ANCIENT GREECE
"When the Olympics are on TV, do you sit spellbound, awed by the skill of the athletes? Do you enjoy going to plays? Do you feel lucky to live in a country where you can say what you please about any subject at all? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might want to say a silent thank you to the ancient Greeks. Many aspects of our life, such as the Olympics, the theater, and democracy. . . "

AZTECS
"Buried beneath what is now Mexico City, below the corridors and tunnels of the subway system, lie the ruins of the greatest city of the Aztec empire - Tenochtitlan (ten-och-tee-TLAN). In 1325, after years of searching, the Aztecs chose a site in the middle of Lake Texcoco for their new capital. Within two centuries, this island in a swampy, shallow lake had become the center of an empire of over. . . "

INCAS
"About six hundred years ago, the Incas built an empire that stretched twenty-five hundred miles down the coast of South America and held over 12 million subjects. They accomplished this remarkable feat without having horses, the wheel, or even a written language. Before expansion of the Inca empire began in the early 1400s, the Incas lived in or near their capital city of Cuzco, in present-day Peru. . . "

MAYA
"Thousands of years ago, not a single human being lived in all of North or South America. Then, around 23,000 b.c., the first people arrived from Asia. Slowly, they roamed south, and some settled in parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America. Later, they became known as the Maya. From these humble beginnings, the Maya created one of the most splendid civilizations of all time. They erected. . . "

ROMAN EMPIRE
"The ancient Romans were a remarkable people. From a small city on seven hills, over time the Romans built the mightiest empire of the ancient world. Between 400 b.c. and a.d. 100, Roman armies conquered Italy, defeated the Greeks, and then took control of North Africa, Spain, the Middle East, and parts of Britain. However, the Romans were not just soldiers and conquerors. More than 2,000 years after. . . "