-case stars.
Hour 2 — Battle of Bibracte · DBG 1.24–25 · Wheelock Ch. 2 (1st Declension)
Task focus. Identify all the 1st-declension nouns AND all the verbs.
Tags newly active. #9 noun case for attention (★) — fires for 1st-declension nouns only. Four forms in the passage: cōpiās (1), sarcinās (6), fugae (12), pūgnam (15).
Carried from Hour 1. #1, #4, #5 (the abl. abs. participles aequātō, mīssīs, dēstrictīs stay tagged as traps).
Suppressed. #3, #6, #7, #8. The text contains ablative absolutes; no brackets yet, only the participle inside is orange.
Hour 3 — Battle of Vosges (Ochsenfeld) · Wheelock Ch. 3 (2nd Declension)
Task focus. Identify 2nd-declension nouns and all verbs.
Newly active. #9 extends to 2nd declension. ★ fires on 1st- and 2nd-decl. forms.
Suppressed. #3, #6, #7, #8.
Hour 4 — Battle of the Axona (Aisne) · Wheelock Ch. 4 (Type 1 Adj. + Sum)
Task focus. Identify 1st/2nd-decl. adjectives agreeing with nouns; verbs.
Newly active. #7 noun-adjective phrase (underlined or bracketed). With 1st-decl. + 2nd-decl. nouns plus Type 1 adjectives (-us, -a, -um), students can match adjective to noun by case-number-gender. Sum is formally introduced — all its forms tagged #1.
Suppressed. #3, #6, #8.
Hour 5 — Battle of the Sabis (Sambre) · Wheelock Ch. 5 (Future & Imperfect)
Task focus. Identify verbs in the new tenses.
Newly active. No new codebook rule — future/imperfect are still indicative (#1, red).
Pedagogical note. Instructor may use #10 (set-phrase shading) on time-marker phrases (e.g., iam + imperfect; posterō diē + perfect).
Hour 6 — Siege of the Atuatuci · Wheelock Ch. 6 (Sum, Possum, Complementary Inf.) ⚔ SIEGE
Task focus. Identify the complementary-infinitive construction (verb + infinitive).
Newly active. No new rule, but #4 (green infinitive) now does heavy work, paired with #1 (red verb) in the dēbeō / volō / iubeō / possum + infinitive pattern.
Decoration. Eligible for the Corona Mūrālis.
Hour 7 — Battle of Octodurus · Wheelock Ch. 7 (3rd Declension)
Task focus. Identify 3rd-decl. nouns + verbs.
Newly active. #9 extends to 3rd declension. This is the biggest noun family in Latin (mīles, legiō, cōnsul, flūmen, hostis).
Hour 8 — Battle of Quiberon Bay · Wheelock Ch. 8 (3rd Conjugation)
Task focus. Identify 3rd-conj. verbs with their thematic-vowel quirks (dūcō, dūcis, dūcit, dūcimus, dūcitis, dūcunt).
Newly active. No new rule.
Hour 9 — Crassus's Aquitanian Campaign · Wheelock Ch. 9 (Demonstratives)
Task focus. Identify demonstratives (hic, ille, iste, is) modifying nouns.
Newly active. #7 extends — demonstratives participate in the noun-phrase underline like adjectives.
Hour 10 — Massacre of the Usipetes and Tencteri · Wheelock Ch. 10 (3rd Conj. -iō)
Task focus. Identify the -iō family within 3rd conjugation (capiō, capere, cēpī, captum).
Newly active. No new rule.
Hour 11 — The First Crossing of the Rhine · Wheelock Ch. 11 (Personal Pronouns)
Task focus. Identify subject pronouns and trace agreement with verbs.
Newly active. #6 subject phrase (purple). With personal pronouns (ego, tū, nōs, vōs, is/ea/id) explicit, full subject phrases can now be tagged.
Hour 12 — The First Invasion of Britain · Wheelock Ch. 12 (Perfect Stem)
Task focus. Identify perfect-stem verb forms (perfect, pluperfect, future perfect indicative active).
Newly active. No new rule. #1 covers all tenses.
Hour 13 — Ambush at Atuatuca · Wheelock Ch. 13 (Reflexive)
Task focus. Identify reflexive pronouns (sē, sibi, suī) and reflexive possessive (suus, -a, -um) referring to the subject.
Newly active. No new rule, but #6 + #9 jointly handle the reflexive's antecedent.
Hour 14 — Second Invasion of Britain · Wheelock Ch. 14 (Ablatives 1)
Task focus. Identify ablative-case nouns and their function (means, manner, accompaniment, place where, time when).
Newly active. No new rule, but #9 (★) is now specifically focused on ablatives.
Hour 15 — Ethnography of Britain · Tacitus, Agricola 10–11 · Wheelock Ch. 15 (Numerals) TACITUS
Task focus. Identify numeral adjectives (ūnus, duo, trēs, mīlle) and their agreement.
Newly active. #7 extends — numerals as agreeing adjectives.
Source note. Switches to Tacitus's Agricola (a slightly later author writing in a similar register); the codebook applies unchanged.
Hour 16 — Ethnography of Britain · Tacitus, Agricola 12–13 · Wheelock Ch. 16 (Type 2 Adjectives) TACITUS
Task focus. Identify 3rd-decl. adjectives (omnis, -e; fortis, -e) and their agreement.
Newly active. #7 extends to Type 2 (3rd-decl.) adjectives.
Hour 17 — Siege of Quintus Cicero's Camp · Wheelock Ch. 17 (Relative Pronoun) ⚔ SIEGE
Task focus. Identify relative clauses (quī, quae, quod) and their antecedents.
Newly active. #3 connective words (yellow) — fires specifically on relative pronouns. The relative pronoun simultaneously connects two clauses and stands in a case-function within its own clause.
Decoration. Eligible for the Corona Mūrālis.
Hour 18 — Punitive Expeditions · Wheelock Ch. 18 (Passive Voice)
Task focus. Identify passive-voice verb forms (-or, -ris, -tur, -mur, -minī, -ntur).
Newly active. No new codebook rule, but #1 now fires on both active and passive indicatives.
Hour 19 — Second Crossing of the Rhine · Wheelock Ch. 19 (Perfect Passive)
Task focus. Identify periphrastic perfect passive forms (PPP + sum/es/est…).
Newly active. #5 (orange participle) becomes formally active. Until now, participles appeared as traps and were tagged for recognition only; from Hour 19 the tag is fully analytical.
Hour 20 — Attack on the Atuatuca Garrison · Wheelock Ch. 19 (Ablatives 2)
Task focus. Deeper ablative usage (agent with ā/ab, instrument without preposition, separation).
Newly active. No new rule; #9 intensifies.
Hour 21 — Ethnography in DBG — Galli People · Wheelock Ch. 20 (4th Declension)
Task focus. Identify 4th-decl. nouns (manus, manūs f.; exercitus, -ūs m.; cornū, -ūs n.).
Newly active. #9 extends to 4th declension.
Hour 22 — Ethnography in DBG — Germanic People · Wheelock Ch. 21 (3rd Conj. -iō review)
Task focus. Reinforce 3rd conj. -iō; recognize all conjugations in mixed prose.
Newly active. No new rule.
Hour 23 — Siege of Avaricum · Wheelock Ch. 21 (4th Conjugation) ⚔ SIEGE
Task focus. Identify 4th-conjugation verbs (audiō, audīre, audīvī, audītum).
Newly active. No new rule.
Decoration. Eligible for the Corona Mūrālis.
Hour 24 — Battle of Gergovia · Wheelock Ch. 22 (5th Declension)
Task focus. Identify 5th-decl. nouns (diēs, diēī m.; rēs, reī f.; spēs, speī f.).
Newly active. #9 extends to 5th declension — now all five declensions are eligible for ★.
Hour 25 — Battle of the Vingeanne · Wheelock Ch. 22 (Ablatives 3)
Task focus. Final ablative usages (specification, respect, place from which without preposition for towns).
Newly active. No new rule; #9 intensified once more.
Hour 26 — Siege of Alesia · Wheelock Ch. 23 (Participles 1) ⚔ SIEGE
Task focus. Identify all four Latin participles (present active, perfect passive, future active, future passive).
Newly active. #5 — formal treatment of all four participles. #8 (ablative absolute, [square brackets]) — newly introduced. Ablative absolutes typically contain a noun + participle in the ablative; now they can be bracketed and analyzed.
Decoration. Eligible for the Corona Mūrālis.
Hour 27 — Campaign against the Bellovaci · Wheelock Ch. 23 (Participles 2)
Task focus. Extended participle usage; deponent verbs whose forms are participles in disguise.
Newly active. No new rule; #5 and #8 intensified.
Hour 28 — Siege of Uxellodunum · Review ⚔ SIEGE
Task focus. Read a Caesar passage with the full codebook active. Recognize and tag everything.
Newly active. All 10 rules now in play, including #10 (set-phrase shading) for any recurring military or rhetorical phrases the instructor wishes to spotlight.
Decoration. Final siege of the Gallic Wars — eligible for the Corona Mūrālis.
Two Patterns to Notice
A. The codebook builds up incrementally. By Hour 28 a student sees the full master codebook in operation. Earlier hours show only what the student can analyze; later hours show progressively more. The student's reading capacity grows in lockstep with the visible markup.
B. "Passive presence" before "active analysis." When a grammatical form appears in real Caesar before the corresponding Wheelock chapter — e.g., a subjunctive in Hour 1, an ablative absolute in Hour 2 — the form is not hidden. It is tagged with the appropriate codebook color and the student can see "something is going on here." The student is not asked to analyze it. This builds familiarity-before-mastery: the form is recognized as belonging to a category long before that category is formally taught.