The Thieves of Ostia

by Caroline Lawrence

Book Overview

With a stunning command of the Greek language and a mastery of poetic nuance, this translation of Euripides' play breathes unparalleled life into an ancient masterpiece. Using vocabulary that gives the sense that the play was written with an appreciation of and application to the 20th and 21st centuries, this adaptation goes beyond the timeless plot of the consequences of war and the fate of both the victors and the losers and focuses on the modern-day...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142401471
• ISBN13: 9780142401477
• Release Date: May 2004
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.1" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A wonderful Roman mystery!

79 AD. in Ostia, a port in Rome is a hectic year for Flavia Gemina. Being attacked by a fearsome pack of wild hounds while reteiving a precious item of her fathers, Flavia makes friends with the exotic neighbours, especially a young boy named Johnathon. Buying a slave girl as a friend: Nubia, Flavia has plenty of fun until Bobas the dog next door is beheaded. Flavia finds herself thrown into a a slightly dangerous mystery which she is determined to solve. Suicides, executions and dangerous slave traders, Flavia learns all about life and different religions in the ancient Roman world. Caroline Lawrence has done a wonderful job on such an influencial and creative book.'The thieves of Ostia' is a wonderful Roman novel that will enhance you in the mysteries and adventures of young and rich Roman girl: Flavia Gemina.

The theives of ostia

The Theives of Ostia is the first of an amazing series of 6. It begins in Ostia, port town of rome in about 90 ad. 4 children meet up to solve a mystery, this book contains many cliffhangers and shocks that will send your mind reeling. Secrets and lies tangle up in this book and at the end all ends meet. The Theives of Ostia contains magnificent historical detail, many classic teachers use these books as reference for their teaching. This book also shows how the tension mounted between pagans, jews and christians in the great roman empire. This book is marvellously entertaing as well as educative! The most entertaining part in the books is when you expect something to happen but it always happens in the opposite way that you would have imagined. The theives of Ostia even contains slight humour. But this book is not all about adventure and small children, it has love and the feelings of rejections. Some deaths in this book have brought me to tears, this is a truly emotional novel. The reason I chose this rating is because this book contins a touch of every style of writing possible and merges it together, it combines the best with the best! A competiter worthy of J.K. rowling. A must read for all children intrested in the roman empire!

DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!!!!

The book I am reviewing is a fictional story.It is an adventure / mystery set in Ostia the port of ancient Rome in the year 79 AD. The main characters are four children, Flavia Gemmina a Roman sea captains daughter, Nubia an African slave girl, Jonathan a Jewish boy and Lupus the mute beggar boy who become friends. The book is about who is killing the dogs of Ostia. My favourite bit of the story is when they found that there were only two people that could have done the killings of the dogs but they don't know witch one did it and when they discovered the tomb of the Girl that was killed by a mad dogs bite.I feel quite sorry for them because they are always in dangerous situations. My favourite character is Lupus because he's the bravest. I'd really like to meet them in real life because I'd get myself into big scary adventures.This book is 195 action packed pages long together with maps and my one is signed by the author.I would recommend this book for age seven and upwards. To Boys and Girls, especially if you are interested in history.Anyone who is of a nervous disposition, pregnant or if you have a weak stomache or has heart-disorderDO NOT READ THIS BOOK!!!!!ByOllo Weguelin

Buffy meets Ben Hur?

Or Nancy Drew meets Gladiator?Take a feisty female detective like Nancy Drew, put her in Ancient Rome among gladiators, slave-dealers and pirates, give her a 'scooby gang' of flawed but loveable allies, pit her against dastardly bad guys, then season with paganism, christianity and judaism. What have you got? Something completely new and very tasty: The Roman Mysteries. This series is going to be HUGE!

a great book for all ages - a 13 year old's perspective

A wonderfully, creative story. Funny, thrilling, and a refreshing change from typical adventure stories. The four main characters - Flavia, Nubia, Johnathan, and Lupus - share adventures in Ancient Rome. Nubia was a slave girl who Flavia, the daughter of a ship captain, rescued from an otherwise grueling life. Lupus was a beggar boy who Johnathan's father took in. The four inadvertently uncover a plot devised by an unlucky young man with gambling debts to gain wealth. An excellent and witty story.