After reading Caesar, novice Latin students traditionally read Cicero, his First Oration Against Catiline in particular. Cicero's style is extremely hypotactic. He is able to nest an amazing number of clauses within one another. Apart from speeches, he also has some philosophical essays and letters extant (i.e., that have survived). You might consider approaching his essay Dē Amicitiā(“On Friendship”) or Dē Senectū te (“On Old Age”). His letters provide an interesting, personal take on the breakdown of the Roman republic in the mid-first century B.C.E. And they are not so hypotactic!

After Cicero traditionally comes Vergil's Aeneid. While the basic linguistic concepts of parataxis and hypotaxis apply, poetry in Latin is a whole other story. Latin poetry is not based on a rhyming scheme. Instead, it is governed by meter, which involves rules for the arrangement of long and short syllables (i.e., vowels). The meters of Latin poetry assure a steady rhythmic quality that is very beautiful. In addition, poetry also can take full advantage of Latin's being an inflected rather than analytical language. Free from the strictures of word order, an incredible new world of word play and imagery is possible.