Exploring the Life, Myth, and Art of Ancient Rome

January 1, 2012

Gr 7 Up-These volumes put the art from ancient civilizations in context, explaining how a society's religious beliefs, legends, and cultural traditions manifest themselves through images and iconography. The beautiful layout features full-color photographs of architecture, sculpture, and painting on every page, accompanied by informative captions. Each book begins with a chapter called "Image and Imagination," which attempts to define the "soul" of the civilization before delving into its history, artistic inspirations, and common aesthetic motifs. Interspersed between chapters are sumptuous spreads on prominent architectural accomplishments of particular significance (the Roman Forum, the Parthenon, Palenque) and recurring themes and designs (Roman emblems of power, Greek plant motifs, and Mayan vision serpents). Historical exposition is a bit cursory in Rome and Greece, whose authors assume some background knowledge on the part of readers. For example, the impact of Epicureanism and Stoicism on Roman thinking is mentioned, but minimal explanation of the two philosophies is offered. The dry writing styles make the texts less appealing than the bountiful, crisp images; browsers will find plenty to feast their eyes upon, but may not be pulled into a closer reading. Students pursuing art- or mythology-related research projects will find these volumes helpful; they differ from many of the other young adult titles on these cultures with their wide-angle view. However, the books may not serve the needs of students looking for a general reference.-Kate Hewitt, Far Brook School, Short Hills, NJ

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2012
Grades 8-11 The second set of books in Rosen's Civilizations of the World series includes volumes on the ancient Greeks, the ancient Romans, the Vikings, and the Maya. Well researched and clearly written, each book offers an informative overview of a people's political and social history as well as its art, architecture, and mythology, all bolstered with plenty of interesting details and narratives. The format offers plenty of space for the excellent color illustrations, appearing on nearly every page. Well chosen, well captioned, and (with one exception) clearly reproduced, the illustrations include artworks, documents, and handsome maps as well as photos of significant sites and artifacts. Each book concludes with a glossary, an annotated list of museums and websites, and a list of books for further reading. Besides showing how the great city rose to domination, Ancient Rome looks at how it changed and was changed by the civilizations it conquered. First published in Britain, these excellent books will be equally useful in American libraries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)