What do you think?
Rate this book
Detectives in Togas #1
Detectives in Togas
In these two delightful history-mysteries, seven boys in Ancient Rome solve strange crimes . . . thanks to some help from their cranky teacher, a little bit of logic, and a lot of amusing misadventure.
Yes, Rufus wrote CAIUS IS A DUMBBELL on his tablet at school, but no, he did not break into the schoolroom, did not tie up his teacher, and certainly did not paint his slur about Caius on the Temple of Minerva (even if it is in Rufus's own handwriting). Rufus is doomed unless his six classmates can find out who is really responsible. Every hour seems to bring a new, confusing clue . . . until the boys finally stumble upon someone who is not what he appears to be.
Yes, Rufus wrote CAIUS IS A DUMBBELL on his tablet at school, but no, he did not break into the schoolroom, did not tie up his teacher, and certainly did not paint his slur about Caius on the Temple of Minerva (even if it is in Rufus's own handwriting). Rufus is doomed unless his six classmates can find out who is really responsible. Every hour seems to bring a new, confusing clue . . . until the boys finally stumble upon someone who is not what he appears to be.
249 pages, Paperback
First published March 28, 1956
About the author
Henry Winterfeld
9 books23 followersHenry Winterfeld (born April 9, 1901, in Hamburg, Germany; died January 27, 1990, in Machias, Maine), also published under the pseudonym Manfred Michael. He was a German writer and artist famous for his children's and young adult novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 393 reviews
January 12, 2013
I rate this book a 4, Luke rates it a 5. He grudgingly agreed to give it a 4.5 star rating (even though Goodreads does not support half star ratings)....
Luke was riveted to his seat each night we read this book. And at the end of each chapter, he would become upset if I didn't continue...
Always a sign of a great book, no?
We had a couple of books handy when reading this book:
City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction by David Macaulay
The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome by Peter Connolly
And we were able to see just how accurate this historical fictional account of ancient Rome really is! Henry Winterfeld really is to be commended for creating such an entertaining AND educational story!
We learned quite a bit and laughed quite a lot.
Luke was riveted to his seat each night we read this book. And at the end of each chapter, he would become upset if I didn't continue...
Always a sign of a great book, no?
We had a couple of books handy when reading this book:
City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction by David Macaulay
The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome by Peter Connolly
And we were able to see just how accurate this historical fictional account of ancient Rome really is! Henry Winterfeld really is to be commended for creating such an entertaining AND educational story!
We learned quite a bit and laughed quite a lot.
December 31, 2018
I read this wonderful story (in original language - German)to both of my sons at the age of 10 . It is an all time capturing kids classic and unnoticely tells them about the culture of ancient Rome and how the live of boy of noble origin looked like then.
December 31, 2015
This book cleverly weaves details about life in the Roman Empire into a kid-friendly mystery.
Personally, I did not find the story all that interesting, but I will say that my 9 and 7 year-olds frequently asked me to keep reading when I intended to stop. Despite their interest, I think they were still too young to really keep track of the twists and turns in the story, and to figure out the implication of each.
There is also a fairly gruesome death at the end which, since it happens to the "bad guy," is, I presume, supposed to be a relief to the reader. While my kids were not terribly disturbed by it, I can't say I'm a fan of that kind of ending - at least not for kids this young.
Overall, it was a fairly painless way to learn about life in the Roman Empire, but the story itself... meh, I could take it or leave it.
Personally, I did not find the story all that interesting, but I will say that my 9 and 7 year-olds frequently asked me to keep reading when I intended to stop. Despite their interest, I think they were still too young to really keep track of the twists and turns in the story, and to figure out the implication of each.
There is also a fairly gruesome death at the end which, since it happens to the "bad guy," is, I presume, supposed to be a relief to the reader. While my kids were not terribly disturbed by it, I can't say I'm a fan of that kind of ending - at least not for kids this young.
Overall, it was a fairly painless way to learn about life in the Roman Empire, but the story itself... meh, I could take it or leave it.
April 23, 2020
I was very skeptical when I saw this book on the CMCS 4th Grade curriculum, but it has consistently gotten rave reviews from the 4th graders themselves, and is a genuinely fun introduction to the mystery novel. I'd call it a living book.
July 18, 2022
Read this book in 3rd grade and remembered loving it - it still holds up for what it is. Definitely a solid kids book that teaches about Roman culture in a ~fun~ way. Nice to re-read. No shame
Read
June 23, 2019What a great last sentence to end the book "Caïus est un âne" 😂
Yes boss, I'll read it.
"Pour enrichir mon vocabulaire de français"
Yes boss, I'll read it.
"Pour enrichir mon vocabulaire de français"
March 9, 2022
Caius is a dumbell; for the class of seven Roman boys, this is common knowledge. However, when someone paints it on the Temple of Minerva and people begin to blame Rufus, one of the boys, it is not so funny. The boys are sure that Rufus is not the culprit, until Rufus mysteriously disappears. When some strange clues about his disappearance turn up, the six remaining boys are left with many questions. Where did their friend go? And who did vandalize the temple wall?
This book is a true treasure. Full of witty jokes and unexpected turns, this story, set in ancient Rome, will not be put down! This book is loved by my entire family, and I cannot reread it enough times!
This book is a true treasure. Full of witty jokes and unexpected turns, this story, set in ancient Rome, will not be put down! This book is loved by my entire family, and I cannot reread it enough times!
February 17, 2018
My mom read this to me and my siblings when we were homeschooled. I just had a blast reading it to my fourth graders as we began our study of ancient Rome. They were quickly caught up in the mystery and on the edge of their seats till we reached the end.
Read
April 19, 2024So much ancient Roman history packed into a hilarious, page turning mystery. My kids could not get enough of the story, they begged me to keep reading every night. Such a fun story to pair with our study of ancient cultures.
December 28, 2022
This is a fun mystery set in ancient Rome. It follows a group of school boys who have to solve a mystery after one of them is accused of defacing a temple, which the author said was inspired by seeing the phrase "Caius asinus est" in a childish scrawl on the wall of a temple in Pompeii. Which tells me that, in many ways, tween boys have not changed all that much in two thousand years.
At first I had a hard time keeping the characters straight since most people's names end in "-us", but eventually most of them developed some distinctive traits. But overall I enjoyed it -- it includes details of Roman life and social order without coming across as "educational" at the expense of story. While I guessed the "twist" at the end a while before it was revealed, I'm not the intended audience for this book, and I think my ten-year-old will probably enjoy it too.
At first I had a hard time keeping the characters straight since most people's names end in "-us", but eventually most of them developed some distinctive traits. But overall I enjoyed it -- it includes details of Roman life and social order without coming across as "educational" at the expense of story. While I guessed the "twist" at the end a while before it was revealed, I'm not the intended audience for this book, and I think my ten-year-old will probably enjoy it too.
June 1, 2021
Absolutely hilarious. Did it as our final read aloud for 2nd grade. 8yo loved it.
April 27, 2017
Detectives in Togas is a funny and entertaining read with plenty of silly Roman shenanigans that make it great for younger children. I myself found it too silly and childish, but that is precisely what younger me would have loved.
August 14, 2023
An excellent, fun, and witty story for children!
January 4, 2021
I read this book aloud to my children for bedtime, and near the middle of the book, they didn't want to quit reading, and were dying to know what happened next! For a children's book, I didn't think the 'mystery' part of the book would be that deep, but surprisingly enough, I was still left trying to figure out what was going on up until the last 1/4 of the book!
I loved the way they fit the history in with the story, a great way to let my kiddos step back in time and pretend to be hanging out with children from Ancient Rome!
I loved the way they fit the history in with the story, a great way to let my kiddos step back in time and pretend to be hanging out with children from Ancient Rome!
August 26, 2014
This read aloud complemented our ancient Rome history lessons. While many middle grade mysteries can be predictable and watered down this one kept my kids (ages 7 and 10) guessing until the end. It was an exciting story that also offered us quite a bit of insight into ancient Rome and the Roman lifestyle. We actually enjoyed it so much that we plan to read "Mystery of the Roman Ransom" from the same series before we move on from our ancient Rome unit. Any excuse for more time allocated for read alouds.;-)
January 22, 2018
My son (6) loved this book and so did I. Pretty funny for me as an adult, which I can appreciate. My son and I did this as a read-aloud. It was somewhat complicated for him to keep up with all of the characters since there were so many, but wasn’t really too necessary to understanding the story. Loved also that it incorporated Roman/Greek elements of history since he is currently studying that in first grade.
Currently reading
September 7, 2007I haven't read this since I was 11, tops, but it's still a delight. I love how dorky all the boys are. The best part is that I honestly can't remember a lick of the mystery. However, I remember the illustrations vividly. Hella appealling.
August 22, 2018
Die drei Bücher um die Jungen der Xanthosschule, die hier ihren Auftakt finden, habe ich als Kind, das sehr an römischer Geschichte interessiert war, sehr gerne gelesen und als clever gestrickte Detektivgeschichte mit ungewöhnlichem Setting in Erinnerung behalten. Diese Qualitätsmerkmal hält auch heute noch an.
Allerdings ist das Buch nicht sehr gut gealtert - wobei ich erst heute festgestellt habe, wie alt es tatsächlich ist. Ersterscheinungsdatum ist 1953 und das merkt man dem Buch heute doch sehr an. Nicht nur ist der Schreibstil ziemlich hölzern (vor allem bis zum Erbrechen beladen mit Adjektiven), Frauen- und Mädchenfiguren kommen, wenn überhaupt nur am Rande oder als Dekorationsobjekt vor und Relikte wie das N-Wort dürften modernen Leser*innen doch sauer aufstoßen. Ob das in aktuelleren Auflagen geändert wurde, weiß ich nicht, wünschenswert wäre es, denn ich kann mich an keine vergleichbare Serie erinnern.
Allerdings ist das Buch nicht sehr gut gealtert - wobei ich erst heute festgestellt habe, wie alt es tatsächlich ist. Ersterscheinungsdatum ist 1953 und das merkt man dem Buch heute doch sehr an. Nicht nur ist der Schreibstil ziemlich hölzern (vor allem bis zum Erbrechen beladen mit Adjektiven), Frauen- und Mädchenfiguren kommen, wenn überhaupt nur am Rande oder als Dekorationsobjekt vor und Relikte wie das N-Wort dürften modernen Leser*innen doch sauer aufstoßen. Ob das in aktuelleren Auflagen geändert wurde, weiß ich nicht, wünschenswert wäre es, denn ich kann mich an keine vergleichbare Serie erinnern.
Read
March 1, 2019I pulled out this book for a read-aloud to accompany of our study of Roman history. Initially, I was disappointed to find that it was more at a 3-5th grade reading level and I thought it would go over my kids' heads. However, I was wrong and they loved it. They couldn't wait to solve the mystery. I appreciated how it mentioned lots of different Roman locations and artifacts. I would definitely recommend it as a read-aloud to supplement Roman history.
July 27, 2019
Jules leva le doigt.
"Et pourquoi Rufus l'aurait-il fait? demanda-t-il. Il lui aurait été plus simple d'écrire directement sur le mur.
- Pas si simple que ça! répondit le maître. As-tu déjà essayé d'écrire dans l'obscurité?"
Jules ne sut que répondre.
"Ah! tu vois? fit Xantippe très satisfait. Toi, tu n'es même pas capable d'écrire correctement en plein jour!"
"Et pourquoi Rufus l'aurait-il fait? demanda-t-il. Il lui aurait été plus simple d'écrire directement sur le mur.
- Pas si simple que ça! répondit le maître. As-tu déjà essayé d'écrire dans l'obscurité?"
Jules ne sut que répondre.
"Ah! tu vois? fit Xantippe très satisfait. Toi, tu n'es même pas capable d'écrire correctement en plein jour!"
March 31, 2023
Just a quick middle grade book re-read to close out March and bring my total to 20 books! “Detective in Togas” was always one of my favorite reads as a kid and it remains an entertaining mystery set in Ancient Greece where a bunch of kids find their teacher tied up and then one of their classmates ends up in prison for defacing a temple– how is it all connected and who’s behind it?
May 17, 2017
Gives some of the flavor of Imperial Rome along with an enjoyable mystery. There are two sequels, but unfortunately, it looks like the third book of this series (Caius in der Klemme) has never been translated from German.
February 10, 2023
Read with the kids for literature pertaining to our Roman studies. The kids loved it. I will say my jaw dropped the 2nd to last chapter over something I should have expected but didn’t. And I love how the last chapter gives a “moral of the story” type feel to talk over with your kids more.
March 3, 2024
This is such a fun book. I remember this book being assigned in middle school and loving it. I picked it up again for a fun read and the mystery and absurdity of it is just a great time. Very silly, but quite entertaining :)
January 21, 2018
This is more like a 3.5 rating, but I opted for the more generous rating, because I admit I really liked re-reading it.
Parts of the book did not age too well, though.
I will continue on to re-read the other two books in the series as well.
Parts of the book did not age too well, though.
I will continue on to re-read the other two books in the series as well.
June 23, 2021
Ein Klassiker, den ich bisher ausgelassen hatte. Immer noch ausgesprochen lesenswert!
October 7, 2021
This was a fun read-aloud! My 9 year old loved it!
June 21, 2022
Read this to see if it would work as a read aloud for my extremely sensitive daughters. I really enjoyed it but it's a little too intense for them right now I think.
November 14, 2022
read this in sec one. Honestly, it was a good book for school and I quite enjoyed it back then, but I feel like school ruins books, so that's why I am rating it three stars.
January 24, 2023
Read this with the kids for book club. It was a fun story. My kids loved it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 393 reviews