Readers learn about ancient Rome in spite of themselves as they follow the adventures of Roman schoolboys who arrive at school to find...

Very funny, great for the time I read it ( )

I will start my summary now. In detectives in togas seven roman boys find out a mystery. It all starts when

Griechisch pauken, mathematische Beweise verstehen, Geschichtszahlen lernen: So sieht der Schullalltag der Patriziersöhne Marcus, Rufus und Caius aus - und der ihrer Freunde. Doch plötzlich wird einer von ihnen beschuldigt, ein schweres Verbrechen begangen zu haben: Rufus soll "Caius ist ein Dummkopf" an einen dem Kaiser geweihten Tempel geschmiert haben. Wenn sie Rufus' Leben retten wollen, dann müssen die Jungen den Fall schleunigst aufklären und den wahren Schuldigen finden.
Ein fesselnder historischer Schülerkrimi.

A lively and entertaining story about the misadventures of a group of Roman schoolboys. I enjoyed this a great deal. It's funny, fast-paced, and the scrapes the boys get into while trying to solve the mystery feel authentic.

The picture of ancient Rome portrayed in this novel reminds me of some of my early Latin classes, which seems to me appropriate since the book was written at a time and place when children were commonly taught Latin in the schools, and I think some of the appeal is particular for someone with that background. (At least one fairly important clue to the mystery is made quite clear - perhaps too clear - for someone with a knowledge of Greek as well as Latin, however.)