Roman Diary

I’m quite fascinated by classical history myself, so my children know a fair bit about the topic as well. Given that, I quite like the concept of this book as it provides a further context to their knowledge. I intended to use of it for guided reading in which case it is good for little side-debates while we are working through the book. After all, topics such as clothing, food, leisure, politics, architecture, slavery and class are all addressed throughout the book.This is a great book that is fun to read because other than most stories about megalomaniacs like Ceasar, Constantine or Hadrian it provides a perspective on aspects of the life of more ordinary roman people. The narrative is about a Greek slave girl Iliona that was captured by pirates. The setting takes place in 107 AD. Although it is not a picture book it is nicely presented and well illustrated. The text is a little dense perhaps for the younger readers but the story was inserting enough to keep them yogin. The art and captions nicely complement the narrative. I should say that it has its dramatic elements like slavery, the murder of Iliona’s parents, the examination of chicken entrails, mild sexual avances towards slaves and the harshness of roman society in general. Just be aware of this, though I would say that apart from the past 100 years or so, these where pretty common things in most people’s lives and therefore not bad for children to be aware of.

Es un libro que se lee con relativa facilidad y se entiende muy bien; el lenguaje utilizado es claro y, a través de las vivencias de la protagonista, los chicos pueden acercarse a la vida cotidiana de la antigua Roma. Sin duda una buena elección para lectura escolar y no escolar.El pedido llegó muy rápido y en perfectas condiciones

Purchased as part of learning about The Romans, Small Person read it in a few sittings and enjoyed it very much.

Creia que no lo podía conseguir, pues se lo pidieron a todos los compañeros de la clase de mi hija, pero es exactamente lo pedido y recibido en la fecha indicada.

Really enjoyed the narrative and character developments. Heartily recommend.