Ancient HistoryQ&A by dot point

The workings of Athenian democracy: the Assembly, the Council of 500, the popular courts and the use of the lot and ostracism, who counted as a citizen, and the exclusion of women, slaves and metics, studied through Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia and Thucydides' funeral oration.

The career and leadership of Pericles: his repeated election as general (strategos), the building programme on the Acropolis, the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War and his strategy, his death in the plague of 429 BC, and the debate over whether Athens was ruled by the people or by Pericles, studied through Thucydides and Plutarch.

The transformation of the Delian League into an Athenian empire: the founding of the League against Persia, the move of the treasury from Delos to Athens in 454 BC, the suppression of allies who revolted, and how empire funded Athenian power and the building programme, studied through Thucydides.

The prescribed sources for the Athens depth study: Thucydides as a contemporary historian (the funeral oration and the growth of empire), Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia as a later constitutional account, Plutarch's Life of Pericles as a much later biography, and how to weigh contemporary against later evidence.

The democratic reforms of 462 to 429 BC: the reforms of Ephialtes stripping power from the Areopagus, Pericles' introduction of pay for office and jury service, and how these changes created a radical direct democracy, studied through Aristotle's Athenaion Politeia and Plutarch.

The AO3 source skills: making supported inferences from a source, comparing two sources, and judging how useful a source is for a stated enquiry using content, provenance (nature, origin and purpose) and contextual knowledge, rather than labelling a source reliable or biased.

Revision and exam technique for OCR GCSE Ancient History: how to revise the prescribed sources as well as the content, how to drill each question type against its mark scheme, and how to manage the time across the two-hour papers, balancing the short questions, source questions and the extended essays.

The period-study extended essay: how to plan and structure a balanced 'How far do you agree' answer, argue both sides with precise evidence, reach a supported judgement, and write accurately for the 5 SPaG marks carried on the period-study essay (printed at 20 marks).

The depth-study extended essay: how to plan and structure the highest-tariff essay on the paper, integrate detailed knowledge with the prescribed sources where relevant, argue a balanced case and reach a sustained judgement, with the depth-study essay tariffed up to 25 marks.

The structure and assessment of OCR GCSE Ancient History (J198): the two components and their period and depth studies, the three assessment objectives (AO1 knowledge, AO2 explanation and analysis, AO3 use of sources), the question types and mark tariffs, and the SPaG marks on the period-study essays.

The second-order historical concepts behind AO2: causation (long-term causes and immediate triggers), change and continuity, consequence, and significance, and how to use them to answer 'Explain why' questions and the extended essays with ranked, analytical argument.

The Battle of Cannae in 216 BC and Hannibal's double envelopment, the crisis it caused for Rome, the Fabian strategy of delay, and why Hannibal could not capture Rome or win the war in Italy despite his victories, studied through Polybius and Livy.

Hannibal's march from Spain and the crossing of the Alps in 218 BC, the use of war elephants and the hardships of the crossing, and his first great victories at the Trebia and Lake Trasimene, studied through Polybius and Livy.

The Roman recovery and the defeat of Hannibal: Scipio's campaigns in Spain and his invasion of Africa, the recall of Hannibal from Italy, the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, the peace terms of 201 BC, and why Rome eventually won, studied through Polybius and Livy.

The causes of the Second Punic War: the legacy of the First Punic War and the loss of Sicily and Sardinia, Carthaginian expansion in Spain under the Barcids, the siege of Saguntum, and the debate over whether Rome or Carthage was responsible, studied through Polybius and Livy.

The prescribed sources for the Hannibal depth study: Polybius as the careful near-contemporary Greek historian (and his Scipionic connections), Livy as the later, fuller and more dramatic Roman narrative, and how to weigh a near-contemporary analytical source against a later patriotic one.

The early Republic and the Conflict of the Orders: the division between patricians and plebeians, the first secession of the plebs in 494 BC and the creation of the tribunes of the plebs, and the plebeians' struggle for legal and political rights, studied through Livy.

The fall of the monarchy and the founding of the Republic: the tyranny of Tarquinius Superbus, the rape of Lucretia and the expulsion of the kings in 509 BC, the creation of the two annual consuls, and the new Republican constitution, studied through Livy.

The foundation legends of Rome: Aeneas and the Trojan origins, Romulus and Remus, the she-wolf and the founding of the city in 753 BC, the rape of the Sabine women, and how Livy's narrative can be tested against the archaeology of the early settlement on the Palatine.

The prescribed sources for the Foundations of Rome period study: Livy as the main literary narrative (and the problem of a moralising author writing centuries later), Dionysius of Halicarnassus as a parallel Greek account, and the archaeological evidence for early Rome, and how to weigh later literary tradition against material evidence.

The regal period and the seven kings of Rome: the contributions of Numa, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius and the Etruscan kings (Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius and Tarquinius Superbus), the reforms of Servius Tullius, and the influence of the Etruscans on early Rome, studied through Livy.

The Twelve Tables of about 450 BC: the demand for written law, the work of the Decemvirs and the fall of the second Decemvirate, the content and significance of the first written Roman law code, and its importance for the plebeians, studied through Livy.

Cambyses and the conquest of Egypt, the succession crisis after his death, and the accession of Darius I, studied through Herodotus Book 3 and the Behistun inscription, with the contradiction between the two accounts of how Darius took power.

The reign of Darius I and the administration of the empire: the satrapy system, tribute and taxation, the Royal Road and communications, the king's ideology and the building programme at Persepolis and Susa as expressions of royal power.

The Ionian Revolt of 499 to 494 BC, Athenian involvement and the burning of Sardis, the Persian reconquest of Ionia, and Darius's first invasion of Greece ending in defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, studied through Herodotus.

The prescribed sources for the Persian Empire period study: Herodotus as the main Greek literary narrative (and its problems), and the Persian material evidence (the Cyrus Cylinder, the Behistun inscription and the Persepolis reliefs), and how to weigh one kind against the other.

The rise of Cyrus the Great and the foundation of the Persian empire: the conquest of Media, the defeat of Croesus of Lydia and the capture of Babylon, and how the Cyrus Cylinder presents his policy towards conquered peoples.

The accession of Xerxes and his great invasion of Greece in 480 BC: the bridging of the Hellespont and the canal at Athos, the battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium, Salamis and Plataea, and the reasons for the Persian failure, studied through Herodotus Book 7.