author
Robert F. Pennell
1850–1905
A schoolmaster and classicist with a gift for making the ancient world readable, he wrote clear, compact histories of Greece and Rome for students and general readers alike.
1 Audiobook
Ancient Rome : from the earliest times down to 476 A. D.
by Robert F. Pennell
About the author
Robert Franklin Pennell was an American educator, classicist, and author born in Freeport, Maine, on July 13, 1850, and he died in San Francisco on October 22, 1905. He studied at Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated from Harvard in 1871 with a degree in classics.
He spent much of his career in education, including work as a Latin instructor at Phillips Exeter and later as a school leader in California. Alongside teaching, he wrote accessible books on the ancient world, including Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, aimed at helping students approach classical history without getting lost in needless complexity.
His writing reflects the strengths of a lifelong teacher: orderly, practical, and easy to follow. That combination made his histories and classroom texts useful well beyond his own time, and they still circulate today through public-domain editions and audiobook adaptations.