What do you think?
Rate this book
Romulus
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
155 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1852
22 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Jacob Abbott
1,429 books91 followersAbbott was born at Hallowell, Maine to Jacob and Betsey Abbott. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820; studied at Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, 1822, and 1824; was tutor in 1824-1825, and from 1825 to 1829 was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College; was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in Boston in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829-1833; was pastor of Eliot Congregational Church (which he founded), at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1834-1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843-1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845-1848 of the Mount Vernon School for Boys, in New York City.
He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School.
His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.
Fewacres in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine
His brothers, John S.C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.
He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School.
His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.
Fewacres in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine
His brothers, John S.C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 31, 2017
Romulus by Jacob Abbot is a remarkable combination of both history and mythology. The book manages to recount both the known, provable historical events together with the underlying mythology in such a way as to be ingenious, captivating, and thoroughly enjoyable. While Mr. Abbot recounts the myths with suitable skepticism, he emphasizes their importance both as the only surviving account of what the ancients believed had happened and for their own intrinsic value as beautiful and ingenious tales. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading ancient history and mythology.
March 6, 2013
A great, short history of the life and legends of Romulus and the foundation of Rome and the Roman empire. There is political intrigue, social foundation and mystery/magic in this telling of this long distant time in history. It is a fitting way to encounter the stories of Remus and Romulus.
March 20, 2024
This was a great read. I’ve heard tales of people who grew up with their parents reading this series of books to them from my much smarter friends and I finally got around to reading it myself. I will be reading these to my kids as they grow up. It told much more than the story of Romulus. It covered 1000 years of history told interesting ancient stories and did an excellent job of keeping what are known facts separate from the incredible stories that have been handed down full of fiction while still telling the stories. It reminded me of Bauer’s “story of our world” books. Highly recommend. Can’t wait to read the second one.
February 20, 2019
A very lucid account of Rome’s mythologized inception, beginning with Cadmus’ establishment of phonetic language then tracing the story from Aeneas to Romulus. A quick and enjoyable read. Recommended.
April 24, 2019
A mediocre book from a talented writer. I normally enjoy his work, but this feels phoned in.
May 13, 2020
Fabulous for something written so long ago.
April 19, 2021
Easy-to-understand retelling of the Aeneid. Gripping history and genealogy of the founder of Rome.
January 8, 2017
Romulus is one of those half-historical, half-legendary characters in whom we must see rather the personification of an age than the actual personage.
It's a pleasure to read Abbott's biographies. The writing is solid, as most 19th-century writing is, with cautionary skepticism when relaying mythological elements. I enjoy etymology; the origins of volume, focus, tribe, and triumph are included.
Cadmus brought alphabetic writing to Greece. In discussing the differences between symbolic writing and phonetic writing, Abbott explains that we use symbolic writing in the example of $, a symbol that means dollar.
The whole population was divided into three portions, which were called tribes, which word was formed from the Latin tres, meaning three.
Most books I read remind me of related (unread) books on my shelves. When Jacob Abbott writes that Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus, was offered in a marriage alliance to Aeneas, he injects this commentary: What the wishes of Lavinia herself were in respect to the arrangement, it is not very well known; nor were her wishes, according to the ideas that prevailed in those times, of any consequence whatever.
That reminded me of Ursula Le Guin's book Lavinia, a gift from a friend, a novel telling Lavinia's story from her POV. It is now my current read.
It's a pleasure to read Abbott's biographies. The writing is solid, as most 19th-century writing is, with cautionary skepticism when relaying mythological elements. I enjoy etymology; the origins of volume, focus, tribe, and triumph are included.
Cadmus brought alphabetic writing to Greece. In discussing the differences between symbolic writing and phonetic writing, Abbott explains that we use symbolic writing in the example of $, a symbol that means dollar.
The whole population was divided into three portions, which were called tribes, which word was formed from the Latin tres, meaning three.
Most books I read remind me of related (unread) books on my shelves. When Jacob Abbott writes that Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus, was offered in a marriage alliance to Aeneas, he injects this commentary: What the wishes of Lavinia herself were in respect to the arrangement, it is not very well known; nor were her wishes, according to the ideas that prevailed in those times, of any consequence whatever.
That reminded me of Ursula Le Guin's book Lavinia, a gift from a friend, a novel telling Lavinia's story from her POV. It is now my current read.
August 11, 2014
Not quite on par with his other history books. This is basically a summary of the Aeneid of Virgil and the first book of Livy.
March 8, 2014
I have heard all of these names before but I was not familiar with the myths in which they started. Jacob Abbot re tells the story in a very entertaining way.
July 7, 2014
Abbott does a wonderful job providing background and context to the biographies he writes. This one reaches back to Aeneas and the fall the Troy. Great read!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews