I bought this expensive book because it looked like a good reference book for children in Key Stage 2, studying Romans. It's hard to get everything right about such a vast subject, but a few of the "mistakes" that jumped out at me are as follows:
* Codices appeared well before the 4th century AD (p. 23) At least one first century poet mentions a small codex of Homer. Martial XIV.184
* misspelling of Ephesus as "Ephasus" on the map on p 61
* the inaccurately large "movie" chariots on pp 86-87 (real racing chariots were more like baskets on wheels.)
* I strongly dislike the depiction of Diana (Artemis) with short hair on p78. She was never shown this way in antiquity.
* more than one gladiator combat at one time on p. 82, another erroneous "movie" idea.
Having said that, there are some good things. I especially liked:
* the street scene on p 46 with birds, beggars, chickens, stray dogs, etc...
* the picture of Ostia's rivermouth harbour on p. 67
* the identification of the "Bocca della Verita" as a drain cover on p75
* the illustration of the theatre on p. 88-89
So by all means get the book for your classroom, but make sure you have my Roman Mysteries on hand as well, e.g.
The Charioteer of Delphi: Roman Mysteries 12 (The Roman Mysteries)
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Top reviews from other countries
Caroline Lawrence
Nice Illustrations but a fair amount of mistakes
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2012