← Ancient History syllabus

EnglandAncient History

Ancient Sources and Interpretation

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you analyse and evaluate the differing interpretations of modern scholars about the ancient world for AO4?

AO4 interpretation skills: analysing and evaluating the differing interpretations of modern scholars, understanding why historians disagree (evidence, method, emphasis), and weighing interpretations to reach a reasoned position.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History skills guide to analysing modern interpretations for AO4. Explains how to evaluate the differing views of modern scholars, why historians disagree (different evidence, methods and emphases), and how to weigh interpretations against the ancient evidence to reach a reasoned position, with examples from the Greek and Roman topics.
14 min answer →

How do you evaluate an ancient source for its utility to an enquiry, using content, provenance and context, in the AO3 source question?

AO3 source skills: evaluating ancient sources for their utility to a stated enquiry, using content, provenance (nature, origin and purpose) and contextual knowledge, and reaching a judgement on usefulness rather than labelling a source reliable or biased.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History skills guide to evaluating ancient sources for the AO3 source-utility question. Explains how to judge a source's value for a stated enquiry using content, provenance and contextual knowledge, why utility is not the same as reliability, and how to reach a judgement, with a worked example transferable to Greek and Roman topics.
14 min answer →

What do the four OCR Ancient History assessment objectives reward, and which AO does each question type target?

The four assessment objectives: AO1 knowledge, AO2 analysis using second-order concepts, AO3 the use and evaluation of ancient sources, and AO4 the evaluation of modern interpretations, and how each question type in H407 targets them.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History skills guide to the four assessment objectives. Explains AO1 (knowledge), AO2 (analysis with second-order concepts), AO3 (the use and evaluation of ancient sources) and AO4 (the evaluation of modern interpretations), which AO each H407 question type targets, and how knowing the target AO shapes your answer.
14 min answer →

What are the strengths and limitations of Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon as sources for the Greek topics?

The Greek historians: the methods, strengths and limitations of Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon as the prescribed sources for the Persia and Greece period study and the Sparta depth study, and how to evaluate them.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History skills guide to the Greek historians. Covers the methods, strengths and limitations of Herodotus (the Persian Wars), Thucydides (the Peloponnesian War and Sparta) and Xenophon (the Spartan constitution and the end of the war) as prescribed sources, and how to evaluate them for the Greek topics.
15 min answer →

What are the strengths and limitations of Tacitus, Suetonius and Cicero as sources for the Roman topics?

The Roman historians and sources: the methods, strengths and limitations of Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio, Cicero and the documentary sources (the Res Gestae, coins and inscriptions) for the Julio-Claudian period and the Late Republic, and how to evaluate them.
An OCR A-Level Ancient History skills guide to the Roman historians and sources. Covers the methods, strengths and limitations of Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio, Cicero and the documentary evidence (the Res Gestae, coins, inscriptions) for the Julio-Claudian period and the Late Republic, and how to evaluate them for the Roman topics.
15 min answer →