Edward Garboczi
Tag: Book Review
Why should we be interested in learning about the history and great men of the ancient Roman Empire? What does this musty old political entity have to do with modern history and the way we live now? The answer is simple – the events and people of the ancient Roman Empire still greatly affect us today. The modern history of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East was directly affected by ancient Rome. Understanding the Bible, another ancient document, depends a lot on understanding ancient Rome, since the Lord Jesus Christ came to this world in the middle of the Roman Empire, and the Church was born and developed in the midst of the Empire. When we say, “Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate,” we mean the governor of the Roman province of Judea, who was appointed by the Emperor in Rome, Italy. When the Apostle Paul mentions Asia, he does not mean the modern continent of Asia but rather a Roman province named Asia located in modern-day Turkey. There are even more common influences. Who do we call to fix the water pipes in our house? Plumbers. Why do we call such people plumbers? In ancient Rome, water pipes were made out of lead, which in Latin is “plumbum.” The eight planets of the solar system, besides our Earth, are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto—all named after the Roman form of Greek deities (another reason to learn mythology). Now that we know that the subject is important to study, what is the best way to introduce a student to the history and personages of Ancient Rome? One good way is to study the biographies of influential people over time, then later fill in the details around that framework. A man named Plutarch, in about 100 A.D., wrote a book that contains much of what we still know today about famous Romans and Greeks up to the time of his writing. In 1965, Olivia Coolidge wrote a school-child-friendly version of this famous book, focusing on just the Roman part, entitled Lives of Famous Romans. However, she covers a wider range of history and therefore additional people than did Plutarch, since there were several hundred years of Roman Empire history past the date of his writing. The short biographies in Olivia Coolidge’s book are interesting and reading them will serve to introduce a child to the history and personages of the Ancient Roman Empire.