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ScotlandClassical Studies

History and Historiography

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you assess the reliability of an ancient historian as a source?

Assessing reliability: weighing an ancient historian's bias, access to evidence and purpose to judge how far their account can be trusted, and the danger of either naive trust or blanket scepticism.
How to assess an ancient historian's reliability in SQA Advanced Higher Classical Studies: weighing bias, access to evidence and purpose to judge how far an account can be trusted, and avoiding both naive trust and blanket scepticism.
12 min answer →

How did the ancient historians use the craft of writing to shape their histories?

The craft of the ancient historian: how they used speeches, dramatic narrative, characterisation and structure to shape their histories, and what this craft means for reading them as evidence.
How the ancient historians used the craft of writing in SQA Advanced Higher Classical Studies: composed speeches, dramatic narrative, characterisation and structure, and what this literary craft means for reading their work as historical evidence.
12 min answer →

What methods and sources did the ancient historians use to write history?

The methods and sources of the ancient historian: how they gathered material from eyewitnesses, oral tradition, documents and earlier writers, and how their methods differ from modern historical practice.
What methods and sources the ancient historians used in SQA Advanced Higher Classical Studies: eyewitness testimony, oral tradition, documents and earlier writers, and how ancient historical method differs from modern practice.
12 min answer →

Why did the ancient historians write history, and what did they set out to do?

The work of the ancient historian: the purposes for which ancient historians wrote, from preserving great deeds to teaching moral and political lessons, and how purpose shaped the history they produced.
Why the ancient historians wrote history in SQA Advanced Higher Classical Studies: the purposes from preserving great deeds to teaching moral and political lessons, and how the historian's purpose shaped the kind of history produced.
12 min answer →