Customer Reviews

Galen: My Life in Imperial Rome

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Marissa Moss's book, written as if by a 12-year-old slave in the court of Augustus, is full of fascinating and accurate facts. The illustrations in particular are charming and very useful in painting a picture of daily life in 1st century Rome.

This book would be a great resource for any class studying the ancient Romans. It would also be a useful complement to my own series of children's historical novels (The Roman Mysteries) set in a slightly later period. A big thumbs-up!

This beautifully done little book is a happy find indeed for youngsters studying Rome. There's a wealth of factual information about Imperial Rome here, presented in a most engaging way. We couldn't put it down! Nice Bonus: Inside the back cover you will find the clearest, simplest, most concise explanation of Roman numerals I've ever run across.

This book is a suggested supplement by the homeschooling curriculum that I use; I make it a habit to preview books before passing them along to my kids to read and I'm glad I did with this one. Just as a word of caution, three quarters through the book the following line appears, "I bit my lip. I needed some excuse to get up. 'Then may I go, er, well, to take a piss, sir?' I asked". This book could be read aloud and the previous line be omitted, however I chose not to use the book at all, there are other choices.

"Other than Galen, his family, and two others, all of the characters are historically accurate, as are many of the events."

Is this for real?! OTHER THAN THE MAIN HISTORICAL CHARACTER, this is accurate?! CAUTION: THIS is NOT a biography, as the tags claim. Do not misinform your children.

Galen, for those who don't know, was the leading Greek-Roman physician of the ancient world, not a slave of the Roman emperor who was involved in all this intrigue. I was so excited to see a book for children with a depiction of this monumental historical figure, that I clicked on the link right away. I don't think I could be more disappointed to find such a mishandling of history.

Misrepresenting history in movies, as deplorable as it is, has sadly become expected, as we increasingly sacrifice accurate history for entertainment sake. But in books? In children's books no less!? This is simply inexcusable. Being a father myself, I am always searching for children's books that will get my daughter interested in history, her Greek heritage, etc... To find yet another bastardization of this history is very depressing. I'm just not sure why this author chose the name Galen for this title... any other generic Roman name would do.