THEORETICAL AND APPLIED PERSPECTIVES IN THE TEACHING OF LATIN SYNTAX: ON THE PARTICULAR QUESTION OF WORD ORDER C. CABRILLANA 0. Introduction and structure This paper is intended to present an approach to word order in the area of knowledge studied by the academic subject Latin Syntax. The configuration of this issue, i.e., the way we deem it should be put forward, was partly developed during the preparation of a recently published manual on Latin Syntax 1 . The material disclosed herein 2 has undergone certain modifications affecting, mainly, the structure of the contents and it has been organised as follows: after explaining the concept of word order (§ 1) and the main perspectives of analysis (§ 2), this question will be further developed taking as a starting point the data from the multifarious types of texts in different stages (§ 3) so as to take the diachronic approach as a basis, and provide an account of the eventually interrelated factors that explain, distinctly, the different phenomena concerning word order (§ 4). It is here that the innovating character of this type of presentation lies, for it combines the advantages of theoretical research and the results of the analysis of the written material.