The Story of Rome

by Rosie Dickins, Teri Gower (Illustrator)

The story of the Roman Empire, retold as a story for children growing in reading confidence. Re-tells the history of Rome, from the myth of Romulus and Remus to the foundations of the vast Empire and the Emperors who ruled it and its eventual collapse. Colourfully illustrated by Teri Gower. Usborne Young Reading has been developed with reading experts from Roehampton University.

Genres: History

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romulus and Remus, Sabines, Tarquin [Lucretia], Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, Caligula, Nero, Titus, Trajan, Diocletian, Constantine, etc. Helpful timeline at the end.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great, informative and cheerfully illustrated book which is excellent for primary school aged children, who are increasing in confidence in terms of their reading.

[Hend · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the most entertaining history books I have ever read :)

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my children for school. I enjoyed the way it was written and the illustrations were a wonderful accompaniment, but I’m only giving it 4 stars because I was left wanting just a bit more info, or to have the timeline (which is at the back of the book) more intertwined with the story. Overall, it’s a great intro book on Rome’s history.

[Meryem Matar]

The non-fiction mythological book The Story of Rome was written by Rosie Dickens. The story starts with the birth of the two young founders of Rome and twin brothers, Romulus and Remus. They were born to their mother, a glamorous princess, and their father Mars, the god of war. The two young brothers had to inherit the crown from their grandfather, King Numitor, but his brother, Amulius, stole the crown and got rid of Romulus and Remus by throwing them in the water. The two brothers were found by a mother wolf, who took care of them as if they were her own babies. A shepherd named Faustulus and his wife found the boys. They called them Romulus and Remus. The two brothers grew up with physical strength and fought each other. Romulus and Remus met their grandfather, Numitor. He told them about Amulius and the young men killed him. Romulus and Remus started the construction of Rome. Remus kept teasing Romulus until he killed his twin brothers. Romulus then continued building his city and named it Rome. Shepherds started settling until making Rome a city. Rome conquered all Italy which made Rome its official capital. The Romans were being attacked by the Gauls. The Romans defeated the Gauls and took control of most of the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. Rome had many emperors such as Augustus and Caligula. Caligula took the crown at the age of 25. He spent a lot of money on his palace, which made his people angry. Later, he became very strict. Any person who annoyed him had a serious penalty such as death. One day, Caligula was walking and his guards stabbed him to death. The empire of Rome got really big that it was hard to control. The emperor, Diocletian divided the empire in two. Rome was no more called the capital of the world.

List five facts you learned from this book. The five facts that I learned from this book are that Italy is about two thousand years old. I also learned that Rome was the first city discovered in Italy and that it is the oldest city of Rome. Another fact was that all Rome started by two twin brothers named Romulus and Remus. In 45 BCE Julius Caesar was dictator of Rome. The emperor Constantine created a new capital, and that capital is Rome. The topic of this book is very important because it is interesting to learn about the ancient times and also the war, who created what and who did what. The reader thinks that Rome is filled with mythology and reality such as Romulus and Remus’s adventures. Today in Rome, there is still the old objects. The most interesting part in this book is when the book says that Romulus then continued building his city and named it Rome. Shepherds started settling until making Rome a city. Rome conquered all Italy which made Rome its official capital.

The reader would recommend this book to lower school and middle school because it is easy to read and it contains a lot of pictures. The book also has maps and a timeline to help the reader determine many facts about the Roman empire, which makes it reach the level of middle school. The most interesting part of the book was when the book says that Romulus then continued building his city and named it Rome. Shepherds started settling until making Rome a city. Rome conquered all Italy which made Rome its official capital. The least interesting part in this book was when Romulus killed Remus because it was both scary and sad to see someone kill his twin. They also started building the city of Rome together which makes it sad to the reader.

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed, it gave most of what I wanted to know, but I still want a little more.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned all about Rome and what they do and like to do. It was a very fun book.

[Edward Stilon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that the story of Rome is an excellent book, teaching a lot about Ancient Rome, it’s colossal empire and it’s enemies.