Ancient Rome

by Andrew Solway

This is one of two new titles from the acclaimed master of recreating the ancient world. Peter Connolly's superb illustrations bring to life the world of ancient Rome, giving children aged 8+ a real sense of what it was like to live there. We visit the baths and the laundry, watch chariot races at the Circus Maximus and gladiator fights at the Colosseum, and discover a wealth of fascinating details of everyday life. Perfect to support homework. Peter Connolly is a best-selling author and illustrator of the ancient world. His previous books with Oxford include Pompeii, The Roman Fort, The Legionary, The Cavalryman, The Ancient Greece of Odysseus, The Holy Land and The Ancient City. These have sold over 250,000 copies in English, and have been translated into many other languages. Peter Connolly is an Honorary Research Fellow of the Institute of Archaeology, London.

Genres: History, Roman History, Nonfiction

Unknown Binding

First published September 7, 2001

Reviews

[Patty O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gladiators, the coliseum, the story of a powerful empire and the importance of bath houses are what you will find when picking up Ancient Rome by Peter Connolly. At 64 pages it is an ideal reference book. Most of the book is set up in a 2- page spread based on the topic that is being covered in the section. Once in that 2- page spread you’ll find maps and guides that will help you navigate through the illustrations and text. Being a multi-modal book, it is not necessary to read in a linear way, you could jump around and still find what you need to discover about the ancient empire. Two very important tools included in this book towards the end of the book, which are the glossary and index. The glossary is a great help, especially with those words with Latin roots. As for the index, it is a very useful tool when needing to find something quickly; simply look it up and find the page number right away. The book does a tremendous job covering many topics about Ancient Rome such as the rise and fall of the empire, shopping habits, the public baths and the Roman culture in general.
The book overall gives us a taste of what Rome was like back when it was at it’s prime in ancient times. The book has great and clear illustrations by Connolly that really help one visually how people lived back in the day. There’s a picture of the coliseum that depicts all five levels and the trap doors. Personally I’ve always been a huge sucker for History, especially for early Western Civilization, so this book caught my eye right away when I spotted it. Learning about other cultures and societies has always been something that’s interested me.
Teachers overall can use this book as a reference book as well as an information text to show students when learning about ancient Rome. Though I’m not sure if any teacher would want to read this book to the class from cover to cover, it’s defiantly one to keep in hand when referring to Rome back, at least for the great visuals. Students could easily pick it up and enjoy it or study it depending on the assignment or interest. It’s a great book that should not be overlooked and provides great facts and illustrations about ancient Rome.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent brief overview of what daily life in Ancient Rome must have been like. The illustrations/diagrams allow you to step in to history.

This book is not only for young teens, but anyone interested in seeing what life was like within the civilization that shaped the language, laws and construction of our modern democratic world.

Having visited Rome, this type of illustration would've been beneficial to read before my trips. Hence, I wouldn't have missed the Theatre of Marcellus.

[Debrarian]

Cool info by Oxford U. Press.

[Julesmarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent information and good illustrations, I use this to supplement several of my lessons on Ancient Rome.