Who is vinicius in detectives in togas

I recommend this book because of the action and adventure. You really learn about ancient Rome, the dress, the speech, the educational settings and the government of that time.

What might make you read the book is the humor and the setting in Ancient Rome. He says that that Rufus is a disgrace and that he should go home immediately and not return to the school ever again. Rufus is very upset. He packs up his school things and leaves the classroom, but he doesn't go home. From his desk, Mucius can see him sitting on a barrel by the side of the road. He seems to be waiting for something or someone.

Then suddenly, Rufus jumps up and runs off, but not in the direction of his house. The next morning, Rufus and Caius are not at school. The details of Ancient Rome are fresh, and the information feels very naturally part of the story. In fact, I suspect that anyone who finishes Detectives in Togas will want to read the second book about Rufus, Mucius and their friend— The Mystery of the Roman Ransom , where the boys buy Xantippus a slave and Caius is kidnapped. And hey, it might give you a little headstart when you study Ancient Rome in middle school….

You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. And hey, it might give you a little headstart when you study Ancient Rome in middle school… ::Kelly Like this: Like Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.

The boys must look for clues to find the real culprit and save Rufus. Who might have been responsible for it? Or is there someone else lurking about? And will they be able to solve the case in time to spare Rufus? I first heard about Detectives in Togas back in when it was recommended by Love to Learn, a homeschool resource company. This delightful story not only presents readers with a suspenseful yet good, clean mystery but also gives youngsters a lot of insight into daily life in ancient Rome, with a good dose of humor along the way and a surprise ending.

However, it corroborates the fact that the Emperor insisted on being worshipped as a god, which was the basis for the persecution of Christians in those days.

May 11, Emily M rated it it was amazing Shelves: my-kids-will-like-this , historical-fiction , detective-mystery , middle-grade-fiction. This was my second time through with the kids, and they laughed out loud through the whole thing, probably as much as my brothers and I did when we read it as a family when I was a kid.

When my brothers heard we were reading this book this week, they recalled it fondly from 25 years ago! The boys are so funny and distinct in their personalities, and all my kids have different favorites.

The setting is the perfect amount of historical accuracy without feeling textbooky a problem with Theras an This was my second time through with the kids, and they laughed out loud through the whole thing, probably as much as my brothers and I did when we read it as a family when I was a kid.

The setting is the perfect amount of historical accuracy without feeling textbooky a problem with Theras and His Town, which we read aloud earlier this school year , and the mystery is intriguing for my seven year old but still fun for my fourteen year old, who remembered the culprit from five years ago. It's rare that I can find a readaloud that so happily satisfies my three elementary and middle school girls and the teen boy who reads college history texts for fun.

A family favorite for two generations and counting. May 23, Stephanie rated it it was amazing Shelves: kids-books. We picked this book up because we studied ancient history this year. It was recommended on one of the CC forums. This book captivated my 8 year old. I read it aloud to him and he just had to know what happened next.

It was a page turner for sure. The story is based in Rome back in the day and had the children racing through the forum to figure out why their friend was wrongly thrown in jail.

Facts about Ancient Rome are sprinkled through the boys teasing one another and working to get to the bot We picked this book up because we studied ancient history this year. Facts about Ancient Rome are sprinkled through the boys teasing one another and working to get to the bottom of this mystery. I don't remember when we started this book, but we were through all 22 chapters in a few short days.

He just couldn't get enough. Jul 30, Jenna Marie rated it it was amazing. Caius is a dumbell; for the class of seven Roman boys, this is common knowledge. However, when someone paints it on the Temple of Minerva and people begin to blame Rufus, one of the boys, it is not so funny. The boys are sure that Rufus is not the culprit, until Rufus mysteriously disappears.

When some strange clues about his disappearance turn up, the six remaining boys are left with many questions. Where did their friend go? And who did vandalize the temple wall? This book is a true treasure. Full of witty jokes and unexpected turns, this story, set in ancient Rome, will not be put down!

This book is loved by my entire family, and I cannot reread it enough times! Jan 03, Sara Truog rated it it was ok Shelves: juvenile , book-club. When a temple in ancient Rome is defaced, six students band together to find the culprit and clear the name of their classmate, who is accused of the crime. I chose this as a candidate for my th grade book club at the library, but to be honest, it was awful - very dated it was written in and it shows , sexist, and just plain boring.

I was complaining at the dinner table last night about the time I wasted reading it, and Daniel told me, "Well Mommy, just think of the time you saved the r When a temple in ancient Rome is defaced, six students band together to find the culprit and clear the name of their classmate, who is accused of the crime. I was complaining at the dinner table last night about the time I wasted reading it, and Daniel told me, "Well Mommy, just think of the time you saved the rest of us!

May 11, Z. Pandolfino rated it liked it Shelves: teaching. I was asked to select books for my prospective middle-school Latin students to read over the summer and had no idea where to start. Since the students have no prior experience in Latin, I could not select a short Latin novella, which would have been my preference. Detectives in To I was asked to select books for my prospective middle-school Latin students to read over the summer and had no idea where to start. While a product of its time, it presents to readers a vivid portraiture of Roman daily life that I hope middle-school students will enjoy.

In fact, the entire story reflects that of a typical Latin schoolboy tale: the harsh Latin here, Greek master, the troupe of reluctant students, the upper-class social and cultural milieu, the unlikely alliance between teacher and students to solve an impenetrable conflict. Winterfeld, a German, may well have shared similar experiences in the Latin classroom with his pre-war British peers, and he ostensibly uses those experiences as a basis for his story.

At times, in fact, one wonders whether Mucius, Rufus, Julius, and the other boys live in imperial Rome or Victorian Britain. On the one hand, slaves in the Roman world were ubiquitous, so any depiction of ancient Roman life that cuts out slaves can almost never be accurate. Moreover, slavery was sometimes temporary and not race-based, and thus contrasts sharply with the enslavement of Africans and African-Americans in North America.

The way one interprets slavery in a historical novel set in ancient Rome must therefore be different. On the other hand, slavery is slavery, and a novel that normalizes the unjust treatment of slaves or the institution itself is problematic for modern readers—and especially for middle-schoolers.

The theme here is clear: slavery in the Roman world was not monolithic in terms of who slaves were, what types of jobs they did, or whether or not they would be freed, in addition to the fact that different types of Romans held various attitudes none necessarily positive toward slaves. Winterfeld, less attuned to such nuance, paints a rather blissful picture of life for the slaves of Roman aristocrats, whose situations seem neither harsh nor undesirable when slaves are treated poorly, this is usually treated frivolously and meant to be comical.

In this way, he practically romanticizes slavery—a problematic notion for middle-school students to absorb. The boys also reference various aspects of Roman myth, history, and daily life in their conversations, so that readers may come away with a sense of imperial politics, the role of the senate and individual senators in a monarchy, the militaristic character of Roman society, the superstitions of an enchanted world, and the centrality of education to the lives of aristocratic Roman boys.