So, part of my master's paper was an analysis of the syntactic complexity of the Latin novellas. If you're interested in what the range of syntactical complexity actually looks like, check out this thread.

If not, then keep scrolling, and here's a dog picture for your troubles

I'm working on a 10-point scale that will take into account the three measures I studied: sentence length, subord. clauses/verb phrases per sentence, and T-units (essentially independent clauses) per sentence. It's not perfect but it's good for a rough gauge of complexity.

So, here are some excerpts from novellas at each point in this 1–10 scale, increasing in complexity. This will give you an idea of how classifying the novellas by these three figures actually looks.

SCORE: 1 (Labyrinthus, Olimpi)

"Ego sum Ariadna. Domus mea est in īnsulā magnā. Nōmen īnsulae est Crēta. Domus mea nōn est ōrdināria. Domus nōn est parva et modesta. Domus mea est magna et magnifica!"

SCORE: 2 (Iter Icari, Simpson)

"Est rēx nōmine Mīnos. Mīnos est rēx Crētae. Crēta est īnsula graeca in marī Mediterraneō. Nōmen uxōrī Mīnōis est Pāsiphaē. Pāsiphaē est rēgīna Crētae."

SCORE: 3 (Agrippina Mater Fortis, @magisterp)

"Agrippīna māter Rōmāna est. est māter Pīsōnis et Rūfī. māter bona est. Agrippīna, autem, sēcrētum habet… Agrippīna fortis est, et pugnat. fortiter pugnat, sed clam pugnat."

SCORE: 4 (Templum Romanum, @MagisterCraft)

"Rōmānī multōs deōs variōs habēbant. In religiōne Rōmānā, deī erant Ītalicī, Graecī, Aegyptiī, et Orientālēs. Locus antīquus in quō Rōmānī deōs colēbant 'templum' vocātur."

SCORE: 5 (Cloelia, @magistrissima)

"nōmen mihi est Cloelia. puella parva Rōmāna sum. puella decem annōrum sum. decem annōs Rōmae cum patre et mātre habitāvī. decem annōs semper laeta eram. decem annōs tūta et numquam in perīculō eram."

SCORE: 6 (Camilla, @rachelcinis)

"curro. curro quam celerrime. mihi fugiendum est! haec quam fero est carissima. nemo eam a me capiat. gloriam. hostes gloriam sequuntur; ita hostes me, regem Volscorum, sequuntur."

SCORE: 7 (Medea et Peregrinus Pulcherrimus, Cunning)

"Mēdēa numquam pōtiōnem magicam malam fēcerat. Mēdēa virum numquam interfēcerat. Mēdēa erat bona, sed nescīvit quō amor eam ferret. Mēdēa fīlia rēgis in Colchide erat."

SCORE: 9 (Kandake Amanirenas, @e_vanderpool)

"Nōn solum Aegyptus sed etiam Nūbia erant in Africā. Nūbae in merīdiem spectant. In Nūbiā sōl erat calidus sed calidissimus! Teriqetas, rēx magnus et fortis, Nūbiam rēgnābat. Teriqetas marītus Amanirenae erat."

SCORE: 10 (Sacri Pulli, @e_vanderpool)

"Ego sum pullus Rōmānus, nōmine Piccius! Ego sum nōn solum pullus magnus sed pullus sacer. Dei deaeque me valde amant et potestatem magnam mihi dant."

One thing that you should notice is that the excerpts with a higher syntactic complexity aren't necessarily at a higher reading level. That's because studies show that you don't need to drastically simplify syntax so long as the vocabulary is simple enough.

A lot of authors exploit this through repetition. The reason Sacri Pulli has such a high score is partly because of all its "si" clauses. And some of the Pisoverse books have a lot of infinitive phrases with "vult," which makes a simple novella like Rufus Lutulentus get a 5.

I don't really have an end to this thread, but I plan on tinkering with this 1–10 syntactic complexity scale some more, and later including it on LNDb. In the meantime, here's my dog digging in the bushes, hot on the trail of nothing.