OCR Ancient History Greek period study: Persia and Greece c560 to 479 BC, a complete overview

The OCR Ancient History Greek period study, Persia and Greece c560 to 479 BC, is Section A of the Greek component. It tells one of the great stories of the ancient world, the clash between the largest empire yet seen and a handful of Greek city-states, and it tells it almost entirely through one source, Herodotus. This overview ties together the dot-point pages and the source skills the section demands.

How Section A works

The period study is examined as Section A of the Greek paper (50 marks within the 98-mark paper). It uses three question types:

• Short-answer questions testing precise knowledge of the period.
• A 20-mark essay (chosen from two) requiring a ranked analytical argument, for example on the causes of a war or a victory.
• A 12-mark source-utility question asking you to assess the value of one to four named ancient sources for a stated enquiry.

The rise of Persia

The story opens with the explosive expansion of Persia under Cyrus the Great (Media, Lydia, Babylon), the conquest of Egypt under Cambyses, and the disputed accession and reorganisation of the empire under Darius I. The Persian evidence, above all the Behistun inscription and the Persepolis reliefs, gives the regime's own view and balances Herodotus's Greek narrative.

The road to war and the invasions

The Ionian Revolt (499 to 494 BC) drew mainland Greece into conflict: the burning of Sardis and Athenian help gave Darius a grievance, leading to the first invasion and the Athenian victory at Marathon (490 BC). A decade later Xerxes launched a full-scale invasion, held at Thermopylae and Artemisium, decided at sea at Salamis, and destroyed on land at Plataea and at sea at Mycale in 479 BC.

Why the invasions failed

• Strategy. Themistocles forced the decisive battle into the narrow straits of Salamis, where Persian numbers were a handicap.
• Hoplite quality. The heavily armoured phalanx prevailed at Marathon and Plataea.
• Unity and logistics. Greek unity at the critical moments, and the logistical strain on the vast Persian force, told against the invaders.

Reading Herodotus critically

• Use him, but evaluate him. Herodotus is the only full narrative, but he wrote two generations later, from a pro-Greek tradition, with inflated Persian numbers and moralising.
• Bring in the Persian evidence. Behistun, Persepolis and the Cyrus Cylinder give the regime's self-image and correct the Greek perspective.