Augustus Caesar's World

by Genevieve Foster

Considered the innovator of "horizontal history," Genevieve Foster became frustrated when her two school-aged children complained about the boring presentation of history in their school texts. This frustration led to Foster's first book, George Washington's World (1941). In her unique approach, Foster weaves a story of the world around her central character; rather than focusing exclusively on geo-political events, as most textbooks do; she includes stories of scientific discovery and invention, music, literature, art, and religion. She has a keen intuition for stories that will especially delight and amuse her youthful audience. In Augustus Caesar's World, Foster traces the seven major civilizations Rome, Greece, Israel, Egypt, China, India, and Persia from 4500 B.C. to the time of Augustus Caesar in 44 B.C. and culminating in 14 A.D. Within this timeframe readers will learn not only the stories of Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, and Marc Antony, but also the historian Livy and how Virgil came to write the Aeneid. Foster will then take her readers all over the world to learn what was happening at this same time in China, Persia, India and so on. Foster's detailed pen and ink drawings are fresh and appealing, and her illustrated timelines give a clear sense of chronology, enriching the engaging text. An all-time customer favorite!

Genres: History, Nonfiction, School, Ancient History, Biography, Childrens, Classics

330 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1947

About the author

Genevieve Stump Foster was an American children's author and illustrator best known for her innovative approach to writing history books for young readers. Born in Oswego, New York, she spent most of her childhood in Wisconsin after the death of her father. Foster studied at Rockford College, the University of Wisconsin, and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. She began her career as a commercial artist before focusing on children’s literature. Inspired by her daughter, she developed a distinctive method of presenting history by integrating global events to show their connections. Her first major success, George Washington's World, highlighted how the American and French Revolutions and British imperialism affected Washington’s life. Foster's books, praised for bringing historical figures to life, were translated into numerous languages and distributed internationally. Over her career, she wrote 19 nonfiction books, several of which became Newbery Honor titles. Foster passed away in Westport, Connecticut, leaving a legacy that continues through her enduring works and influence on historical storytelling.

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like how Foster interweaves the various threads of history and historical figures, but was not pleased with the chapters about Jesus and the misquotation of Scripture, whether deliberate or not. There is all the the difference in the world between "...it seemed as if the heavens were opened..."(Foster's version) and what the Bible says: "And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mark 1:10-11) It's definitely one for Christian parents to preview and discuss with their children - in my case I chose to have my son skip several chapters because I felt their subtle and dangerous undermining of the Bible outweighed any historical information they conveyed.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly readable, I thought. Her religious stuff is frequently wonky -- her version of what Gautama Buddha taught is much closer to the modern Americanized version than what he actually said -- and she niceifys a lot (Tacitus wouldn't recognize her Livia). I would have liked to see the genealogy she posts page 306 as a frontispiece, or at least waaaaay earlier, because I have a hard time keeping track of who's related to who, and in what way.

Aside from religious stuff, and despite the fact that the book was written in the 1940s, the only serious historical blooper I caught was the "peaceful Mayans" -- the Mayans practiced human sacrifice more extensively than archaeologists had sussed that out back then.

So not very good on the comparative religions front, but terrific as history.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of ancient history and comparative religions.

Books that explain word origins delight me. How many times have I wondered about the etymology of February (but never looked it up)? It comes from februa, the thongs of skin used in ritual purification.

Though I was familiar with the link between CAESAR and Czar and Kaiser (thanks Dr. Fenik, my beloved Latin tutor), I laughed aloud at the easy association which I've missed all these years: PRINCEPS and Prince!

MAZDA. What comes to mind? A compact car, right? The Persian god of light and goodness???!

The illustrations, especially the illustrated charts, are valuable.

READING SEQUENCES: Now I want to read Michael Grant's The Twelve Caesars

[Bethanyanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are some of my favorite books we’ve used in our homeschool and this edition was no exception. I learned so much about ancient times.

[Amie Gentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Augustus Caesar’s World for school and it was personally not my favorite. It was interesting and I liked learning about Augustus and what was happening during his time, but the writing was very dry. It was hard for me to get through it. It just felt too full of information that wasn’t always relevant.

[Michelle Fournier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genevieve Foster’s style of writing history is my favorite of all the more broad history books we have read in our homeschool. We all enjoy how she focuses on the life of one person and tells what is going on around the world at that time.

[Karen (Living Unabridged) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to my boys over the course of slightly longer than one school year. They enjoyed most of it and I appreciated the family trees & illustrations provided (cause those romans sure do have a lot of overlapping family stuff going on). I altered - on the fly - some of the chapters including Biblical history and yes, this is a pretty sanitized version of history. But, as the audience is children, I find that completely understandable since there are several sins and failures I'd rather not explain to an eight year old.

I particularly appreciate Foster's attempt to show what is going on around the world (China, North & South America, etc.) and not just in Rome and Egypt during these years.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book. The way it presents history makes it ideal for using with children, but it is a good crash course for highschoolers or adults who want to brush up on their history of the Roman Empire as well. Unfortunately, though so adept at weaving history, Foster can't help but speak nonsense whenever she tries to explain or talk about various religions. Her modus operandi seems to be to ignore as much as possible any differences between various religions and to make it appear that they all teach virtually the same thing. She does this with Buddhism, Christianity, Roman religion, Confucianism, and others. It really gets quite annoying after a while. So though the book is great for historical content, I can't give it a full 5 stars.

[Lmichelleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

At about halfway through, I now know that I really enjoy Genevieve Foster's storytelling style of relating history, following multiple notable people from one period and intertwining their stories. Augustus Caesar has never seemed like a real living, breathing person to me before, but in this account I feel I know him, to say nothing of Virgil, Mark Antony, Cleopatra, and Herod. I previewed this book to decide if I wanted my children to read it as part of their history lessons, but I'm walking away looking forward to more of Foster's writing for myself!

[Rachel {bibliopals} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great history. Shoddy Biblical retelling. Need to be careful while reading. Lead to discussion with kids, and think it's still worth the read mostly because it laid out what was going on historically before and while Jesus was alive. Brought history to life.

[Peter Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic bird's eye introduction to the transition of Rome from a Republic to an Empire. For Christians, like me, it gives great insight into the Roman culture at the time our Lord Jesus Christ was born.

[Julie Mabus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series. It makes history come alive and helps to make connections. I feel like this has helped to make sense of a lot of the loose ends I have had about ancient history and the time right before and during the time of Jesus.

[Caroline Norris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed parts of this book and learning more about ancient history! I really didn’t like her secular humanist portrayal of Christianity and attempts to cast in a similar mold to other world religions. There were lots of good opportunities for discussion with my kids over these things, and lots of good opportunities to see what Scripture actually says, compared to Foster’s sometimes very faulty interpretations.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a read aloud for our homeschool history. Genevieve Foster is an excellent storyteller, and she really brought to life everything that was going on in history at the time of Augustus Caesar and made it interesting. However, as a Christian, I feel that I must warn others that her view and depiction of some of the things that happened in the Bible are very skewed. I would definitely preread.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great primer on world history during the first century. Age appropriate content for grade school children. A great refresher to create or revive an interest in Roman History. Love all of Foster's books for this purpose. There are no footnotes or bibliography, so if you question her accuracy, you will need to "google".

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book in 5th or 6th grade was absolutely the best history experience I ever had in elementary school. Made me so much more confident tackling Shakespeare's Roman plays in High School.

Best History Book I Ever Read!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a part of my child’s history for Rome to the Reformation this year. We all really enjoyed it, even my pre k kid, although there were some gruesome parts for her. My 4th grader says “I really enjoyed this book, and it is my second favorite history book. I learned something new every time we read it, either about something I already knew a little about or about something I had never heard of.” We used this as a read aloud and the kids looked forward to it coming out everyday. Only downside, it is long at 325 pages as a read aloud.

[What April's Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a fun book about ancient Rome and the coming of Jesus! Some of her theology didn't align with the Bible, but over all, this book was excellent in portraying the timeline of events as they happened. I look forward to this unit every time I go through it with my kids.

I would recommend for older elementary and even middle school. Nothing is too intense for younger elementary, they just might not comprehend all that is going on.

[Emmalyn]

I loved. this book. This is how I learned history. Mom would read it out loud.

[Joanna Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been one of our favorite read alouds this year. Horizontal history ftw. Quite a surprising amount of focus on the life of Jesus for being a secular book.

[Joseph Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and informative, although tainted by a equal acceptance of all religions. Also oriented to a younger audience so it is simple, and is a fairly broad overview.

[asia (holiday version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Augustus Caesar is one of my favorite historical figures. 🤭

[Helena Sorensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous, sweeping view of the world during the time of Augustus Caesar. I love how this book set the stage for the birth of Christianity, how it addressed all the religions of the world in their search for light and hope. Really fascinating and a pleasure to read.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genevieve Foster's writing is easy to understand and digest, and her presentation of history in narrative form definitely holds the reader's attention, while her drawings add charm and interest. A fascinating look at what was going on not only in the Roman Empire, but in other civilizations during the life of Augustus Caesar. This book was written for young adults but I learned a lot from it as an adult.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love these books but two things bug me 1) the extensive use of passive voice actually has me wondering if these books are actually the source of this problem in my kids' writing! and 2) I really wish she included notes so that I knew where her information comes from. As it is, I find myself often wondering which parts are verifiable fact and which are not so much. Still, as far as middle grade world history goes, these are fabulous reads.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love the “horizontal history” approach and thought this book was well written, engaging, and very informative, until the author begins to write about Jewish history and Jesus. She misquotes scripture multiple times. I may have my children skip some parts or compare with what the Bible actually says.

[Millie Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best history books I’ve ever read! Both interesting and informative! It felt like reading a novel!

[Tracy Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could give it five stars!!! Despite an important disclaimer given below, I greatly enjoyed this book!! The Roman historical narrative is great, and I found it highly engaging. Also, the caricature illustrations of major characters before each section were super-helpful to refer back to, helping me to keep all the people straight!

This book was one of our living history books during our homeschool study of Ancient Rome. I started pre-reading it because of a couple reviews saying it undermined scripture. I will say… for someone so well-versed in history, I’m surprised the author doesn’t have a better handle on scripture. I made corrections to several parts, and marked others to just skip entirely. I definitely recommend pre-reading... if you want a list of what pages to look at without having to read the entire book, check 186+, 279+, 283+, 287+, 298+, 315+.

Normally I don’t write positive reviews of books that have bible issues. That said, I think this book is worth the trouble. I started out pre-reading it for the kid, but ended up reading it for my own enjoyment… a good indicator of quality literature. Just know that her references to scripture are off, and handle those parts as you see fit. This is still one of my favorite books on the time period and it would have received one of my few five-star reviews if it weren’t for this error.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

While others may appreciate how expansive Genevieve Foster's scope is--sharing what's going on in the Americas, India, and China during the time of Augustus--if you're wanting a good Roman history for kids (which I did), this doesn't deliver. The family tree is so complicated and the Roman chapters so widely scattered that every time, the kids and my husband were asking, "Okay, who's Drusus again? Should I care that Marcellus just died? Who is Tiberius and how is he related and why do we care about him?" And the only reason I knew how to answer them is that I've watched the I, Claudius series a couple times. If the book is going to tell about the life and times of Augustus Caesar, I wish it would focus in. There are plenty of interesting things to tell.

Her presentation of comparative religion ends up as, "Aren't they all beautiful? Isn't it all just saying the same beautiful thing?" To which any person of faith of any religion would say, "NOPE... We're definitely all saying different things." So as a Christian parent, I appreciated the opportunity to discuss discernment with my children, but Foster's is not a presentation I would have wanted my kids to encounter solo.

[Crystal W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my 9 and 11 year old for ancient history. This really brought the time period to life for us and covered not just Augustus Caesar but an overview of what was going. On all over the world. She covers a good bit of biblical history which was extremely helpful in connecting that history to other ancient histories we had learned about, but be warned she definitely wrote from a slanted perspective.

There were more examples than just these but these are some: That there are conflicts between the books of Matthew and Luke on the timing of Jesus birth, the gospels were written long after the events had taken place, and that there are errors in the gospels. Also, when telling the story of Jesus resurrection she says that the disciples said that Jesus “seemed” to appear to them and then she leaves out the information that he appeared to over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:6).