I read this book last year with my 14 year old twins and 9 year old tag-along. We encountered the same issue. I made copies of the maps in the book. I gave each child one one of the maps as we came up to the corresponding section of reading. I had them use colored pencils to show his journey, labeling geographic areas as we went along. This helped us quite a bit. I hope it helps you! 🙂
BTW Archimedes and the Door of Science, we found, was a much easier and more enjoyable read. We enjoyed Herodotus more, however, than Galen and the Gateway to Medicine. Wondering if others felt the same way…
Best wishes!
Kristina