Ancient and Serbian heroes in Serbian history textbooks in the 19th Century

History textbooks in the Serbian language used in Serbian schools during the 19th century had a specific form, appearance and purpose. The form and appearance of the textbook was different from today's textbooks, but we could see from the title, content or introduction of the textbook that it was used in the teaching process. Their content was also different from modern textbooks and the teaching units were adapted to the political situation in which the Serbian people found themselves then. Ancient and Serbian heroes had an important place in the teaching units of these textbooks, and in this paper we have presented several examples that show similarities and differences between them, as well as their role in the education of Serbian youth during the 19th century.