Greeks, Romans, Countrymen

America was founded on the ideas practiced by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Follow Chester the Crab as he helps a runner in the Olympics, visits a theater with Poseidon, goes to war with Alexander the Great, enlists in the Roman legion, builds an arch for an aqueduct and outraces the lava flowing from Mount Vesuvius! This funny, colorful graphic novel will excite reluctant readers, prepare students for standardized tests in history and help homeschooling parents!

Comic sample page #1: How did Alexander unite Greece?
Comic sample page #2: When did Vesuvius blow up?
Topics covered in this comic book
View a teacher’s guide for this comic

How did Alexander the Great unite Greece?

When did Vesuvius bury the Roman city Pompeii?

Chapter 1: Greek Games

The Olympics of today are modeled after the games of ancient Greece. Greeks believed the games were a good way to train young men to be warriors. The Olympics also grew out of the competition between Greece’s city-states, which usually operated independently from each other because the rocky, mountainous land separated them. What will happen when Chester can only get home if he helps one Greek win an Olympic race?

Greek Games includes the following topics:
Where was Poseidon’s adventure?
Who invented democracy?
Which part is the Parthenon?
When was the first Olympic moment?
Who made all the world a stage?

Chapter 2: Alexander The Great
Ancient Greece has small, independent communities on different rocky islands in the Mediterranean Sea. One young, brash leader succeeds in uniting those cities and pushing the Greek empire across the hot sands of Persia and into India. How great will Alexander be?

Alexander the Great includes the following topics:
Who was Alexander the Great?
How did Alexander unite Greece?
When did Alexander conquer Egypt?
How did the Greeks beat King Darius?
How great was Alexander’s empire?

Chapter 3: Roman Legions
The Roman Empire rises to power after Alexander’s death and a gradual split of the Greek empire into pieces. Rome’s control is based on its powerful army, which carries Roman ideas and building techniques across the Mediterranean Sea and Europe. Chester finds that he can still walk some of the roads the Romans built hundreds of years ago…

Roman Legions includes the following topics:
Who wants to be a legionnaire?
Was Rome always a republic?
What people did Rome conquer?
Why were Roman arches important?
Quid novi? (or, “What’s new?”)

Chapter 4: Pompeii Perishes
One reason we know so much about Roman art and life is that the explosion of a volcano buries a whole Roman town, preserving its mosaics, sculpture, and paintings that the culture proudly displayed. But the Roman gods cannot save the people of Pompeii…

Pompeii Perishes includes the following topics:
How did rich Romans live in Pompeii?
How did Roman government work?
When did Vesuvius blow up?
What buried the Romans in Pompeii?

Greeks, Romans, Countrymen

View the Teacher’s Guide for this comic