Little Homeschool Blessings: Memoria Press: The Book of the Ancient Romans {Review}

First Thoughts
We've had an ongoing, in-depth study of the Ancient Greeks and Romans for most of the year now. So when we had a chance to review The Book of the Ancient Romans Set from Memoria Press, we were excited to get to use the materials. We've been using Memoria Press' Latin programs for three years, so we were interested in seeing what they offer for history.

What's Included in the Set
The set consists of 3 books: The Book of the Ancient Romans, the Student Guide, and the Teacher Guide.

~The Book of the Ancient Romans

The Book of the Ancient Romans was written by Dorothy Mills and has been edited by Memoria Press. It is 435 pages and reads like a living book. It covers early myths and legends of Rome through to when the city fell in 476 AD.

Some of the topics include:

Early myths and legends
Founding, civilization, decline, and fall of Rome
Conquests in Europe, Italy, and the Mediterranean Sea
Peace, wars, and revolution
Rules, laws, and character
Religion
Rulers: legendary kings, Julius Caesar, Augustus, the Caesars, Trajan, the Antonines, and prominent generals and consuls
Ancient Roman city, homes, dress, amusements, and education
Society: early peoples and later ancients: gentlemen, ladies, slaves, and working people

Much of the book's references are taken from ancient writers and eye witnesses; such as: Plutarch, Virgil, Livy, Horace, Cornelius Nepos, Polybius, Sallust, the Apostle Paul, Appian, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, Catullus, Tacitus, Marcus Aurelius, and Trajan. Quotes by these men are throughout the book.

Many pages contain black and white illustrations; like the ones shared in the picture above.

~Student Guide

The Student Guide is broken up into 26 lessons and 5 reviews. Each lesson set is broken up by chapters with pages listed. The review sections cover anywhere from 2-9 lessons. There are 77 pages.

Lessons include some or all of the following:

Facts to Know sections with terms and vocabulary with definitions. This section also includes quotes from key people.

A section to record definitions for vocabulary terms are provided. The number of terms provided vary for each lesson.

There are comprehensions questions over the readings with spaces for short answers.

Activities are included. Some examples are research, writing, chart making, lists, Bible connections, making diagrams, timelines, and maps.

Maps over the lessons are provided where applicable.

The Review component has a section for vocabulary. Children are expected to use a word bank to match up the definitions by writing the proper term on the line that corresponds to the definition.

An Important People, Places, and Things category is set up with a fill in the blank (without terms provided) with a statement for the child to determine what fits.

There is a similar Who Said That? section with quotes.

Places to identify on the map, match the year to the person,

and drawing pages are provided for some of the Reviews.

~Teacher Guide

The Teacher Guide contains the answers to the Student Guide and Tests with keys that follow the review sections.

The tests have Vocabulary and Identify sections with fill in the blanks for the information provided,

map work,

and a fill in the blank for Who Said That?, and short answer questions.

Our Experience

We picked this set for Ceesa to use. Since we've been studying the Ancient Romans for most of the year, we've found that it is especially enjoyable to read stories of the people we've studied, to learn more about them within their time in history, who came before and after. Reading in this way really cements our previous learning and helps us build deeper understanding.

I enjoy reading Ceesa's writing. Short answer and comprehension questions are where she shines.

We also especially like the mapping activities

and timeline work.

Recommendation
We recommend that you check out the Table of Contents, Text Sample, Student Sample, and Teacher Sample available here. There are also similar resources: The Book of the Ancient World, The Book of the Ancient Greeks, and The Book of the Middle Ages.

Future
The Book of the Ancient Romans is going on our resource shelf. We do a new Plutarch study each term and we will be using the book to help see the time frame of the people while we are learning about their character.