A Week in the Life of Rome

This is like reading two different books in one. The first a story set in ancient Rome, the other a history book about ancient Rome. The two tie in and enhance each other flawlessly. The cast of characters list at the beginning that explained who each of them were was very helpful in keeping track of who's who. The attention to detail and the descriptions brought the ancient city to life in a interesting and entertaining way. A must read for anyone who wants to learn more about what life was like in ancient Rome.


I received a complimentary ARC copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a short novel with asides, where the author explains concepts from Roman culture that we might not be aware of. The style is very captivating. I only noticed one detail that seems a bit off, where Peter appointed a new convert to be a deacon, which didn't seem in line with the biblical text. Other than that, I think this is a great way to help you understand the culture in which Christianity emerged.

A Week in the Life of Rome was yet another engaging story in the series. The characters were well developed, and the plot had a level of tension and twists to keep things interesting. The book was well written and thoroughly researched, making for a simple way to learn the basic historical background in a pain free fashion. The author captured the frailty of life at this time in all its gruesomeness. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the background of the New Testament.

"A Week in the Life of Rome" is partly fiction and partly nonfiction. The novel is set in 50 A.D. in Rome. It followed characters in the various churches in Rome and included people from different backgrounds and economic levels. The main characters were a freedman and his family. His wife and his stepson are Christians, and he's interested. However, his patron asks him to do things that would be against the Christian faith. He must choose between advancement in Roman society or his family and new faith. Cultural and historical details were woven into the story which show what it would've been like for a Roman mindset confronted with Christian values.

There were nonfiction sidebars that discussed certain topics from the story, like the Vestal Virgins. This helped to further explain things happening in the story and help readers understand some of the issues talked about in the New Testament. The book contained some interesting photographs of Roman ruins and archaeological artifacts which illustrated information from the nonfiction sidebars and events in the story. I found both the story and the nonfiction interesting and informative. Overall, I'd recommend this book to people who aren't very familiar with this type of Bible background information.

A very enjoyable book that combines historical facts with a fictional story about what life might have been like for a few days in first century Rome. I appreciated the pictures and the sidebars which helped place the story in context.

As the title says, this book tells the story of a week in the lives of several members of the early church in Rome. While the account itself is (presumably) completely fictional, the main characters themselves were real people, and the setting seems to have been well researched to be as accurate as possible. Extensive footnotes provide lots of interesting and helpful background information, and a list of characters at the start helps set the scene. The story itself is necessarily limited, in that it is following several people over the course of a week, but does give some idea of the sorts of situations and problems the believers might have faced, as well as the fellowship they enjoyed. Note that the book is set prior to Nero's persecution at a time when there did not seem to be a particular need for secrecy in meetings or anything like that.

Pros: The following of various characters was interleaved quite neatly and as unconfusingly as possible. The information provided in the footnotes was interesting, generally relevant and mostly helpful. The book's way of presenting the issues faced by individuals in the society was not something I've really come across before (there is generally more of a full storyline, which possibly distracts somewhat from the issues?), but was thought-provoking.

Cons: The notes (at least in the copy I received) were just dropped into the middle of the text with no real formatting clues, often starting in the middle of a sentence. Once I worked out what was happening, it wasn't a big issue, but it was confusing at first, and not ideal ever. Having said that, if they turned into clickable footnotes, I suspect fewer people would read them, which would be their loss (though mostly not essential to an understanding of the book, they are helpful and do often clarify things that are quite different from now). I'd also love some indication of how much is known fact, how much generally accepted church tradition, how much rather dubious tradition, and how much completely made up for the purpose of the story.

Overall comments: I'm not really sure what sort of audience this is intended for, because it's neither your usual historical fiction nor a history book, but somewhere between the two. It's not the sort of thing I'd want to read all the time, but I enjoyed it and found it interesting and helpful. 4.5 stars.

Note that I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and this is my considered opinion of the book.

A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF ROME by JAMES L PAPANDREA is a very interesting book which gives us insight into what life was like in Rome, especially for the Way-followers or early Christians.
It is good to read it in conjunction with the New Testament as we come across so many of the apostles and early believers in the story.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from InterVarsity Press. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

This book was fantastic! I was introduced to this 'series' about 7 years ago or so when I saw Ben Witherington's "A Week in the Life of Corinth" and got it as a gift (not surprisingly... I haven't read it yet, haha). I saw that this one was releasing this year, and since I like to study and research everything to do with the book of Romans, this quickly became a book on my to read this. I found out that I could get a digital copy to read for an honest review and gladly jumped on the opportunity.

What Papandrea does with this book, is take real historical practices, conditions, and other elements and creates a fictional story of what a week in Rome might have looked like (his specific time period for this book was around 50 A.D.). The whole book takes place over the length of a week, with each chapter telling the events of a day. The story is certainly attention grabbing and will help you learn/remember historical insights from the Roman Empire, circa 50 A.D. As you encounter references to specific historical facts/elements, there are 'breaks' in the story where you can read a quick blurb about the actual history from Rome. All in all, this is a fantastic book and it has certainly motivated me to pick up my copy of "A Week in the Life of Corinth" sooner than later to read it as well! I highly recommend this book as a great way to learn some history that will help you understand a little more background for our New Testament texts, AND as an entertaining story that will leave you wishing it were longer! You won't be disappointed!

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review via netgalley.