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Best Books for the Romans History Topic 

What did the Romans do for us? The answer is a lot! The Romans history topic is a popular one with children, and we’ve put together a list of the best children’s books about the Romans for exploring all sorts of interesting themes, from gladiators and gods to eruptions and emperors.

Chapter books about the Romans

Leila Rasheed
Chapter book

Empire’s End: A Roman Story is part of the VOICES series that celebrates the lives of BAME protagonists during key eras of British history. This book tells the tale of a young North African girl who sets out on a danger-filled journey to Britain during Roman times. This is a gripping adventure that offers a new perspective into the myriad of Roman narratives shared in schools and is full of details that immerse readers in knowledge of life in Roman times. The story helps to develops an understanding of the Roman world as one that was full of many different cultures, religions and ethnicities.

Caroline Lawrence
Chapter book

A gripping novel that provides plenty of background information about life in Ancient Roman times. The plot of The Thieves of Ostia centres around a young girl called Flavia who investigates the mystery of who is killing the dogs in the Roman port of Ostia. This is a popular choice for KS2 classrooms and is part of the well-loved Roman Mysteries series

Tony Bradman
Chapter book

With the Celtic tribes of Ancient Britain leaving no records, we only have the Roman accounts of what happened during Boudicca’s revolt. Tony Bradman has taken details from Tacitus’ description of the Iceni queen and the battles she led in order to create a vivid and gripping story told by Rhianna, who witnesses the events of a turbulent time in British history. This story aims to give young readers an understanding of the motivations that led to the uprising and shows a darker side to Boudicca’s story, giving an opportunity to open up discussion on a range of ideas.

Caroline Lawrence
Chapter book

The first of Caroline Lawrence’s four Roman Quests, Escape from Rome is a completely gripping adventure filled with danger, excitement and some really gritty themes to get stuck into. Taking his siblings with him, twelve-year-old Juba is forced to flee Emperor Domitian in Rome and set off on a journey to find his uncle in Britannia (the edge of the known world). Steeped in interesting historical details and covering some challenging themes including slavery and immigration, this story is thrilling from the very first page and most suitable for Upper Key Stage 2 and beyond.


Terry Deary
 & Helen Flook
Chapter book
The year is AD 51 and Bran is a slave, a prisoner of Rome, but dreams of one day returning to his homeland, Britannia, to fight against the Romans. When the proud young slave is overheard criticizing Rome, he is thrown into prison and faces execution the next day. Luckily, his cellmate Caratacus is a very special prisoner indeed - a British chief. He believes he has a way to save both their skins, but he'll need Bran's help. A tale based on a key moment in Roman history, full of Terry Deary's dark humour and dry wit.
Tom Palmer
Chapter book Dyslexia-friendly

In the ‘Defenders’ series, best-selling author Tom Palmer brings together his passions for football and history in haunting stories that are ‘super-readable’ due to their accessible layout including a dyslexia-friendly font and tinted paper. In this story, football-lover Seth is interested in the new stadium being built by a Premier League football club, but it soon becomes apparent that something untoward is happening and the lives of the workers there are in danger. As Seth encounters the shadows of slaves from Roman times, he is forced to confront his own fears as horrible injustices in the present day mirror atrocities from the past.

Non-fiction books about the Romans

James Davies
Non-fiction Picturebook
A picture-book style non-fiction text about the Romans. Each page has a short chunk of text accompanied by simple, bold illustrations or infographics. Humorous and stylish without compromising on factual content, this book is a popular choice with reluctant or younger readers.
Chae Strathie
 & Marisa Morea
Non-fiction

Published in collaboration with The British Museum, this children’s information book offers a humorous and informative introduction to daily life in Ancient Rome and has a high appeal to readers in KS2.

Through words and pictures, the book compares modern-day life for children to different aspects of daily life for the Ancient Romans, including clothes and hairstyles, education, family life, pets, food and hobbies. The book sets itself apart from the myriad of other non-fiction texts about the Romans as each topic is viewed through the eyes of a child. Did you know, for example, that emperor Elagabalus was a cheeky prankster who was known to feed his dinner guests food made of wax? If you think that your school has too many rules, wait until you read about the vow that new students at gladiator school had to make. And the next time you begin to think that your bedroom is too small, spare a thought for Roman slaves, who often had to sleep in the doorway to their master’s bedroom.

This is the third in the ‘So You Think You’ve Got it Bad’ series, with the other titles focusing on Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. This is the kind of non-fiction series that makes the information visual, presenting facts through speech bubbles, diagrams and bright cartoon-style illustrations as well as accessible chunks of text.

This is the kind of book that helps young readers to move beyond hard facts and begin to reflect on what life might have felt like for those living in ancient times.

David Long
 & Daniel Spacek
Non-fiction
Zoom in to discover what life was like for Ancient Romans in this innovative and interactive illustrated title that takes you right into their fascinating world!Learn what life was like for the Romans - from the Senate and the Colosseum to the market, the public baths and beyond! Using the free magnifying glass, seek out incredible facts about ancient Rome in this search-and-find adventure, packed with over 200 things to spot .Children will love discovering a typical Roman market, meeting fearsome gladiators and seeing what a temple, school and villa were like, with authentic detail and cutaway scenes. The artwork bursts with hidden detail and bustles with action, and detailed factual text will tell you everything you need to know about the different areas of Roman life.
David Long
 & Allen Fatimaharan
Non-fiction

If you’re teaching a topic that includes a look at Roman Life then this book will enrich your curriculum and would be useful both when planning and for wider reading and research from students.

After a short introduction to the Roman Empire, on each page we travel back in time to meet a member of Ancient Roman Society, from all walks of life – a diverse selection from slave to Emperor. As they tell their individual stories, we learn about the hierarchy and workings of Roman Society and the everyday lives of many people, including some of the more ‘interesting’ details from history that children love!

As well as gaining a glimpse into the luxurious lives of the rich, we learn about the hard life lived by legionaries from Secundus Nigilius, who often marches 30 miles a day; scribe Cordia Verbis teaches us how she mixes ink from soot and glue; and the Banker, Lucretius Tappo, teaches us the origins of the English word ‘money.’

The final pages of the book include more general information: a map of the Roman Empire, a timeline of key events, lists of famous Romans, inventions and Gods and Goddesses. They also include interactive elements. You can learn Latin and Roman Numerals and there’s a recipe to follow too (thankfully it’s for baking bread and not for the Roman delicacy of dormice dipped in honey!)

Picturebooks and graphic novels about the Romans

Christina Balit
Picturebook

Escape from Pompeii tells the story of a young boy called Tranio who lives in Pompeii at the time of the famous eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. This captivating picture book allows readers to follow the footsteps of Tranio and his friend Livia as they come to terms with the destruction of their city and find their own routes to freedom.

There is also an accompanying 2-week English unit available from KS2History.

Marcia Williams
Graphic Novel Non-fiction
Marcia Williams embraces the Romans topic with her distinctive comic-book style. This informative text covers a range of sub-topics featuring key people, places and myths. This is a book with a high level of visual appeal and is particularly popular for engaging reluctant readers.
Frances Durkin
 & Grace Cooke
Graphic Novel

This engaging book is a fun hybrid between graphic novel, activity book and information text. The story, told in graphic novel form, follows a group of friends who travel back in time and explore Ancient Rome. At various different points in the story there are relevant puzzles, fact boxes, activities and project ideas. This book has a high visual appeal and is a great addition to your library of Roman topic books.

Romans Topic

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