| Title | : | The Roman Colosseum (Wonders of the World) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1931414173 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781931414173 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 48 |
| Publication | : | First published November 1, 1998 |
The Roman Colosseum was the work of a brilliant and energetic civilization. The Roman Colosseum was the work of a cruel and brutal civilization.
Both are true.
The Roman Colosseum was one of the most extraordinary buildings in the ancient world, a work of engineering genius whose design is imitated every time a modern stadium is built. Yet, what went on inside this building is difficult to comprehend.
Over the centuries, tens of thousands of slaves, prisoners of war, and criminals were slaughtered in the Colosseum for the entertainment of over 50,000 cheering fans. So many animals were destroyed in gruesome "hunts" staged in the arena that entire species disappeared from the Roman colonies of North Africa.
The Roman Colosseum interweaves the impressive story of the construction of this remarkable building and the sobering tale of the "games" that went on inside it. In doing so, it reveals an entire civilization in all its genius and its brutality.
Wonders of the World series
The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture.
"One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers."
- Booklist
The Roman Colosseum (Wonders of the World) Reviews
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We read this book together as a family for our homeschool studies on Ancient Rome. I read it aloud to my boys, ages 11 to 7. I asked them what rating they wanted to give the book and they said 5 stars.
The book was a good mixture of placing the construction of the Colosseum within the history context of Ancient Rome. And because we read this book at the end of the school year of Ancient Rome studies, the timing further highlighted the historical context of this architectural structure.
Along with the historical setting , the book also discussed the building of and architectural planning of the Colosseum. It was fascinating just to see how magnificently it was built and how so many arenas today are patterned after it.
The book did a good job explaining the horrific entertainment of the gladiator games - but presenting it in the historical context and why such is terrible and grosteque. It doesn't go into gruesome details, but it also doesn't paint over the terrible nature of the games, so if you have sensitive children or don't yet want to introduce them to this aspect of history you might want to skip this book. -
Pleasantly surprised! This book gave me a lot to think about in comparing Roman's obsession with entertaining and placating the masses with current events. Fascinating!
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This is by no means a bad book. It is however, clearly intended for a younger audience. What it presents is an accessible, simplified overview of the history of the Roman Colosseum, how it came to being, why it was neccessary, and a description of the games that took place. My reasons for desiring a book about the Colosseum stem from the board game of the same name - which is excellent if you're a gamer, by the way. Without wanting to dwell on that too much, you have to preform a series of different event programs, and it got me intrigued as to if the events the game uses are based on real events the Romans actually staged. Turns out, they are. So there were some cool things to be learned here. Also, although the book does discuss the violence of the games (you can't really discuss an arena designed to watch men kill other men or beasts without at least mentioning some days got a bit bloody), the descriptions are not so off-putting as, say, Gladiator, the Russel Crowe movie (which, for the three people who still haven't seen it, is excellent). So that's a plus if you're looking to educate.
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Amazing architecture with a brutal history.
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used as part of our homeschool study on Ancient Rome
