Author’s Preface.
This elementary history of Rome, since it is intended for very young readers, has been related as simply and directly as possible. The aim is not only to instruct, but to interest, school children, and to enable them, as it were in play, to gain a fair idea of the people and city of which they will hear so much.
This book is also planned to serve as a general introduction to the study of Latin, which most pupils begin before they have had time to study history. With little, if any, knowledge of the people who spoke the language they are learning, children cannot be expected to take so lively an interest in the study as they would if they knew more.
Many a schoolboy is plunged into the Commentaries of Caesar before having any idea of the life of that great man; and, as the information gained about him through the Latin is necessarily acquired piecemeal and slowly, it is no great wonder that Caesar has been vaguely, yet vindictively, stigmatized as “the fellow who fought a lot of battles just so he could plague boys.”
By gaining a general idea of the great heroes of Roman history, a child’s enthusiasm can be so roused that Latin will be connected ever after—as it should be—with a lively recollection of the great men who spoke and wrote it.
To secure this end, the writer has not only told the main facts of Roman history, but has woven in the narrative many of the mythical and picturesque tales which, however untrue, form an important part of classical history, literature, and art. Government, laws, customs, etc., have been only lightly touched upon, because children are most interested in the sayings and doings of people.
This volume may be used merely as a reader or first history text-book, but the teacher will find that, like The Story of the Greeks, it can also serve as a fund of stories for oral or written reproduction, and as an aid to the study of European geography.
Maps, illustrations, and index have been added to enhance its usefulness and attractiveness, and wherever a proper name occurs for the first time, the pronunciation has been carefully marked as given by the best authorities.
The writer trusts that The Story of the Romans may prove sufficiently interesting to young readers to make them look forward to reading and learning more about the people to whom they are now introduced.
H. A. Guerber
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