Omnibus IV: Text with Teacher CD

In Latin, Omnibus means "all encompassing."

The Omnibus Curriculum from Veritas Press is designed to help enlighten, train, and develop young minds through the study of everything important, long-lasting, and true: the ideas, arguments and expression of the Western Canon as expressed in the Great Books.

Omnibus IV: The Ancient World is the fourth in a series of six books that repeat a three-year cycle of Ancient, Medieval, and Modern history; the first three are at the Logic stage, and the latter three at the Rhetoric stage. Omnibus IV is recommended for 10th grade, but parents may wish to preview the material to see whether their student is at a rigorous enough reading and maturity level for the materials covered. The second three books in the series may be used in any order for children at that level.

Completing Omnibus IV will provide the student a full credit in Ancient World History II, Doctrine and Theology IV, and Ancient Literature II. Combining these disciplines will have students grow in their appreciation of the unity of all knowledge, and all the material is taught through a biblical worldview. An additional feature is the inclusion of six essays in each year (18 total in Omnibus IV, V and VI) exposing students to various other disciplines to consider for courses of study in college and careers. Just like Omnibus I, Omnibus IV starts at the beginning of time to the fall of Rome. However, it studies more difficult texts, incorporates the growing rhetorical nature of the student, and engages them at a more mature, higher academic level.

Each volume features lists of both Primary and Secondary books. They function as two separate, but intertwined courses. Students can do one or the other or both (recommended). Primary books are the traditional Great Books, while the Secondary books provide balance in the areas of Theology, History and Literature, such as Antony and Cleopatra, Desiring God, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Primary Books to read include: Annals of Imperial Rome, New Oxford Apocrypha, The Apostolic Fathers, The Bacchae, Cicero, The Clouds (in Lysistrata and Other Plays), Eclogues and Georgics, Euclid's Elements Volume 1, Iliad of Homer, Introduction to Aristotle, Job, Josephus, Gospel of Mark, Meditations, Metamorphoses, On the Nature of Things, Philippians & Colossians, Proverbs, Psalms, The Republic, Landmark Thucydides, and The War With Hannibal.

Each chapter covers a Great Book, examining the author, context, significance, main characters, summary and setting, worldview, and providing an in-depth essay analyzing and teaching the important points of the work. Chapters conclude with five sessions for the Primary books course or three for Secondary that provide questions to consider, optional activities, reading assignments, cultural analysis, biblical analysis, application, summa questions, recitation comprehension questions, lateral thinking, review questions, and evaluation questions.

The included Teacher's Guide duplicates the student text and inserts answers to all questions, provides grading tools, and more.

Covering literature, history, and theology from a Reformed perspective, editors Douglas Wilson, Gene Edward Veith, and G. Tyler Fischer weave their understanding of God's providence and sovereignty throughout history. Evaluating worldview, and having a Christo-centric understanding of the world is central to what the editors and publisher set out as the goal for this program.