Famous Men of Rome

Famous Men of Rome, by John H. Haaren and A. B. Poland, is the companion volume to their Famous Men of Greece and was written as an elementary history reader. Its preface argues that children should first learn history through its most conspicuous figures, so each chapter centers on one person or small group and tells Roman history as a chain of lives. The book begins with the legends of the kingdom: Romulus founding the city, Numa Pompilius giving it laws and religion, the fight of the Horatii and the Curiatii, and the tyranny of the Tarquins. It then follows the early republic through Junius Brutus, Horatius at the bridge, Mucius Scaevola, Coriolanus, the Fabii, Cincinnatus, and Camillus.

The later chapters trace Rome’s rise and fall through its leading men. Manlius Torquatus, Appius Claudius, Regulus, Scipio Africanus, and Cato the Censor carry the wars with the Gauls and Carthage; the Gracchi, Marius, and Sulla mark the civil strife of the late republic; and Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Cicero bring the story to the end of the Republic. The empire is told through Augustus, Nero, Titus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Constantine, and the book closes with the fall of the Western Empire. Like its Greek counterpart, it is plain narrative for young readers, mixing legend and history without sharp distinction and using famous men as the thread that holds the story together.