Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Grace in History

Reading in our history book today…ok, please allow me to digress for a moment…

Who could really stop me, right?...

This book is part of the most wonderful series of history books by Genevieve Foster. We have read George Washington’s World, Abraham Lincoln’s World and now Julius Caesar’s World.

And there are others in the series which I may pick up just for fun.

Because who WOULDN’T love to read history books just for fun?

L.O.V.E. these books.

Anyway, I think whether you are a homeschooler or not, these books are lovely and have helped me…an absolute lover of history…connect historical dots better than I ever have in the past.

And the chapters are in small, bite-sized, easily-digestible pieces. Perfect for anyone.

Anyone, I tell you.

Anyway…in the course of our reading, I mistakenly attributed that Octavius (who would become Caesar Augustus…and was the nephew of Julius Caesar…but I am certain that all of you knew that already) murdered (well, he had someone else do the dirty work…but blood was still on his hands) his Maccabean wife Mariamne as punishment for attempting to kill him (which she didn’t really do…his sister set up Mariamne because she hated her), and as a result, he was haunted by demons for the rest of his life.

We read about the circumstances surrounding her death at the end of the previous week and apparently I had gotten my details mixed up.

However, it took me a few minutes before I realized my mis-step; a few paragraphs later it hit me that it was not, in fact, Octavius who had killed his wife but Herod.

I realized my error as soon as I saw Herod’s name in reference to something else.

You know Herod, right? This was about 27 B.C. at this point. I can loan you the book if you want to read more about him, or other well-known people of the time period.

So of course I corrected myself and said to the PBA “Oh! I am so sorry…I said that incorrectly.  It was Herod who killed his wife Mariamne…not Octavius.”

Quick to grace me out (ok, not really), my 12yo said, “Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that…I didn’t think it was Octavius.”

Me: Well, then why didn’t you say anything? I know I am human and I am well-aware that I make mistakes…all the time I make mistakes.

10yo: Yeah, I’m well–aware of that too.

Feeling.the.love.



3 comments:

  1. I love history connections. For 2 years I have asked for a chronological Bible for Christmas, I will be asking for it again this year… But I love seeing the overlap and connections in the history of the Bible. Will pass along these book ideas for my local HS moms.

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