Customer Reviews

A triumph for Flavius

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This book is about a boy who's dad just got back from a war. He brings him back a slave. The boy and the slave become great friends. I liked this book better than TV. (Reviewed by 9 year old boy!)

A Triumph for Flavius is a striking story about a young boy in ancient Rome who is given a captured, Greek slave by his father, General Lucius Mummius. General Mummius had been leading the battles to conquer the Greek city-state, Corinth. When Flavius's father comes home from the war triumphant, he gives his only son a valuable Corinthian prisoner of war, Ariphron. Ariphron teaches Flavius about the world outside of Rome and of the wonders of Greece. Throughout this magnificent story, Flavius learns to have respect for all people, not only upper class Romans, and is exposed to brand new mindsets and views that aren't taught by his culture.
This story illustrates what the Romans thought about slavery and what it may have been like to be a slave. A Triumph for Flavius also reminded me of how much people can learn from other cultures.
Overall, A Triumph for Flavius is a beautiful book that I would recommend to anyone interested in ancient history. It challenged me to take a deeper look at our own country's beliefs and to not always except all our cultural values as truth.The book is written at a pretty easy reading level so I suggest this book especially to 3-5 graders. However, it is one of those children's books that even adults would enjoy. I hope that everyone who reads this outstanding book loves it as much as I do.

Flavius is the son of a high-ranking Roman soldier during the Roman Republic Era. When his father brings home a Greek slave for him, a new set of moral beliefs challenges his familiar social customs. Eventually, he must make a decision to act on these morals to help a slave or cling to his family's Roman customs.
This book is a wonderful read-aloud for kindergarten-3rd grade children, or a great reader for 3rd-6th graders (even though it would be an easy read for 6th grade, or an advanced read for 2nd grade). I have 2 6th graders (boy/girl)and a 2nd grade boy and all 3 loved it when I read this. They usually asked for "just one more chapter".

It encourages moral thinking while word pictures describe important Roman places and historical events through the eyes of a young Roman boy, such as: what school was like, a Roman Triumph, the Capitoline, the Palatine (before the Roman Empire), slavery of those conquered, some Greek history as well, and several other customs/events in everyday life.
The author does a wonderful job of bringing these concepts (and more) to children in words and pictures they can understand and relate to.
A must-read!