Hi there Reddit,
My son has just recently turned 10, and is currently diving headfirst into the history world. Recently, he's been firing all sorts of questions on Ancient Rome at me - and I'm ashamed to say a lot of the time I'm left without an answer!
So I'm wondering - is there a well known 'catch-all' book on Rome and the Romans that offer a good first dip into the pool for a lay reader? i.e., one that touches on all the major themes and topics (how rome fell, pompeii, who Caesar was, their armies, etc etc) giving readers a very basic yet far-reaching oversight into the Romans.
He is a VERY strong reader, so ideally I'd like an adult oriented book, and we'd read the book together at bed time.
I checked out the FAQ and booklist though a lot of the books there seem too specific/in depth for our purposes so thought I'd give it an ask.
Thanks a lot!
Hi there!
The first book I ever picked up on Rome was "The Book of the Ancient Romans" by Dorothy Mills. I was about 11 at the time. Maybe younger. Looking back after years of study in Classics, I can see flaws, but at the time it was exactly what I wanted. I had a high reading comprehension at that age (the likes of Shakespeare and the Brontes frequented my shelves in those days) and I found her prose neither too difficult nor too bland. I found her to be an ideal introduction to Rome for one of my age. Indeed she was the author that led me to pick up so many other books on the Ancient world, a spiral which would send me on a wild hunt later in my life for a high school that taught Latin, and a University which offered a superb Classics program.
That's what I would offer to a kid who was bright and interested. But if anyone has anything they'd like to add to this recommendation, please feel free.