Old Western Culture (Roman Roads Press)

Old Western Culture is a four-year great books curriculum that Roman Roads Press names as its flagship product, with a video course for each year (The Greeks, The Romans, Christendom, and Early Moderns). The overview page lists lectures by Wesley Callihan and guest lecturers on some Christendom and Early Moderns units, and the publisher describes each year as a full-year literature and history curriculum for high school students and as a double-credit humanities course.

Last updated: 2026-10-08 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Classical, literature-based, video-led Great Books course
Worldview	Christian. The publisher's statement of faith calls Roman Roads Press "a distinctly Christian publisher," says its courses reflect a Protestant perspective with a "Mere Christianity" approach, and says its leadership is committed to the major Reformational Protestant confessions, especially the Westminster Confession of Faith, but is also appreciative of the historic Christian traditions
Grades	High school. The publisher's pages give three bands: the overview page says it is designed for grades 9-12 and suggests the four years for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, the year information pages are headed grades 9-12+, and the curriculum page lists grades 8-12, adults, scholarship, and teacher training. The publisher recommends ages 14 and up on the Greeks, Romans, and Christendom pages and describes Early Moderns as intended for high school aged students (14+)
Formats	Streaming video (DVD sets are available while supplies last), PDF workbooks (print optional) and Reader eBooks (paperback or hardback readers optional) per the overview page, and the new printed Companion volumes sold separately (so far for The Greeks only)
Cost tier	Premium
Parent intensity	2
ESA-common	The publisher works with several state ESA programs; confirm for your state
Accredited	Not by itself: the publisher's founder answered a reader that curriculum is not by itself accredited, and that accredited programs use various curricula, including Old Western Culture; the publisher describes each year as a double-credit humanities course
Established	The team page states that Roman Roads Press was founded in 2011; the publisher's pages that we read do not give a release year for Old Western Culture
Website	romanroadspress.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	5	Primary-text reading with an average daily load of 30-40 pages stated on the publisher's year and unit pages, and an exam with each unit
Ease of teaching	5	Video lessons, workbooks, and exams with answer keys are included
Content quality	5	Each unit's lecture list names the primary works it covers, and the overview page lists 114 authors, from Homer to Tolkien
Flexibility	3	In our assessment, the course is a fixed set of lectures, readings, and exams; the publisher says each year stands on its own, any unit can be bought by itself, and it is very common for families or schools to use them out of order
Value for money	3	$299 to $583 per year depending on format (retrieved October 2026)
Worldview scope	3	Taught from an explicitly Christian, Protestant perspective
Visual/design	3	The publisher says hundreds of classical paintings, maps, and timelines are woven into the video lessons
Support resources	4	Workbooks, exams, a getting-started guide, an FAQ, a private Facebook group, and live classes through Kepler Education

Who the publisher is

Roman Roads Press describes itself as a publisher of curriculum and books in the classical Christian tradition. Its terms and conditions state that the site is operated by Roman Roads Media, LLC, which they call Roman Roads Press. Its About page states a mission, since 2011, of equipping families and schools to "inherit the humanities," and says the courses are built around people, with an emphasis on video courses. The team page states that Daniel Foucachon, Founder and CEO, founded Roman Roads Press in 2011.

Wesley Callihan is described on the product pages as a storyteller and veteran teacher, and the overview page lists lectures presented by him. The Christendom course is hosted by Callihan and other classical educators, and the unit pages name guest lecturers: Peter Leithart teaches with Callihan in Rise of England, Chris Schlect in The Reformation, and Jonathan McIntosh in The Novels, while The Enlightenment is taught by Mitch Stokes.

The four years, per the publisher's product pages, are:

• The Greeks: The Epics, Drama and Lyric, The Histories, and The Philosophers.
• The Romans: The Aeneid, The Historians, Early Christianity, and Nicene Christianity.
• Christendom: Early Medievals, The Defense of the Faith, The Medieval Mind, and The Reformation.
• Early Moderns: Rise of England, Poetry and Politics, The Enlightenment, and The Novels.

Each unit contains twelve video lessons, 48 per year, per the overview page. The Greeks, Romans, and Christendom year pages give an average lesson length of 30 to 40 minutes, and the publisher states over 20 hours of video for The Greeks and over 25 hours for The Romans and Christendom.

The core pedagogy

The Greeks page describes the course as an integrated humanities curriculum that explores history, theology, philosophy, poetry, and art from the perspective of the greatest works of influential literature of the Western world. Per the page, each lesson begins with a brief review and moves into summary, commentary, analysis, and interdisciplinary connections; afterward, students complete the assigned readings and answer comprehension questions in the student workbook.

The Greeks page describes the course as classical, Christian, integrated-humanities, and homeschool-oriented, and its lecture list names primary works by lecture, for example the Iliad and Odyssey by book range, Aeschylus's Oresteia, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle.

The Greeks page lists a student workbook and answer key in PDF for each unit (print workbooks optional), an A and B exam with teacher guide and answer key for each unit, a digital Guide to the Art, and all required texts as eText, and states that no specific editions of the works are required. The Romans page lists the Guide to the Art for units 1 to 3 only, the Christendom page does not list it, and the publisher's Companions page says the streaming app does not ship with a Guide to the Art. The overview page says every purchase includes the Reader eBooks, the Original Workbook in PDF, and exams with answer keys. The publisher also sells the new Old Western Culture Companion at $39 a volume, planned as one printed volume per unit, and says on its Companions page that the Companion replaces the workbooks. As of October 2026 the overview page lists Greeks volumes 1 and 2 as in print and shipping and volumes 3 and 4 as on pre-order, The Romans Companions as coming in 2027, and the Christendom and Early Moderns Companions as in development.

The Greeks page states that each year is a double-credit humanities course, most commonly recorded as one literature credit and one history credit, assuming the student watches the videos, completes the readings and worksheets, and takes the four exams. The Greeks, Romans, and Christendom year pages and the Early Moderns unit pages (Rise of England, Poetry and Politics, The Enlightenment, The Novels) list an average daily reading load of 30 to 40 pages.

How a week runs

The publisher describes nine-week units at one to three hours a day, with Honors and Essentials schedules (the Companions include both schedules with suggested daily work, so far for The Greeks only). Per the Greeks page, students watch a lesson, complete the assigned readings, and answer comprehension questions in the student workbook. The publisher recommends the course for ages 14 and up on the Greeks, Romans, and Christendom pages, says it deals with mature themes such as paganism, sexual immorality, and battle scenes, and states that it assumes a working knowledge of the Bible and basic Christian doctrine. It also encourages parents to watch the video lessons with their children.

What they do exceptionally well

Primary-text focus. The lecture lists on the product pages are organized around named works, and the publisher states that the course expects readings from the Great Books alongside the lectures.

Assessments are included. Per the overview page, every purchase includes streaming video, the Original Workbook in PDF, exams with answer keys, and the Reader eBooks, so a parent does not need to assemble assessments.

Format options. The same year can be bought as streaming with PDFs, or with print workbooks, paperback or hardback readers, or DVDs added (the overview page says DVD sets are available while supplies last), per the pricing described below.

Live-class option. The getting started page says most of the publisher's curriculum is available as a live online class through its sister company, Kepler Education, which it calls a consortium of independent classical Christian educators. The live classes page is headed "Grades 5-12, and higher ed" and describes Kepler as a consortium of independent teachers.

What they do poorly

Premium pricing. Each year costs between $299 and $583 depending on options (see below), so four years of the base streaming-and-PDF format cost $1,196 and the fully printed versions cost more. Families for whom budget is a central constraint may weigh this against assembling their own reading list; the publisher includes the Reader eBooks with every purchase.

Christian, Protestant perspective by design. The publisher's statement of faith says the courses are taught from an explicitly Christian perspective and that families should expect teaching that regularly reflects a historical and classical Christian perspective. The page also says those in leadership are committed to the major Reformational Protestant confessions, especially the Westminster Confession of Faith, but are also appreciative of the historic Christian traditions, and that many Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox customers use the courses. Families who want a worldview-neutral course should read the statement and preview a lecture first.

Reading load and maturity. On the Greeks, Romans, and Christendom year pages the publisher recommends the course for ages 14 and up, lists an average daily load of 30 to 40 pages, and states that the course deals with mature themes. The Early Moderns unit pages list the same daily load. In our assessment, a student who cannot sustain that reading will need substantial parent support.

Credit documentation is the family's. The publisher describes the credit structure and its founder says in the FAQ that curriculum is not by itself accredited, so in our assessment the parent records the credits and grades on the family's own transcript.

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Old Western Culture if: you want a four-year Great Books course with video lectures, workbooks, and exams; your student is ready for the reading load; you are comfortable with a Christian, Protestant perspective, or are a Catholic or Orthodox family comfortable with that perspective as the publisher describes it; you want a course that can be done at home with the option of live classes.

• Skip Old Western Culture if: your budget cannot absorb the per-year price; your student is not yet ready for 30 to 40 pages of reading a day; you want a worldview-neutral or secular Great Books course; you want a program with a stated accreditation status (the publisher's founder says in the FAQ that curriculum is not by itself accredited).

Cost honest assessment

As of October 2026 the Roman Roads Press store lists each year of Old Western Culture at a price range of $299.00 to $583.00 (the same range appears on The Greeks, The Romans, Christendom, and Early Moderns). Per the options on The Greeks page, the base price of $299 includes streaming video, PDF workbooks, and PDF readers. Adding four print workbooks brings it to $363; adding four DVD sets, $339; adding both, $403. With paperback readers the combinations run $427 to $531, and with hardback readers $479 to $583.

At the base price, four years cost $1,196; at the top of the range, $2,332 (the complete series page lists $1,196 to $2,332). Individual units can also be bought separately, the Greeks Companion volumes are $39 each (retrieved October 2026), and the publisher says it can arrange a payment plan on request for purchases of $250 or more and offers need-based scholarships case by case.

ESA eligibility notes

As of October 2026, the publisher's ESA page says the most common method is to purchase from its site and submit the invoice to the state ESA program, most often through ClassWallet. It lists states it is working with: the NH Scholarship Fund, Ohio's ACE program, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Indiana, with others in progress, and notes that some states require families to request a vendor before the vendor can apply. Confirm eligibility with your state program before ordering.

Alternatives

• Angelicum Academy's Great Books Program, a family would choose Angelicum over Old Western Culture for live online Socratic seminars: the program describes four years of seminars for grades 9-12 that meet once a week for two hours in groups of 20 or fewer.
• Wilson Hill Academy, a family would choose Wilson Hill over Old Western Culture for live online classical Christian classes with a graduation track, which the academy describes as accredited by SACS CASI/Cognia.
• Hillsdale College's online courses, a family would choose Hillsdale's free online courses over Old Western Culture when budget is the primary constraint; the catalog lists Great Books 101, Great Books 102, and Western Heritage, each an 11-lesson course that gives free access to lectures, course readings, and quizzes.