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The Story of the Romans
From the first settlers of Italy through the end of the Empire of the West in AD 476, The Story of the Romans retells as an engaging narrative the history of Ancient Rome and the stories of its famous leaders and citizens. In 102 lessons, we learn of the legend of Aeneas, Romulus and Remus, the seven kings of Rome, the rise of the Roman Republic, the Punic Wars, Caesar’s conquests, the Roman Empire, the Christianization of the Empire, and much more. We meet the good and the just; the wicked and proud: Tarquinius Superbus, Horatius, Coriolanus, Cincinnatus, Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, Archimedes, Cicero, Nero, and Constantine, to name just a few.
Miss Guerber relates in her preface her intention for The Story of the Romans. She writes, “The aim is not only to instruct, but to interest, school children, and to enable them, as it were in play, to gain a fair idea of the people and city of which they will hear so much. This book is also planned to serve as a general introduction to the study of Latin, which most pupils begin before they have had time to study history. With little, if any, knowledge of the people who spoke the language they are learning, children cannot be expected to take so lively an interest in the study as they would if they knew more.”
Miss Guerber relates in her preface her intention for The Story of the Romans. She writes, “The aim is not only to instruct, but to interest, school children, and to enable them, as it were in play, to gain a fair idea of the people and city of which they will hear so much. This book is also planned to serve as a general introduction to the study of Latin, which most pupils begin before they have had time to study history. With little, if any, knowledge of the people who spoke the language they are learning, children cannot be expected to take so lively an interest in the study as they would if they knew more.”
202 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1896
121 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
About the author
Hélène A. Guerber
97 books47 followersHélène Adeline Guerber (1859 – 1929), better known as H.A. Guerber, was a British historian most well known for her written histories of Germanic mythology.
Her most well known work is Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas - George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd., 1908 in London.
Other histories by Guerber include Legends of the Rhine (A.S. Barnes & Co., New York, 1895; new edition 1905), Stories of the Wagner Opera, The Book of the Epic, The Story of the Ancient World, The Story of the Greeks, The Story of the Romans, Legends of the Middle Ages, The Story of the Renaissance and Reformation, The Story of the Thirteen Colonies, and The Story of the Great Republic.
Her most well known work is Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas - George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd., 1908 in London.
Other histories by Guerber include Legends of the Rhine (A.S. Barnes & Co., New York, 1895; new edition 1905), Stories of the Wagner Opera, The Book of the Epic, The Story of the Ancient World, The Story of the Greeks, The Story of the Romans, Legends of the Middle Ages, The Story of the Renaissance and Reformation, The Story of the Thirteen Colonies, and The Story of the Great Republic.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
May 31, 2024
Such a good history book. Can’t wait to read it again, honestly.
May 9, 2021
Mixed feelings about this one. I read it aloud for fourth grade history as part of Simply Charlotte Masons “Matthew-Acts and Ancient Rome” curriculum.
It is essentially one long chronicle of treachery. My kids started groaning and protesting every time a new someone betrayed someone else for power. I was surprised how well they handled some of the difficult stories. We did have great conversations about how evil humans can be, and how much we need Jesus.
What I thought was inappropriate for a grade school curriculum was how many details the book gives about the gruesome historical violence. For this age, it would have been enough to say people were killed—9 year olds don’t need explicit details. I ended up editing a lot on the fly and skipping a few chapters altogether.
I learned a lot, though it covers such a huge time period that things definitely blurred together.
I did really appreciate this edition edited by Nothing New Press, which adds some explanations from a Christian worldview. Definitely recommend that over the original edition.
It is essentially one long chronicle of treachery. My kids started groaning and protesting every time a new someone betrayed someone else for power. I was surprised how well they handled some of the difficult stories. We did have great conversations about how evil humans can be, and how much we need Jesus.
What I thought was inappropriate for a grade school curriculum was how many details the book gives about the gruesome historical violence. For this age, it would have been enough to say people were killed—9 year olds don’t need explicit details. I ended up editing a lot on the fly and skipping a few chapters altogether.
I learned a lot, though it covers such a huge time period that things definitely blurred together.
I did really appreciate this edition edited by Nothing New Press, which adds some explanations from a Christian worldview. Definitely recommend that over the original edition.
October 25, 2023
This book was written for children, but for this grownup, it tied all the snippets I ever remember about Rome together and gave continuity and clarity to the whole story. I recommend this book for children and for adults… so engaging and interesting.
May 31, 2019
Jacob read for AO Y6. 4 stars. made lots of connections.. Different view points from Augustus Ceasar book...krb 5/31/19
March 29, 2023
Read over the course of 12 weeks for AO year 6. It covers an incredible amount of time (over 1200 years) and so it is broad and simplified and at times the writing style bothered me. However, it gave us all a wonderful understanding of the sweep of Roman history. Keeping a timeline and Book of Centuries was very helpful. For my kid’s readings (one 7th grader, one 5th grader), I assigned 3 chapters 3x/week.
May 13, 2022
A hard history, but so well told. Read with my 12yo son for history, it pairs well with Guerber's Story of the Greeks.
May 31, 2016
An 1896 children's history of Rome in 102 short chapters. Guerber focuses on shifts of power, which tends to blend into a murky soup of his son killed him, then the general killed this one, and later that emperor's wife poisoned him.
Any sexual or moral misdeed—excepting murder and torture, don't you know—is mentioned obliquely. The Rape of Lucretia (the word rape is never used) is explained that Sextus visited her and insulted her. And all references to suicide are followed by an explanatory sentence reminding readers that self-murder isn't right.
My sense is that the scope of this book is too wide for young students. The narrative can't carry such a heavy load. Better, perhaps, to give them stories of fewer leaders and add more details of daily life.
Any sexual or moral misdeed—excepting murder and torture, don't you know—is mentioned obliquely. The Rape of Lucretia (the word rape is never used) is explained that Sextus visited her and insulted her. And all references to suicide are followed by an explanatory sentence reminding readers that self-murder isn't right.
My sense is that the scope of this book is too wide for young students. The narrative can't carry such a heavy load. Better, perhaps, to give them stories of fewer leaders and add more details of daily life.
May 26, 2017
Good introduction to the beginnings of the Roman Empire, originally published in 1896. Appropriate for about 3rd-6th grade children. One irritating feature is the author's insistence that most people of that time were "ignorant and superstitious," and his somewhat arrogant tone regarding how much better educated people were in his time (1896).
June 20, 2012
Great read aloud. We enjoyed it very much.
April 5, 2017
My kids (11 & 13) loved this book of well told short stories about the early Romans. It is an excellent addition to our literature based study on the Roman Empire.
December 26, 2021
The Story of the Romans is a brief history of the roman empire told in a dry no-nonsense style. It’s interesting and fun if you’re a history nerd and it even covers the history and the founding myths of the romans up until the splitting and eventual fall of the empire. It serves as a good connector, something that moves quickly enough that someone like me actually makes all of the connections and understands how it all flows together. This is at the cost of any depth of course but that’s why I say it serves as a kind of entry level version of roman history.
Now for the embarrassing part. I did not realize this was a children's history (this isn't as ridiculous as it sounds given the descriptions of violence in this book) until I had read to the point where they started to bring up God and how ‘of course now we know that violence against the self is a great sin . . .” and then I started wondering. It’s the biggest flaw within the work and though I understand what they were going for (thinking this was intended for children and that some of this material was a little much for them and wanting to bring it down a little) but I can’t help but think there were better ways to do this.
Now for the embarrassing part. I did not realize this was a children's history (this isn't as ridiculous as it sounds given the descriptions of violence in this book) until I had read to the point where they started to bring up God and how ‘of course now we know that violence against the self is a great sin . . .” and then I started wondering. It’s the biggest flaw within the work and though I understand what they were going for (thinking this was intended for children and that some of this material was a little much for them and wanting to bring it down a little) but I can’t help but think there were better ways to do this.
October 5, 2018
Engaging for young listeners
Whereas my 7 and 9 year old boys are active and whereas their first inclination is toward games and hands on activities, I hesitated to begin such a long history book. However, they were drawn in from the start and we have now completed 30% of the book with 45 minute sessions each day for a week. They remember the stories, and I am fascinated by the modern day references to early Roman culture that I had never realized, which are brought out in Guerber's stories of ancient Rome.
Whereas my 7 and 9 year old boys are active and whereas their first inclination is toward games and hands on activities, I hesitated to begin such a long history book. However, they were drawn in from the start and we have now completed 30% of the book with 45 minute sessions each day for a week. They remember the stories, and I am fascinated by the modern day references to early Roman culture that I had never realized, which are brought out in Guerber's stories of ancient Rome.
July 18, 2023
While more than a century out of date and strongly biased in ways less acceptable today, I decided to read this book to my kids every day over the early summer (we read it all the way across the country on our move from AZ to RI). It presents much of the most basic information one ought to know (or to which one at least ought to be exposed) regarding Roman antiquity (ending with the Western Empire, and not really following the Byzantine Empire to its fall a almost a thousand years later).
August 5, 2018
Good,simple and easy to read.
Although written for children, although I am 80, and have never studied Roman history it made a very good entry for me. I enjoyed it, and learned a lot.
Although written for children, although I am 80, and have never studied Roman history it made a very good entry for me. I enjoyed it, and learned a lot.
May 27, 2021
So much fascinating history In this book of Very short readable chapters. The short chapters and large print help make it very easy to manage for children reading on their own. My 5th/6th graders really enjoyed both this and Story of the Greeks in our homeschool this year.
July 24, 2022
I just finished pre-reading this for my daughter's next school year. I was pleased. It is an easy read and really helps to pull together all the disparate stories of Rome that we've heard into a timeline that makes sense.
December 6, 2024
Ya sé que es un libro escrito para niños, pero se centra demasiado en la monarquía, la república y los primeros emperadores y deja el Bajo Imperio y la división entre emperadores y césares un poco coja. Está bien. Pero si quieres saber sobre historia de Roma, lee otra cosa.
November 1, 2025
My son and I read this for AO Year 6. Many of the stories were a repeat from books we had already read that were written in more detail, with more beautiful language. A good, basic overview of the history of Rome.
October 22, 2017
Interesting overview of this time period with the mythological and recorded stories blended. An easy way to ease into reading the works of the time if you know little of the history.
December 28, 2019
A pretty good book overall for working through Roman history.
March 28, 2020
Ancient Rome resurrected in this present day, thousands of
Years later. Where we find that the evils of power exist much as they did in that era long ago, without the bloodshed.
Years later. Where we find that the evils of power exist much as they did in that era long ago, without the bloodshed.
February 17, 2021
Fantastic resource for teaching Ancient Roman history!
February 4, 2023
An easy but good read. a quick overview of the roman history
June 8, 2023
Like Story of the Greeks, these are readable retellings in manageable chunks. . . . It reminded me of 2 Kings: he was a bad king, and then x ruled, and he was a bad king . . .
June 15, 2023
Excellent coverage of the history. I found it well written, and the short chapters made it easy to take it in bite-sized pieces. It went over my kiddos heads mostly, but it was great for me!
May 2, 2024
Excellent overview of Roman history for middle school
April 1, 2025
Pre-read for AO year 6. Loved it, even though I got a bit lost in the details. Overall a very good history of the Roman empire!
June 2, 2025
My oldest (12) read this aloud to me for school. While it was well written, it was neither of our favorites.
June 18, 2025
Well-written survey of Roman history for upper elementary age students. The chapters would work well for writing projects if you use IEW for your writing curriculum.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews