The Captive Celt

Terry Deary's Roman Tales

by Terry Deary, Helen Flook (Illustrator)

The books in this series contain funny stories based on historical events. Set in Rome in AD51, this is the story of Deri, a Celt who faces execution for criticizing Rome. Deri's cellmate is a British chief, and he believes there is a way to save both their skins.

Genres: History, Childrens, Roman

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29. Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated.

A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV for a period in 2002.

The first series of a live-action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC in 2009 and a second series is due.

Terry is also known widely throughout children and adult reading groups alike for his True Stories series (see below for series list).

He received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000. His numerous accolades also include the Blue Peter "Best Nonfiction Author of the Century" Award in the U.K.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Ewan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What was the story about?
Deri was a boy from Britannia (Britain). His mum and dad were killed by the Romans. He was taken to a different country and he became a slave. He worked in Rome for a family. Livia was his master’s daughter and she didn’t like him. He gets angry with Livia so he shouts at her. The Romans don’t like slaves who misbehave so they put him in prison.
In prison he meets a British chief called Caratacus. In the morning the Romans take them to the senate building. Caratacus tells them that they shouldn’t kill him. The Romans thought that he was brave so they let him live & gave him a house & money. He asked for Deri to be his slave. Caratacus treated him like a son and when he was older he let him go back to Britain.

Who were the characters?
Deri, Livia, Caratacus

What did you like about the book?
I thought it was funny that they gave their Gods a goat.
I liked it when Deri was put in prison because he met Caratacus who helped him to become free.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was an excellent book to read! The story was well written and it was easy to read and understand and I loved the way that the story was told. This is the story about Deri the Brave who was captured and made to be a slave in Rome until a chance encounter. I am a huge fan of history myself and my daughter is following in my footsteps with her interests and this year in School they have been learning about the Romans with her going in dressed up as a Roman earlier in the school year. It is 5 stars from me for this one - very highly recommended and I am loving working my way through the books in the Terrible True Tales series - they have all been fantastic so far!! (I read this book as part of the Terrible True Tales compilation on the Romans)

[Xanthi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the subject matter, this story didn't really grab my attention. Perhaps it was due to the way it was told? I know, as an adult, I'm not in the target audience but I have enjoyed other tales series by this author. His Roman ones feel a bit flat.

[Izzy Roe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shared this with my class during our Roman unit and they adored it!

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maternal death, human sacrifice, brutal corporal punishment, genocide, infant slavery - this children's book has it all. It's looking bleak for Deri, a mouthy Briton abroad, when chance sees him thrown into prison with Celtic hero, Caratacus. Claudius is bowled over by Caratacus's impersonation of Mel Gibson, Deri is spared from crucifixion, and the implausible notion of a national resistance movement is implied when Caratacus dispatches Deri to go and hang out with Boudicca in the mid-fifties.

[Niamh Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Roman tale is as graphic as the books in Terry Deary's Egyptian series. Spilled guts, animal and human sacrifice, prison, beatings, smelly toilets.... What a realistic but PG view of a gory historical period. Little terrifying for poor Deri seeing his Mother die. Captivating all the same.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The children really enjoyed this.

[Rebecca Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful small book for learning a little bit about Caracatus, the Druids and the Romans. It brought the subject to life for my 6 year old!