Best-selling author brings Roman history to life

February 1, 2019

Best-selling historical author Ben Kane brought history to life for pupils of Monmouth School for Girls and Monmouth School for Boys recently.

The famous author of Roman historical novels gave a talk on the Punic Wars to keen Classics students in a joint school event. Speaking about the visit, Mrs Beech (Head of Classics at Monmouth School for Girls) commented: “Ben’s novels are highly exciting as well as meticulously researched.

“Students were able to appreciate this directly when he took them through a whistle stop tour of the Punic Wars, probably the most significant conflict of the Republican period and crucial contextual information for students of GCSE and A level Latin and Classical Civilisation.”

Students were also fascinated by the military kit that Mr Kane had brought to illustrate the talk – and there were lots of eager volunteers to try out the armour and “weapons”.

Mr Kane’s novels include ‘Spartacus: the Gladiator’, ‘Hannibal: Enemy of Rome’ and ‘Eagles at War’. Mrs Beech commented on how his enthusiasm for the subject inspired the students during the talk. She added: “Ben doesn’t just write about the ancient world. He has marched the length of Hadrian’s Wall in full Roman military kit and cycled Hannibal’s route through Spain, southern France and over the Alps into Italy.”