Ancient Rome Study Program
The Ancient Rome Study Program covers the history of Rome from its legendary founding by Romulus and Remus to the fall of the Western Empire (~750 BC to ~400 AD). An additional unit covering the Phoenician civilization is also included.
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Reading Recommendations
The following books are recommended as 'core' reading assignments. The complete texts are online, or PDF and EPUB versions can be downloaded.
Roman Republic—The Ancient Rome Library includes dozens of student histories that cover Roman history at all reading levels. PDF, EPUB and online versions of all books are available so they can be downloaded read on any device. The two we recommend as 'core' reading selections for the first five units (Kingdom to Age of Caesars) are:
- The Story of Rome by Mary Macgregor
- Story of the Romans by Helene Guerber
Roman Empire—There are fewer selections that adequately cover the late Imperial age. For the final two units (Height of Empire, Fall of West), we recommend selected chapters from these two volumes:
- Story of the Romans by Helene Guerber
- Historical Tales: Roman by Charles Morris
- Roman Life and Story by Alfred Church
Advanced Students—As with the Greek collection, the texts for advanced students in the Roman library are especially good, particularly those by Alfred Church and Jacob Abbott. Abbott's books are all biographies, while Church wrote several volumes of historical fiction that give great insights into actual events. We recommend the following books for advanced students, but all the Church and Abbott books are noteworthy:
- Hannibal by Jacob Abbott
- Julius Caesar by Jacob Abbott
- Nero by Jacob Abbott
- The History of Carthage by Alfred Church
Additional Reading Resources—The following links provide information about additional reading options for Ancient Rome.
- Book Descriptions — Short Descriptions of all books in the Heritage Library related to Ancient Rome.
- Reading Assignments — Detailed, chapter-to-chapter reading recommendations for each division of Roman history, including both "core" and supplemental suggestions.
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Study Resources
Study Aids are provided to help students review important characters and events. Some resources relate to all of Roman history and others to specific historical eras.
| Historical Maps | Outline Maps |
| Timeline | Major Characters |
| Wars and Battles | Era Summaries |
Study Aids organized by Historical Era
- Kingdom of Rome — Founding of Rome to Exile of Tarquins (753 to 510 B.C. )
- Early Republic — Defeat of Tarquins to Unification of Italy (510 to 275 B.C. )
- Punic Wars — First Punic War to Destruction of Carthage (274 to 146 B.C. )
- Decline of Republic — Age of Gracchi to Pompey Defeats Pirates (146 to 60 B.C. )
- Age of the Caesars — First Triumvirate to Death of Augustus (60 B. C. to 14 A.D.)
- Height of Empire — Reign of Tiberius to Last Severan Emperor (14 to 235 A.D. )
- Fall of Empire — Military Anarchy to Reign of Justinian I (235 to 565 A.D. )
- The Phoenicians — Byblos, Sidon, Tyre to Sevaran Dynasty (1500 B.C. to 235 A.D. )
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Quiz Game
The Ancient Rome History Quest program includes over 600 multiple choice questions, divided into 8 subcategories. The questions are based on the Ancient Rome Reading Recommendations listed above but it can be used with other curriculums.
Students who have never studied Ancient Rome before should complete the
assigned reading and focus on earning "Knowledge Medals" in at least
five subcategories. Players who already have some knowledge of Roman
history can play "History Quest" by answer questions across all eight
divisions. Advanced players can also compete with other
history lovers by posting their scores on the Ancient Rome
The History Quest quiz game is now available from the Google Play Store, and also the Microsoft WIndows Store. It will be released for Apple devices in 2021.
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Review Questions
Each of the Ancient Rome Q/A worksheets listed below includes at least 20 questions (out of 70-90 per unit) taken from the History Quest app. Answering written questions helps reinforce information learned through reading and review.
Homeschoolers or others who are studying Ancient Rome can use the written worksheets along with the History Quest quiz game to help them demonstrate mastery in each division.
| Kingdom of Rome Q/A | Early Republic Q/A |
| Punic Wars Q/A | Decline of Republic Q/A |
| Age of the Caesars Q/A | Height of Empire Q/A |
| Fall of Empire Q/A | The Phoenicians Q/A |
