Video Games and Classical Antiquity

A number of currently popular video games focus on the ancient world, and the experiences that the generation of students now entering high school and college have had playing such games is enormously important in shaping their view of ancient Greece and Rome. The purpose of this article is to suggest ways in which video games might be used as a tool for teaching about the ancient world. We look specifically at three games: Rome: Total War, Glory of the Roman Empire, and CivCity: Rome, and assess the pedagogical potential of each.