There are millions of children in the world who first encountered the ancient Romans through the eyes of Asterix & Obelix, the stars of an ultra-popular comic book series that made its first appearance in the world 1959. Set in antiquity, the comics detail the adventures of a Gaulish hero named Asterix and his friends, all of whom live in a village surrounded by invading Romans. Fortunately, Asterix & Obelisk are able to keep the Romans from invading their town by means of a magic potion that gives tremendous strength.
Since the comics first appeared in 1959, some 325 million copies of the 33 Asterix books have been sold, with translations into languages as diverse as Urdu, Arabic, and even Latin. That makes for a lot of children who have spent time cheering for the Gauls as they try to defend themselves against the nasty Roman forces.
Are you one of those people who can’t think of ancient Rome without thinking of Asterix & Obelisk? Then you’ll want to read this article about the comic duo and their creators on the BBC website.
